Jul 26, 2024

Compass Construction

Seeb

Brooks

Uchiumi

Brabec

Kirkland-based Compass Construction recently hired Bo Brabec as a field assistant and promoted Derek Uchiumi, Logan Brooks and Jeff Seeb. Brabec joined Compass in March of this year and is part of the Simon Northgate project team. He graduated in 2023 from CWU with a B.S. in Business Administration. Uchiumi and Brooks, both promoted to project managers, started at Compass as senior project engineers. Uchiumi, a University of Washington alum with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, joined Compass in April 2021, and now works on the Simon Northgate project. Brooks, who graduated from CWU's Construction Management program in 2018, was hired in September 2021 and is also assigned to the Simon Northgate project. Seeb has been promoted to senior project manager — affordable housing. Since joining Compass in 2016, he has steadily advanced and is currently leading Bryant Manor, Compass' first affordable housing project in Seattle. Seeb completed the HDC Leadership Cohort and is an active participant in Youth Build's mentorship program and the Subcontractor Minority Alliance. He graduated from Montana State University in 2013 with a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology.

Perkins Coie

Perkins Coie announced that Mike Paisner has joined the firm as a partner in the Seattle office. Paisner brings almost two decades of experience handling significant disputes, investigations, and other legal matters in private practice, government, and a series of senior in-house roles. He joins the firm from The Boeing Co., where he served most recently as vice president for international disputes, insured matters, and bid protests. His experience includes supervising numerous major complex litigations and domestic and international arbitrations, preparing written submissions and leading in-person presentations to government enforcement agencies and regulators, and serving in a senior compliance role. He has also handled and argued significant appeals before multiple federal circuit courts. Prior to joining Boeing, Paisner worked at a law firm in Washington, D.C., representing clients in appellate and trial court litigation, as well as in connection with legislative and regulatory matters. Earlier in his career, he served as an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, and clerked for the Hon. Dennis G. Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  At Perkins Coie, Paisner will focus his practice on critical litigation and arbitration, including business, product liability, and other types of complex disputes.

Jul 25, 2024

Gantry finds $40M for Mercer Island units

[enlarge]

The Mercer, with its 235 units, was developed in 2005 and 2015 by the late James Cassan in the heart of Mercer Island's town center district. The family still owns the mixed-use complex, also home to several downtown businesses. Gantry recently procured a $40 million refinancing package for the five-story complex. Northwestern Mutual Life was the lender. Arranging the 10-year, non-recourse, fixed-rate loan were Gantry's Alicia Sabanero and Mike Wood; the latter said in a statement, “We continue to identify a variety of attractive loan options in the current cycle for multifamily assets from our roster of life company lenders. These insurance companies remain one of the most consistent sources for permanent debt on stabilized, performing properties. Mercer is a superior Class A property at a superlative location offering strong long-term fundamentals with a conservative client operating and maintaining the property to its best and highest potential.” The Mercer is mere steps from the light-rail station, expected to open last year. Cassan's obituary is fascinating. He went from Boeing engineer, who left when the SST program collapsed, to Dollar Rent-A-Car entrepreneur to commercial real estate, running Dollar Development. He died in January, and is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.

CBRE makes industrial hire

Roddy

CBRE announced its recent hiring of industrial specialist Mark Roddy, who'll join the Tacoma office. He makes the move from Prologis, his perch for the past 13 years. CBRE's John R. Miller said in a statement, “Mark is a tenured, well-respected professional within the industry, and we're excited to have him join the team. His experience working for one of the largest institutional investors in the country will be a great asset to our industrial team and clients.” CBRE adds that 3.9 million square feet of industrial space is now under construction in the Tacoma-Fife area, with 78% of it pre-leased.

ICG fund turns nice profit from recent sales

[enlarge]

Based here in Seattle, Investors Capital Group buys and sells multifamily properties up and down the West Coast and into the Sun Belt states. The firm recently announced three dispositions worth about $122.8 million. The 528 units were in Arizona, Utah and Idaho, and the three sales closed in recent months. Buyers weren't named. ICG purchased the trio from its 2018 Fund, then spending about $71.3 million on the three acquisitions. (Two other properties were previously sold from the same fund.) So after a six-year hold, ICG and its investors realized a roughly 19% internal rate of return (IRR), with a past annual rate of return of around 34% per year. ICG's Mike Christian said in a statement, “The 2018 Fund exceeded our year-10 value projections in less than six years, which made a compelling case to unwind the investment. Additionally, we benefited from strong investor demand as we listed the properties in the first quarter of 2024, when very little product was coming to market.” ICG is also affiliated with Avenue5 Residential, which manages over 140,000 units, about 4,000 of them held by ICG.

