Nov 15, 2019

TrueBlue

Holmes

Owen

In Tacoma, TrueBlue named Taryn Owen president of its PeopleReady industrial staffing division, effective Dec. 30. Owen is president and talent solutions innovator at PeopleScout, another TrueBlue division. Chip Holmes will serve as interim president of PeopleScout while a permanent successor is found. Holmes is senior vice president of client delivery at PeopleScout. TrueBlue provides specialized workforce staffing.

Lane Powell

Berry

In Seattle, the law firm Lane Powell hired Melissa M. Berry as director of professional development and diversity. Berry was assistant dean for Student & Career Services at the University of Washington School of Law. She began her career as a litigator at Latham & Watkins and Perkins Coie before turning her focus to legal academia.

Lattice Semiconductor

Hillsboro, Oregon-based chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor appointed Anjali Joshi to its board and compensation committee. Joshi has over 30 years of experience in high-tech engineering and product management, with stints as vice president of product management at Google and executive vice president of engineering at Covad Communications.

City of Tacoma

The Tacoma City Council approved an agreement with Rainier Connect to operate the municipally owned Click! Network. The deal allows Rainier Connect to use excess capacity over the network to provide video and broadband services, while the city retains ownership of the network. Click! offers cable TV and wholesale internet service.

Evergreen Gavekal

Seattle-based Evergreen Gavekal launched a new investment service focused on millennials called Evervestment. The company says the service bridges the market gap between robo-advisors and traditional investment companies. Investors can open an account with $75,000-$500,000. Annual management fees are .75%.

Nov 14, 2019

Pacific Hospital PDA

Kim

John Kim is the new executive director of Pacific Hospital Preservation & Development Authority in Seattle. Kim was executive director of Seattle Jobs Initiative, where he helped diverse peoples become competitive for living-wage careers. Before that, he was COO of Northwest Regional Primary Care Association, where he helped community and migrant health centers ensure that all people have access to quality, affordable health care. Pacific Hospital PDA leases out Pacific Hospital in Seattle, using those revenues to improve access to health care services in King County.

Amazon

Seattle-based Amazon plans to build a 350,000-square-foot robotics innovation hub in Westborough, Massachusetts. The $40 million project will open in 2021 and will contain corporate offices, R&D labs and manufacturing space. The company said this new hub will be in addition to its existing robotics facility in nearby North Reading. About 200 tech and advanced manufacturing jobs will be created in Westborough. Atlantic Management of Framingham, Massachusetts, is the developer.

Omeros

Three scientists with Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company Omeros won the 2019 Prix Galien Canada Research Award. The team includes: Dr. Alexander Gragerov, associate vice president of research; Dr. George A. Gaitanaris, chief scientific officer; and Dr. Gregory A. Demopulos, chair and CEO. They helped develop an approach for identifying new drugs based on a method first developed by University of Toronto professors Susan R. George and Brian O'Dowd, who share the award.

Concord Technologies

Seattle-based Concord Technologies won an inaugural 2019 Inspire Security Awareness Award from Infosec, a proponent of cybersecurity education. Concord won the Big Phish Award, which recognizes Infosec clients with the most advanced phishing training programs for employees. Concord helps healthcare and other highly regulated industries automate their manual and document-intensive processes. Infosec is based in Madison, Wisconsin.

City University

City University of Seattle formed an education partnership with American Bankers Association that allows banking employees nationwide to convert ABA coursework into credit to substantially reduce the cost and time to complete a business degree. CityU says, in some cases, students can earn a degree in one year for under $10,000.

Berkadia scores $77M loan for Eastside deal

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The 298-unit Issaquah Terrace traded early this month for $125 million. At the time, public records indicated a loan sourced via Berkadia to the buyers, three LLCs associated with Pacific Urban Residential of Palo Alto, California. Berkadia has now announced details for the transaction. Working out of its San Francisco office, Mitch Thurston and Andy Ahlers secured $77.4 million in senior debt financing from a private multifamily investment firm. Colliers brokered the deal for the 21-building in the Issaquah Highlands on behalf of the seller, Shelter Holdings.

Merrill Gardens adds to portfolio

Merrill Gardens announced the pending acquisition of a 26-property senior housing portfolio from New Senior Investment Group of New York. Terms weren't announced. The deal will be a joint venture with Toledo-based ReNew, which invests in senior housing. If completed as planned in the first quarter of next year, that'll bring Merrill Gardens' national portfolio up to 65 communities in 17 states. About half the new acquisitions are already managed by Blue Harbor of Portland, which Merrill Gardens purchased earlier this month. (At Blue Harbor, Tana Gall will succeed Dave Eskenazy, who's retiring, as president.) R.D. Merrill Co.'s Bill Pettit said in a statement, “This agreement provides an important chance for us to expand our footprint and diversify our senior housing product by entering the more moderately priced market and offering quality senior living to residents who are focused on that price point.”

WSHFC secures $252M for affordable units

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The Washington State Housing Finance Commission announced $252.6 million in financing for three affordable housing projects that total 807 units. All three packages combine tax-exempt and taxable bonds, plus federal tax-credit equity. Filipino Community Village, with 95 units in Hillman City, gets about $30.1 million. (Filipino Community of Seattle and HumanGood are the developers.) Inland Group's Copper Gate Apartments in north Auburn gets about $127.5 million for its 500 units. And at Esterra Park's Block 6B, Inland Group, the city of Redmond and Imagine Housing will benefit from about $95 million for 212 units.

Urban Design Forum and beers!

AIA Seattle will host its next Urban Design Forum and happy hour on Nov. 20. The event begins at 6 p.m. at Altstadt Bierhalle & Brathaus (209 First Ave. S.) Topics of discussion will include growth, climate, sustainability, last-mile delivery and microtransit. And that's just for starters. Details and info: aiaseattle.org.