Company: The Benaroya Company and Centeris Data Centers
Story
In 2005, after consulting with companies on customer experience management and devoting time to philanthropic activities, I was considering starting another company. Then The Benaroya Company (Benaroya), a prominent Seattle commercial real estate firm that finances, develops and manages real estate projects for a wide range of global and regional enterprises, reached out to me to join their executive team leading strategic marketing, government relations and other business imperatives. In this role, I’ve been directly involved with nearly one hundred deals reflecting billions of dollars in projects and transactions including data centers, industrial, technology, high-quality office, retail, health care, and hospitality real estate developments.
Among other projects, I’ve been instrumental in the game-changing 2022 passing of a state-wide urban and rural data center sales and use tax exemption. This drove immediate leasing activity resulting in 100% occupancy for Centeris Data Centers, which provides AI and mission critical digital infrastructure for global and regional companies. In recognition of the hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment, increased tax revenues and high wage job creation, Centeris tenant Voltage Park was awarded Washington State Economic Development Association’s (WEDA) 2023 Business Recruitment of the Year for attracting jobs and investment, followed by receiving the 2024 Pierce County Economic Development Board Golden Shovel Award for its significant contribution to the economic well-being of Tacoma-Pierce County.
Impact
During my time at Benaroya and Centeris Data Centers, I played a leading role in a significant number of successful, highly complex projects and deals across all commercial real estate industry segments. A hallmark of my involvement has been multifaceted assets in high growth sectors where change is constant. Examples include 2019’s single largest asset sale in the Pacific Northwest of the 1.15 million square foot UNFI logistics center at our former 77-acre site in Centralia, WA; landing of the largest industrial lease of 2020 in the State of Washington, a 1.2 million square foot distribution facility for a Fortune 100 e-commerce company; subsequent repositioning of the site to an Innovation Park after successfully securing necessary infrastructure; the adaptive reuse and strategic marketing of a former 92-acre semiconductor chip campus to an award-winning world class Centeris data center USGBC LEED Gold Data Center, Class A Office and where we built-to-suit the first LEED for healthcare facility in the U.S.
I have also had an active role leading government relations initiatives collaborating with all community stakeholders including government officials, lobbyists, trade organizations, chambers of commerce and economic development organizations to help drive successful development, business attraction and retention. In all cases, my focus has been to drive the highest possible value and best use of every asset with a positive impact to the community. Through my leadership, these projects have earned numerous awards, contributing to the economic health and vibrancy of the Pacific Northwest.
