Seattle, WA
Architect Returns to Design Firm To Expand Seattle Office
Architect Doug Demers has had a diverse career that includes working as a business strategist and real estate executive, positions that helped him land a position at global design firm HKS managing its first Pacific Northwest office.
The job Demers started last year as principal and director of the new HKS office in Seattle is also a sort of homecoming. He started his career in the early 1980s working in the design firm’s Dallas headquarters.
“I graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology, interviewed with the biggest firm in town which was HKS, and they hired me that afternoon,” Demers said in an interview. “I put all my stuff in the car, drove down to Dallas with my brother and started my new job.”
One of Demers’ first friends and coworkers in the industry, Dan Noble, eventually became one of HKS’ most prominent executives. Noble, who at the time worked in the studio next to Demer, also was just starting his career. Noble moved up the ranks to become president and CEO of HKS, one of the world’s largest architecture firms with 1,500 employees across 27 global offices.
“There were 10 of us that started within a month or two, and I became friends with Dan,” Demers said. It was a friendship that would turn out to help shape Noble’s later career.
Demers went on to work for other large design firms such as HOK, Perkins+Will and Callison, now CallisonRTKL, for the next 25 years before joining real estate brokerage Colliers. As a managing principal at Colliers, he founded the firm’s strategic planning and consulting practice in Seattle.
After several years in brokerage Demers returned to architecture in 2013, when he joined global firm B+H Architects in Seattle. A decade later, Demers, who had always stayed in touch with Noble, talked with the HKS executive about partnering with B+H on a couple of healthcare projects.
HKS had a number of longtime clients in the Pacific Northwest, despite not having a physical presence. The firm’s architects had designed several large projects in greater Seattle since the mid-1990s, including work for Seattle Children’s Hospital.
HKS had looked at several opportunities over the years to open an office in greater Seattle, home to Amazon, Microsoft and other large corporations, “but none of them fit quite right,” Demers said.
However, the Pacific Northwest was the only U.S. region where HKS didn’t have an office. That led to discussions with Noble about Demers rejoining HKS, the firm where both architects started their careers 40 years earlier.
“The right opportunity presented itself, and we simply couldn’t pass it up,” Noble said in a statement.
Architects Bryan Croeni, Christa Jansen and Joslyn Balzarini, who also worked for B+H, joined Demers in opening the new HKS Seattle office last summer.
“These were trusted relationships with people that made it easier for HKS to get their foot into the marketplace,” Demers said.
With 10 professionals in the new Seattle office and plans to add more, Demers expects the office to focus on hospitality, advanced manufacturing and mixed-use projects. He also plans to build the firm’s local portfolio with more projects in such growing real estate niches as health care, sports-related development, higher education and life science.
HKS is designing Lincoln Property’s proposed nine-story life science building at Fifth Avenue and John Street near Seattle Center. The firm also designed W Hotel Bellevue, a 245-room property on Lake Washington that opened in 2017.
Seattle, WA
Melinda French Gates is done ‘cheering on Seattle from the sidelines’ — she’s buying into the bet to bring the Sonics back | Fortune
Melinda French Gates, a billionaire philanthropist and businesswoman, will join the Seattle Kraken as a minority investor, pending NHL approval.
French Gates, 61, is the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. She and her $30 billion net worth, according to Forbes, join an ownership group headlined by majority owner and managing partner Samantha Holloway, as well as investors David Wright, Andy Jassy and longtime Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
“As a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future,” French Gates said in a statement. “I’m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I’m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community.”
French Gates has never previously had an ownership stake in a major professional sports franchise. She will do so at a time when the Kraken ownership group is positioning itself to own an NBA franchise should the NBA return to the Emerald City for the first time since the SuperSonics were relocated to Oklahoma City nearly 20 years ago.
In March, the Kraken ownership group announced the creation of One Roof Sports and Entertainment, which serves as the umbrella brand of the organization to “oversee a growing portfolio of properties and fuel new opportunities.” At the time, Holloway announced that One Roof would pursue an NBA team in Seattle, should the league move forward with expansion.
Holloway also announced in March that the group had entered an agreement to purchase additional equity in Climate Pledge Arena from Oak View Group, and would make the organization the majority owner of the building. OVG has retained a minority stake.
French Gates, who grew up in Dallas and received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics, as well as an MBA from Duke, currently heads Pivotal, a group of organizations she founded to accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people in the United States and around the world.
French Gates previously founded and co-chaired the Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy.
“I am excited to welcome Melinda to our ownership group,” Holloway said in a statement. “Melinda is an impressive business leader, philanthropist and importantly, a Seattle sports fan. We share many of the same values, including a deep commitment to Seattle and a belief in building organizations that create lasting impact.”
Seattle, WA
Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates, to join Seattle Kraken as minority investor
SEATTLE (AP) — Melinda French Gates, a billionaire philanthropist and businesswoman, will join the Seattle Kraken as a minority investor, pending NHL approval.
French Gates, 61, is the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. She and her $30 billion net worth, according to Forbes, join an ownership group headlined by majority owner and managing partner Samantha Holloway, as well as investors David Wright, Andy Jassy and longtime Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
“As a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future,” French Gates said in a statement. “I’m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I’m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community.”
French Gates has never previously had an ownership stake in a major professional sports franchise. She will do so at a time when the Kraken ownership group is positioning itself to own an NBA franchise should the NBA return to the Emerald City for the first time since the SuperSonics were relocated to Oklahoma City nearly 20 years ago.
In March, the Kraken ownership group announced the creation of One Roof Sports and Entertainment, which serves as the umbrella brand of the organization to “oversee a growing portfolio of properties and fuel new opportunities.” At the time, Holloway announced that One Roof would pursue an NBA team in Seattle, should the league move forward with expansion.
Holloway also announced in March that the group had entered an agreement to purchase additional equity in Climate Pledge Arena from Oak View Group, and would make the organization the majority owner of the building. OVG has retained a minority stake.
French Gates, who grew up in Dallas and received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics, as well as an MBA from Duke, currently heads Pivotal, a group of organizations she founded to accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people in the United States and around the world.
French Gates previously founded and co-chaired the Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy.
“I am excited to welcome Melinda to our ownership group,” Holloway said in a statement. “Melinda is an impressive business leader, philanthropist and importantly, a Seattle sports fan. We share many of the same values, including a deep commitment to Seattle and a belief in building organizations that create lasting impact.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
SEATTLE — Seattle police arrested a 40-year-old man after a stabbing in the University District on Monday morning that left another man wounded.
Officers were sent to the 5000 block of Brooklyn Avenue North just before 8 a.m. for a reported stabbing. Police arrived and found a 21-year-old man with stab wounds.
Officers provided aid until the Seattle Fire Department arrived and took over. The victim’s injuries were stated to be non-life-threatening
Police searched the area and located a suspect near Northeast 47th Street and University Way Northeast. The 40-year-old man was arrested and booked into the King County Jail.
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