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Get to Know NAIOP’s 2017 Hall of Fame Inductee: Douglas Howe

Be humble and always be flexible.

Douglas Howe headshotAnyone who knows Douglas Howe knows that his charismatic personality, dedication to his craft and keen business sense have made his success what it is today. His passion to develop buildings that make a positive impact on the built environment, his humility and the ardent viewpoint that he’s a student of his field even after forty years are also hallmarks of his tenure—one that’s made a significant difference to the Seattle urban core and the Puget Sound region.

NAIOP Washington State will honor and induct Douglas Howe, founder and former CEO of Touchstone, into its Hall of Fame at the 2017 Night of the Stars awards. The Hall of Fame was created to recognize the people who laid the groundwork for the industry today and have helped shape the character of the region and the great cities in Washington. Under Douglas’ leadership, Touchstone has broken ground on 12 projects comprising nearly three million square feet and is currently developing two million square feet of real estate.

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2017 Night of the Stars Finalists [Member News]

NAIOP WA Announces New App Featuring CRE’s Industry Best with 2017 Night of the Stars Finalists & Hall of Fame Inductee Douglas Howe

New for 2017: People’s Choice Award with Daily Voting Online | Douglas Howe to be honored as 2017 Hall of Fame inductee in recognition of his contributions to the built environment of Seattle and the Puget Sound and to NAIOP

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Maria Elena Poyer [Member Profile]

Maria Elena Poyer is an Assistant Vice President and Portfolio Management Officer with Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Commercial Real Estate Banking division, where she's worked for three years. Maria recently moved to Seattle and joined NAIOP Washington State to build her professional network. She's also been featured on popular TV shows playing a well-known but unusual instrument. Read on to learn more about Maria, and be sure to connect with her on LinkedIn and introduce yourself at an upcoming event!  

What do you like best about your industry? 
Tangible results. It’s rare in the finance industry to be able to see or touch the results of your work. In commercial real estate, you get the opportunity to help clients build projects that could one day even be iconic, which excites me.

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It’s All About the Experience [June 2017 Breakfast Recap]

presenter headshots - June 2017 breakfastOur June Breakfast Meeting, It’s All About the Experience, explored the design drivers for residential, retail and commercial. The breakfast was sponsored by Juniper Capital, Rushing and Graphite Design. We sincerely thank them for their support.

President Kristin Jensen related information about a NAIOP Washington State PAC fundraiser on June 28. She also spoke about the real estate excise tax potential increase. We had a new member update and heard about the Property Tour that will take place in Bellevue on July 20.

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Budget Stalemate in Olympia: Possible tax increases that impact the commercial real estate industry

The 2017 session of the Washington State Legislature is now in its second 30-day special session in order to find agreement on the level and sources of funding for the McCleary decision to fully fund K-12 education. The legislature is expected to reach agreement by the end of the special session on June 21, or by June 30, the final day of the current biennium.

The Washington Supreme Court ruled in McCleary that school districts’ reliance on local levies, and the ability of local communities to pay for those levies, varied dramatically around the state and resulted in inequitable funding of K-12 education. The legislature’s challenge has been to equitably fund education statewide.

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Solving Our Region's Homelessness Problem [May 2017 Breakfast Recap]

This was a tough one! We have participated in and to a large extent driven the tremendous real estate expansion in Seattle and that’s a good thing! However, there can be unintended consequences and in our May Breakfast we explored one of those consequences: Homelessness. The Breakfast was sponsored by Lake Union Partners, Runberg Architecture Group, and Rushing. We sincerely thank them for their continued support.

President Kristin Jensen related information about the annual NAIOP Washington State PAC fundraiser on June 28. She also welcomed our new members. We heard about the Summer Social on August 14 at The Golf Club at Newcastle and received a presentation on the 2017 Real Estate Challenge, which was held in British Columbia.

Richard Kendall, General Manager, Allison+Partners moderated our panel which included:

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2017 Broker Forecast [April Breakfast Recap]

panel_headshotsIn a very highly attended event, the annual Broker’s Forecast was presented to our Breakfast attendees on April 26. The breakfast was sponsored by Rushing, LBA Realty, O’Keefe Development and Sellen Construction - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. President Kristin Jensen began the meeting and gave the assembly an update on new members and introduced Kris Beason who gave some background on Sellen. John Swanson from Umpqua Bank also made a short presentation. We heard about the Community Enhancement Project which will be on September 30 at Farmer Frog in Woodinville.

