Company: The Benaroya Company
Story
In 2005, after consulting with companies on customer experience management and volunteering my time on philanthropic activities, I was ready for another big dive. I was researching starting another company when 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 technology, industrial, office, retail, health care, and hospitality real estate developments.
Among other projects, I’ve been instrumental in making a site ready for development while subsequently landing 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. The project involved over $100 million dollars of private investment for the construction of this state-of-the-art facility, providing tremendous economic impact and jobs creation serving the Portland and Seattle areas. In addition, I worked with our partners to make sure the infrastructure was in place to attract another 3 million square feet of industrial facilities and investment to the 320-acre site.
Impact
During my time at Benaroya, 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; the repositioning and strategic marketing of a former 92-acre semiconductor chip campus to an award-winning green Business + Technology Center featuring a world-class USGBC LEED Gold Data Center, Class A Office and where we built-to-suit the first LEED for healthcare facility in the U.S., to the repositioning and adaptive reuse of a wholesale gift mart to a Class A Office building and subsequent sale.
I also actively led government relations collaborating with government officials, lobbyists, trade organizations and economic development organizations to help drive successful development and business attraction. In all cases, my focus has been to realize the Company’s aim to drive the highest possible value and best use of every asset. Through my leadership, many projects have been recognized, through numerous awards, as contributing to the economic health and vibrancy of the Pacific Northwest.