Rafn

Cuadros

Taylor

Salas

Meno

Buerk

Oliver

Bellevue-based general contractor Rafn promoted Steve Buerk to business development / preconstruction director; Ryan Meno to estimating director and senior project manager; Art Salas to superintendent; Chris Taylor to superintendent; Mario Cuadros to assistant superintendent; and Jen Oliver to senior project manager. Buerk has been with Rafn for 24 years and now leads the company's preconstruction planning efforts while also working on business development. He began his career as a project engineer and has managed projects as both a superintendent and a project manager. Meno has been with Rafn for 26 years working from project engineer to senior project manager on some of the company's most iconic projects. In addition to managing projects, as estimating director Meno leads the review of all company estimates, resource scheduling, and coordination of peer reviews to ensure estimates are consistent and complete. Salas, is a 24-year Rafn team member. He recently finished the Flourish on Rainier Apartments building as an assistant superintendent and has now joined the Redmond Way Apartments project team as a superintendent. Taylor has moved up the ranks at Rafn over the past 32 years and is now a superintendent, running multiple projects on UW's Greek Row this summer. Cuadros, with 17 years at Rafn, was an member of the Bush School Gracemont Building renovation team as a senior project engineer. He now joins the Pacific Apartments renovation project team as an assistant superintendent. Oliver has been a project engineer at Rafn for 5 years and is currently finishing up The Teel apartments at Green Lake Village as a senior project manager.

P2S

Fuks

P2S promoted Mikhail Fuks to vice president. Fuks has 18 years of experience working on large, complex projects, primarily for healthcare and life science facilities. He has been working at P2S for nine years, growing the firm's healthcare presence in southern California. In his new position, he will expand his influence along the West Coast and into the science and technology sector, and provide strategic planning, team growth, technical excellence, and client service support. P2S offers full-service mechanical, electrical, plumbing, energy, and technology engineering, commissioning, and construction management services, and has offices in Long Beach, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle.

Jul 24, 2024

Washington State LGBTQ Commission

Keating

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Lisa Keating director of the Washington State LGBTQ Commission The position was previously held by Manny Santiago, who served as the commission's inaugural director when it launched in 2019. He left the commission in February 2024. Sheri Sawyer, deputy director of policy and outreach for the governor's office, has served as acting director. Keating has extensive experience advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ people in Washington state and nationally. From 2021 to 2023, she served as the director of family engagement and policy with the GenderCool Project. Prior to that, Keating founded and ran My Purple Umbrella, where she provided training on LGBTQ+ safety and inclusion for schools, healthcare facilities and community organizations. Keating has also worked as an ELO (expanded learning opportunities) provider at the Tacoma Public Schools. She was elected to the school board for Tacoma Public Schools in 2019 and currently serves as the board's president.

C+C

Handy

Seattle-based C+C hired Mark Handy as executive vice president, Utility Solutions. Handy joined C+C from DNV, where he served as the head of section, Clean Energy Program. C+C's team currently works with solid waste and energy clients in the Pacific Northwest, Northeast, and Puerto Rico, with a focus on demand side management and commercial waste prevention. Hardy has more than 20 years of experience working with utilities, both as a large service provider/contractor and as a small business owner. While at DNV he led multidisciplinary teams through start up, steady state and close out of utility sponsored EE programs such as Downstream, Midstream, Direct Install and SEM. Prior to DNV, he was the CEO of KenJiva Energy Systems and held management positions at Sun Microsystems. He is a past director of the Illinois Solar Energy Association and the American Association for Blacks in Energy. C+C helps clients leverage communications to realize their business objectives through an integrated approach to planning, bringing together research-driven insights, multicultural perspectives, and a wide range of marketing disciplines to set goals and drive behavior change.

Inline Computer & Communications

VC3, a managed service provider serving municipalities and commercial businesses across North America, acquired Inline Computer & Communications, an IT services provider supporting Northwest businesses. Inline Computer & Communications has been in business in the Tri-Cities for over 35 years, providing support to many industries including medical facilities, dentists, construction companies, and professional services. Greg Hammer is Inline's CEO.