Feb 09, 2024

King County Superior Court

Gov. Jay Inslee announced the appointment of Nicholas B. Straley to the King County Superior Court. He will replace Judge Mary Roberts, who retired from the bench on January 31, 2024. For over 26 years, Straley has been employed by Columbia Legal Services (CLS), a statewide nonprofit law firm that provides civil legal services to people living on low incomes in the state. He currently serves as CLS's litigation director. He has practiced in a wide range of subject matters throughout his career, including representing tenants and other people in housing-related matters, consumers in disputes with creditors, workers in disputes with employers and regulators, and incarcerated persons in matters related to their confinement. He has litigated both in state and federal courts, including significant complex civil and class action litigation. Earlier in his career, he served as a staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Since 2021 Straley has served on the YouthCare Board of Directors, an organization that works to end youth homelessness. Since 2019, he has served on the JustLead Washington Board of Directors. He also served as an alternate member of the Washington State Criminal Sentencing Task Force between 2019 and 2023. Straley earned his bachelor's degree from Oberlin College in Ohio. He earned his law degree from Cornell Law School.

The Peep Show

Seattle-based smart birdhouse maker The Peep Show will appear on an upcoming episode of The Shark Tank, ABC-TV's national TV show focused on helping budding entrepreneurs. The patent-pending smart home camera birdhouse—designed to stream nesting activity directly to users phones while simultaneously providing baby birds the best chance at life—will appear on February 16, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. on the reality TV show. The Peep Show includes a camera mount created to accommodate off-the-shelf wireless cameras with at least six months of battery life. The Peep Show is made of regionally-sourced wood panels and bio-plastic, and housed in recyclable packaging. The Peep show was founded by Steve Gray, with inspiration from father, Chuck. The product won the international Red Dot Award for Excellence in Product Design in 2023. The Peep Show seeks to elevate birdwatching to an accessible, fun and environmentally supportive activity for all ages.

NW Natural Water

NW Natural Water Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, has expanded further in two states with the acquisitions of Hiland Water Corporation's water utility business in Newberg, Oregon and Truxton Canyon Water Company and Cerbat Water Company near Kingman, Arizona. In addition, NW Natural Water increased its ownership interest in Avion Water in January 2024 and currently owns approximately 45% of Avion, which serves over 15,000 customers in central Oregon. With these transactions, NW Natural Water serves nearly 175,000 people through approximately 70,000 connections across five states.

Northwest Natural Holding Company is headquartered in Portland, and has been doing business for more than 165 years in the Pacific Northwest. It owns NW Natural Gas Company, NW Natural Water Company, and NW Natural Renewables Holdings.

Feb 08, 2024

Dept. of Natural Resources and Parks

Taylor

King County Executive Dow Constantine appointed John Taylor as the new director for the Department of Natural Resource and Parks, where Taylor will manage one of the largest metropolitan natural resource agencies in the country. Taylor has served as the inaugural director for the King County Department of Local Services since 2018 when Constantine established the agency to better serve the nearly 250,000 residents who live in unincorporated communities. He previously served as a member of the leadership team at the Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Taylor will lead an agency that manages a large portfolio of services and initiatives that protect and restore the region's natural environment, including climate action, land conservation, protecting water quality, restoring habitat, reducing waste, and promoting equitable access to parks and trails. He will lead a workforce of 2,000 employees and manage the largest capital portfolio of any King County government agency. He has 20 years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors, contributing to Vermont's first Smart Growth legislation, Seattle's Restore Our Waters Initiative, and establishing the Puget Sound Partnership. Taylor previously served as a strategic advisor to the director of Seattle Public Utilities, legislative analyst for the Seattle City Council, and senior policy advisor to the governor of Vermont. Taylor will begin serving as director of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks on Feb. 12. He will replace Christie True, who is retiring after a 39-year career at the agency, including 13 years as department director. Mo McBroom will continue to serve as the department's deputy director. Taylor's appointment is subject to confirmation by the King County Council. The Executive Office will begin recruiting for a new director for the Department of Local Services.

Port of Everett

Gerking

Erik Gerking has been promoted to serve as the new chief of planning & development for the Port of Everett, a new role responsible for leading the implementation of Port development, long-range planning and environmental efforts. Gerking is a 14-year veteran at the Port, where he has been an instrumental team member in numerous efforts, involving restoring and revitalizing the environment and modernizing waterfront properties. He has also led the Port's environmental stewardship and sustainability programming, incorporating green measures and enhancing environmental protections within each of the Port's business lines. With Gerking at the helm, he and the Port team have completed many environmental projects, most recently, the Norton Terminal Cleanup and Development, 353-acre Blue Heron Slough Restoration, Bay Wood Shoreline Cleanup and Habitat Restoration, Everett Shipyard Cleanup and Central Marina Improvements, plus 65 acres of environmental cleanup to pave the way for today's Waterfront Place mixed-use development. Gerking joined the Port of Everett in 2009, after nine years of environmental consulting for ports and other clients. He is actively involved in various committees of the Washington Public Ports Association, as well as the American Association of Port Authorities where he is currently completing the Professional Port Management Program. In addition to Gerking, some other recent Port leadership news include John Klekotka's new title as chief of engineering & construction, promotions of Robert Marion to director of finance, Catherine Soper to director of external affairs & business development, Ken Scott to IT manager and Jacob Kirschner to environmental project manager, and the hiring of Cara Craig as the new director of trade development. The Port is actively seeking a chief administrative & financial officer to manage the Port's $83 million operating and capital budget, while also overseeing all financial, risk management, purchasing, technology and HR functions of the Port.

PCCP loans $25M for Woodinville deal

[enlarge]

The Reserve at Woodinvill

As the DJC reported last month, CapRock Partners of California paid over $34 million for an industrial building at The Reserve at Woodinville, thus making its debut in our market. It now has an industrial portfolio of some 30 million square feet. The new owner said this month that its brokers were Michael Kendall, Gian Bruno, Kenny Patricia, Matt McGregor and Bill Condon at Colliers. CapRock's Bob O'Neill said in a statement, “The Puget Sound area is a dynamic economic region, and we are excited to raise the CapRock banner here.” Separately, PCCP said that it supplied a $25 million loan for the deal, which was arranged by JLL's Greg Brown, Peter Thompson and Kaden Eichmeier. PCCP's Dorian Farhang said, “This institutional-quality asset was acquired at a discount to replacement cost, and is located in the Eastside industrial market, which is currently the top-performing submarket within the Puget Sound industrial area.”

Kidder Mathews

Nicholes

Kidder Mathews announced a new addition to its industrial broker ranks. That would be Tyler Nicholes, who makes the move from Marcus & Millichap. His new title will be VP. He said in a statement, “I am thrilled to be joining the Kidder Mathews office. Their platform has proven to provide unparalleled opportunities for professional growth and business development, while working alongside industry-leading veterans with a wealth of knowledge and relationships.”

JLL

Ziemba

JLL announced that its Sam Ziemba is moving from his perch in Bellevue to Seattle, where he'll become a senior director in capital markets. He joined the firm four years ago. He'll be working with Mark Katz, who said in a statement, “We are incredibly excited to be the only office investment sales advisory team in Seattle that combines a national office leader with a senior professional who has spent their entire professional life in the Seattle market.” Ziemba added, “Having spent the bulk of my career on the leasing side of the business, I'm really looking forward to a new challenge on the sale side, particularly at such a pivotal turning point for the office market.” He has nearly two decades in the field.