Jun 10, 2010

BRE Properties

BRE Properties named Dan J. Messinger vice president, learning and development. He is based in San Francisco and oversees training and development of BRE employees. Previously, he was Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants' senior director of training and diversity. BRE develops, acquires and manages apartments in the West, including 13 in the Seattle area.

GVA Kidder Mathews

Multi-family and investment sales veteran Jim Nichols joined GVA Kidder Mathews' Bellevue office as an associate vice president. He has completed sales worth more than $750 million. Previously he worked with Grubb & Ellis and CB Richard Ellis. GVA Senior Property Manager Earl Wayman will speak at the West Coast Energy Management Congress in Seattle on Tuesday. The title of his presentation is “Starting Down the Road to Energy Efficient Operations.”

Windermere Real Estate

Windermere's new sales associates are Dave Evans, Bellevue East, Lynn Kern, Edmonds; Darby James and Sheryl Williams, Graham, Maryann Huffman, Seattle International District, Jill Yvonne, Kent, Christine Uselman, Lake Stevens, Bill Amman, Kariann Bowles, Bronn Journey, Kristine Niemi, Tarek Moghrabi and Trevor Thirsk, Monroe, Doug Vogel, Seattle/Queen Anne, and Ron Concard, Benis Dawkins, Colt Fairley, Russell Harris and Carrie Sater, Tacoma Metropolitan.

TDY Lodging

Washington, D.C.-based TDY Lodging acquired its first military housing contracts in the Puget Sound area. Matthew Foster, company founder, said TDY acquired the contracts as part of a larger purchase of two companies: BizLodging.com and CorporateHouseRentals.com. Foster declined to provide terms of the deals. The housing contracts are at eight motels in Bremerton, Everett, Marysville, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor and Poulsbo.

Marcus & Millichap

National home sales activity will retreat in the coming months due to the expiration of federal tax credits, according to Marcus & Millichap's new national report. Housing demand has bottomed out and entered a “choppy” recovery brought on by improving employment trends, low mortgage rates and lower prices. Weighing against recovery is the likelihood that pent-up demand was released in recent months, and foreclosures will continue to drive down prices. Demand for rental housing will rise as mortgage standards tighten. Apartment absorption will strengthen over the next 18 months, the report states. Apartment vacancy will dip 30 basis points this year to 7.7 percent before improving nearly 100 basis points in 2011.

Appraisers Research Foundation

The Appraisers Research Foundation is offering grants of $15,000 or more for research projects that benefit the appraisal industry and the public. The Houston-based nonprofit facilitates research and testing of new appraisal methods. Information is at appraiserresearch.org.

Appraisers Research Foundation

The Appraisers Research Foundation is offering grants of $15,000 or more for research projects that benefit the appraisal industry and the public. The Houston-based nonprofit facilitates research and testing of new appraisal methods. Information is at appraiserresearch.org.

Jun 03, 2010

Live auction of commercial loans

Northwest Auctions will sell a variety of troubled loans at a live auction July 19 in Seattle. A live auction of non-performing loans is rare, according to the company's project manager, Paul Thomas. Such auctions typically are conducted online. Thomas said at live auctions participants can see they're competing against actual bidders, not phantom ones who are in place only to drive prices up. Northwest expects market-value bids, not discounts, because target bidders are well-funded investors who are not averse to paying full price or more for loans that pencil out. Loans in the auction have a balance of $300,000 to $6 million and include a non-performing construction loan on 14 unfinished Seattle condos, a $2.4 million loan to Mastro Properties secured by two King County commercial properties, and a $5.9 million troubled loan secured by a Kitsap County retail center. June 11 is the deadline for getting loans into the auction. The location will be posted at nwauctions.com.

CBRE survey: Retailers optimistic

A new national survey by brokerage CB Richard Ellis shows almost 70 percent of retailers across the country think the economy is improving. Ninety-two percent plan to open more stores. Retail executives surveyed think retail rents will fall or remain flat for the rest of this year. Nearly three-quarters of retailers said they were able to negotiate tenant improvements with their landlords in the past year; 65 percent of them said rent reductions were the most common incentive, followed by limited improvements and the right to terminate early.

Mid-year broker forecast

NAIOP will host a mid-year forecast breakfast at 7:30 a.m. June 16 at the Seattle Sheraton, 1400 Sixth Ave. The program will cover the retail, investment, office and industrial sectors. Chris Hughes of Pacific Real Estate Partners (PREP) will moderate the discussion by panelists Susie Detmer of Cushman & Wakefield Commerce, Tom Pehl of CB Richard Ellis, Steve Schwartz of PREP and Doug Klein of GVA Kidder Mathews. Register at naiopwa.org.

ICSC forecast June 21

Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani will be the keynote speaker at an International Council of Shopping Center's economic forecast lunch June 21 in Seattle at the Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Ave. There also will be a discussion by panelists Rick Jarvis, who heads the state Department of Financial Institutions, and Arun Raha, executive director of the state Economic Revenue and Forecast Council. Register at icsc.org.

CREW lunch June 10

Bonnie Dunbar, president and CEO of the Museum of Flight, will be the luncheon speaker at the June 10 CREW Seattle & Sound meeting at the Washington Athletic Club, starting at 11:30 a.m. with registration. She will talk about piloting the shuttle's next mission. Dunbar has spent more than 50 days in orbit and is a native of Sunnyside. To register go to http://www.crewseattle.org.