Rob Swartz, Senior VP of Kilroy Realty, moderated our panel and introduced our esteemed panelists:

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Zillow's Crystal Ball on Seattle Real Estate [March 2017 Breakfast Meeting Recap]

On Wednesday, March 15, breakfast meeting attendees were treated to a lively discussion of the Seattle residential real estate market. The breakfast was sponsored by Moss Adams and Pyatt/Broadmark Management - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. President Kristin Jensen gave the assembly an update on the latest economic impact numbers from the commercial real estate industry in Washington State and across the country, and we also met new members. Additionally, we heard an update on the national board of directors from our local liaisons to that board.

Seattle Insignia Towers

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Economic Impact of Commercial Real Estate in Washington State [NAIOP News]

Report: Commercial Real Estate in Washington State Supported 43,130 Jobs and $6.3 Billion of GDP in 2016

SEATTLE – In late February, the NAIOP Research Foundation released the NAIOP Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate report (2017 Edition). The report is conducted for purposes of estimating the annual economic contribution of commercial real estate development to the U.S. economy. 

National highlights from the 2017 report include:

  • Commercial real estate development supported 6.3* million American jobs in 2016 (a measure of both new and existing jobs).
  • Commercial real estate development contributed $465 billion to the GDP* in 2016.
  • There were 410.1 million square feet of commercial real estate space built in 2016, with capacity to house 1.1 million new workers.

Locally, 2016 economic impacts in Washington State included: 

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Capital Markets Forecast 2017 [February Breakfast Recap]

On Wednesday, February 15, attendees of the monthly Breakfast meeting were treated to the annual Capital Markets Forecast, sponsored by JLL, Andersen Construction, and Umpqua Bank. We sincerely thank our sponsors for their continued support.

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This is why NAIOP works. [Local News]

This is why NAIOP works.

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NAIOP Washington State Wins Chapter of the Year [Chapter News]

This morning in Washington, D.C., NAIOP Corporate named Washington State the 2017 Chapter of the Year, recognizing the overall strength of our local organization. The annual merit awards program evaluates chapter education, government affairs involvement, member recruitment and retention, communications, and chapter management. 

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Seattle Building Tune-Ups Rule Announcement [Development News]

Earlier this week, Christie Baumel, Climate & Energy Advisor in Seattle's Office of Sustainability & Environment, announced that OSE Director’s Rule 2016-01 implementing the Seattle Building Tune-Ups requirement has been finalized. NAIOP Washington State's members were able to learn about and directly contribute to the development of this rule via a Sustainable Development Roundtable event in late 2015. 

Christie Baumel's announcement:

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Lessons from Auckland with the Runstad Fellows [January 2017 Breakfast Recap]

Happy New Year! The attendees for the January Breakfast Meeting were treated to travel across the Pacific courtesy of the Runstad Fellows with a program entitled Lessons from Auckland.

Outgoing President John Teutsch opened the meeting with thanks to JPC Architects for sponsoring the breakfast. We sincerely appreciate their support. And we sincerely thank John for his leadership.

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Mark Craig, President, Henbart LLC [Member Profile]

Mark CraigBrief description, size and scope of your company:
14 properties in the Puget Sound region representing a variety of asset types: office/medical office/retail and mixed use.

How long have you been with your company?
Since 2008

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Defining Moments: Lincoln Square [December 2016 Breakfast Recap]

That which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger! Attendees at the December Breakfast meeting for NAIOP were treated to a vivid example of this at our Fifth Annual Defining Moments program.

Outgoing President John Teutsch began the meeting with a very nice rendition of Silver Bells. This was John’s last Breakfast meeting as President and we thank him for his great service and singing voice! John also thanked our sponsors, Venture General Contracting, GLY and The Broderick Group. We thank them for their continuing support.

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Thriving Neighborhoods in Seattle [Nov. 2016 Breakfast Recap]

We all know that Seattle is booming. In our November breakfast we heard about three neighborhoods that are contributing to that boom—in fact, they’re thriving!

Our sponsors were:

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Congratulations 2016 Night of the Stars Winners!

2016 NAIOP Washington State Night of the Stars Winners Announced

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Morton Kondracke's Inside Perspective on the Presidential Election & Policy [Oct. 2016 Breakfast Recap]

Those brave souls not fed up with the election were treated to a fascinating analysis by a true Washington insider, Morton Kondracke, at the October breakfast meeting.

The breakfast was sponsored by CREW Seattle & Puget Sound and we appreciate their continued support.

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Cephas Partners’ Mollie Fadule and Security Properties’ Davis Vaughn Receive NAIOP’s Developing Leaders Award

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has recognized Mollie Fadule, co-founder and partner, Cephas Partners, and Davis Vaughn, director, Security Properties, with its prestigious 2016 Developing Leaders Award.

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