Oct 21, 2010

Pacific Real Estate Partners

Pacific Real Estate Partners promoted Andrew Stark to vice president in the Bellevue office. Among the tenants and landlords he represents are Alcoa, Stoneway Electric Supply, Metzler North America and Schnitzer West.

Orion Commercial Partners

Dan Foster and Matthew Hinrichs, formerly of Pacific Real Estate Partners, launched Orion Commercial Partners, an integrated real estate firm. Genni Reilly of Reilly & Associates will share office space with Orion at Merrill Place in Pioneer Square and collaborate with Orion full time. Reilly has worked for Vulcan, Quadrant, Port Blakely Cos. and Koll Co. The three will work on all services, with Foster as general manager and leading investment sales and acquisitions. Hinrichs and Reilly will lead property management and leasing. Orion said it will focus on clients long term rather than on transaction volume and fees. The company also will explore co-investing, joint ventures and other ways of investing with clients.

REI

Mark K. Comstock is the new vice president of real estate and store development for REI, the Kent-based national co-op that sells outdoor gear and clothing. This is a new position for the company. REI CFO Ivar Chhina said REI is making an investment in strategic growth. Comstock was vice president of real estate and facilities for T-Mobile USA, and has worked at Eddie Bauer and Egghead Software.

Cairncross & Hempelmann

Real estate attorney Staci Snyder Jones rejoined the Seattle law firm of Cairncross & Hempelmann as a principal. She focuses on leases. The firm hired Samantha Bushaw, who recently graduated from Seattle University School of Law.

NorthMarq Capital

Stuart Oswald, senior vice president in NorthMarq Capital's Bellevue office, arranged first mortgage financing of $18 million for the Quail Park Retirement Village in Visalia, Calif. He said it was a “cash out” refinance on a stabilized property. The deal arranged through Freddie Mac is a 10-year fixed rate at below 5 percent.

Escala tour

Commercial Real Estate Women will host a tour of the Escala condo tower in downtown Seattle at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 2. The tour begins at Hotel Andra, 2000 Fourth Ave. Register at crewseattle.org.

Development incentives conference

The Seminar Group will host a conference about real estate development incentives Nov. 4-5 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle. Experts will give presentations on programs available in Washington, from low-income housing and new market tax credits to conservation easements. Continuing education credits are available. Register at theseminargroup.net or by calling (206) 463-4400 or 1 (800) 574-4852.

Oct 14, 2010

Commerce Real Estate

Commerce Real Estate Solutions, a Cushman & Wakefield Alliance member based in Salt Lake City, hired Michele Guidinger Weber as chief human resources officer for western states. She will be based in Cushman & Wakefield — Commerce's Seattle office and oversee human resources for Washington, Utah and Nevada. She was regional operations manager for Cushman & Wakefield in Seattle. Other promotions in Cushman & Wakefield — Commerce in Seattle are: Ashleigh Sundet to associate on the Eastside office leasing team, Kristina Madayag to associate on the Southend industrial advisory services team and Chandra Wilson to associate with the downtown Seattle office leasing team. Ashleigh Kilcup joined the downtown Seattle leasing team as an associate. Kilcup was with Weber Thompson in Seattle. Inger Johnson joined the retail services group.

Banner Bank

Banner Bank and Todd Hull, the bank's assistant vice president of income property lending, won the Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound's President's Award. Hull works in the corporate loan center in Bellevue.

Rider Levett Bucknall

Rider Levett Bucknall, an international property and construction consulting company with a Seattle office, has teamed up with Distressed Real Estate Solutions of Phoenix. Tom Vivaldelli, founder and president of DRES, said the new service will help owners, developers and financial organizations with distressed commercial real estate.

Presidio Residential Capital

Presidio Residential Capital of San Diego, which provides construction lending to home builders, plans to expand to other Western markets including Seattle. Founder Don Faye said non-recourse residential construction financing is virtually nonexistent for private builders. Faye said he has teamed with a long-term investment partner to offer alternatives. The company considers loans with a minimum commitment of $10 million.

Colliers International

Seattle-based Colliers International expanded when commercial real estate brokerage Anthony & Co., in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., joined the network. This is the eighth addition to Colliers this year. A subsidiary of publicly traded FirstService Corp., Colliers International has 15,000 employees in 61 countries.

Team Builder JLS

Officials of Rennie Marketing and Team Builder John L. Scott said all 278 condominiums at Canal Station and Canal North have sold. Continental Properties began building the $80 million complex in Ballard in 2005. Rennie and Team Builder marketed and sold the condos.

NAIOP fall seminar Oct. 20

Learn about some of the region's economic bright spots at NAIOP's fall seminar and breakfast meeting Oct. 20 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle. Continuing education credits are available. Scott Rusch, vice president of facilities and operations for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, will speak at the 7:30 a.m. breakfast and first seminar. Bari Bookout, director of commercial strategy at the Port of Seattle, will speak at the 9:15 a.m. seminar. The 10:45 a.m. session will feature panelists from the video-gaming industry. Register at naiopwa.org.