The Cost Of Doing Business

Rising construction costs, advances in infrastructure, & developer insights

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  Robert Wallace

  Bob Wallace is CEO of Wallace Properties, Inc., which he founded in 1977. He also heads up numerous corporate and partnership entities involved in commercial real estate investment, development, management and brokerage. He remains actively involved in the management of commercial properties for his own and others’ portfolios. Wallace has served as chairman of a number of important regional endeavors, such as the Puget Sound Air Transportation Commission, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Major League Baseball PFD (Safeco Field), Meydenbauer Center and more. In 2013, Bob and his wife, Joan were inducted into the NAIOP Hall of Fame, which recognizes the people who laid the groundwork for the industry today and have helped shape the character of our region. Bob is a Business Administration graduate of Seattle Pacific University and is past Chairman of the Washington State Commercial Association of Realtors. In 2018, he completed terms on the boards of PREMERA Blue Cross, Puget Sound Bank, Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and Bloodworks Northwest (formerly Puget Sound Blood Center). He has been married to Joan for 52 years, has two grown children, five wonderful grandchildren and an absolutely incorrigible dog named Lucy.

  Wallace Properties

  Founder & CEO

  Robert Wallace

  Founder & CEO

  Wallace Properties

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  Nathan Torgelson

  NATHAN TORGELSON has dedicated his career in the public sector to improving communities and the built environment. Nathan was appointed to be Director of the City of Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) in January 2016. Nathan leads a staff of 460, with a budget of $109 million, who are responsible for the City’s permitting, code compliance and land use code development work. Previously Nathan was Deputy Director of the City’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD), and led the long range planning and community engagement divisions. Nathan has held a variety of other positions at the City of Seattle, including working on community development issues for former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, working at the Office of Economic Development, and working on Seattle’s waterfront project for Seattle Parks and Recreation. Nathan also served as the Economic Development Director for four years for the City of Kent. A native of Minnesota, Nathan has a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a graduate of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Northwest Center for Sustainable Leadership and was a ULI Rose Center Fellow. He also is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Certificate Program in Commercial Real Estate.

  City of Seattle

  Director, Department of Construction and Inspections

  Nathan Torgelson

  Director, Department of Construction and Inspections

  City of Seattle

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  Luke Lucas

  Luke Lucas is Senior Manager of Engineering Business Development & Build Your Own Coverage (BYOC) for T-Mobile USA. His focus is on enterprise and in-building coverage, furthering the role of wireless in buildings as a 5th utility-like service. In his role, Lucas is involved with smart building and smart city technologies, 5G wireless and the relationship between enterprises installing infrastructure and the connection to T-Mobile signal source and backhaul. He has been with T-Mobile for more than two decades, previously in several regional and market development manager roles. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Lucas was a real estate manager for Pacific Bell Mobile Services’ wireless network in San Diego. Lucas is a graduate of Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California and the practitioners Master of Real Estate Development from USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate.

  T-Mobile

  Senior Manager Engineering Business Development

  Luke Lucas

  Senior Manager Engineering Business Development

  T-Mobile

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  Wayne Kalayjian

  Wayne solves complex business problems for construction and infrastructure programs around the world: large and small, from airports, railways and pipelines, to data centers, hospitals and solar farms. His expertise includes dispute analytics, fraud investigations, program management systems and controls, financial damage analytics, forensic accounting, root-cause analytics, environmental risk remediation, cost estimating, litigation support, and expert testimony. Wayne has hands-on experience with the design, construction, and oversight of capital projects within the energy, power, technology, transportation, water, higher-education, military, institutional, manufacturing, healthcare, health science, and gaming sectors. As a result, he understands why construction projects succeed, how they fail, ways they can improve, and how to translate complicated technical issues into plain English. Wayne is a licensed Professional Engineer (Civil and Structural). He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner, lectures at the University of Southern California, and is a Technical Expert for the California Department of Consumer Affairs and its Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists. Wayne is Senior Advisor to a private equity fund in Manhattan, and serves on the Board for an engineering company in South Florida, where he provides operational guidance. He provides expert testimony in Federal and State courts across the United States on issues related to construction defects, financial damages, fraud, business management, financial management, financial controls, and standard of care. While studying at MIT, Wayne wrote about “Skyscraper Technology in Manhattan: 1930 to 1990” for his research thesis. He also engineered the move of an historic lighthouse on Cape Cod National Seashore in 1995, where his construction drawings remain on display at the Highland Light Museum.

  Secretariat International

  Director

  Wayne Kalayjian

  Director

  Secretariat International

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  Lindsey Pflugrath

  Lindsey has devoted her career to understanding the legal risks her clients face in the construction industry. Her clients include developers, owners, owner’s representatives, contractors, international multidisciplinary design firms, and local engineering and architecture firms. She takes great pride in offering an integrated suite of services to her clients, providing advice on risk management, contract negotiation, and conflict resolution, as well as defending her clients from claims. Lindsey’s practice spans Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona and she considers it an honor to counsel her clients as they change the way people live, work and travel in the Pacific Northwest. Lindsey is deeply engaged with organizations in the field of construction and she holds numerous leadership positions as well as being recognized as an honorary American Institute of Architects (AIA) member. She is a respected leader in her field and a frequent presenter to industry organizations and professionals on a range of construction law topics.

  Cairncross & Hempelmann

  Attorney

  Moderator

  Lindsey Pflugrath

  Attorney

  Cairncross & Hempelmann

Notable New Developments

The hottest new developments plus notable redevelopments

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  Brad Reisinger

  Division President

  LMC

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  Maria Barrientos

  Maria has successfully managed the development of 65+ mixed use residential housing projects totaling over $1 billion worth of real estate development projects in Seattle. Ms. Barrientos has been named one of the most influential urban-infill developers in Seattle, a 2015 Puget Sound Business Journal “Woman of Influence”, and is categorized by her peers as innovative, thoughtful, and creative - creating housing that incorporates many forward-looking trends. Maria has also been called a “solution-based” community developer by many. Maria also spends considerable amounts of time as a volunteer with numerous community-based organizations, particularly on Capitol Hill, Uptown, and the University District. As a company, Barrientos Ryan has a unique niche in Seattle, developing in the dense neighborhoods surrounding downtown focused on place-making and customizing their projects to meet the needs of the people who will live in the homes they build.

  barrientosRyan

  Partner

  Maria Barrientos

  Partner

  barrientosRyan

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  Brooke Belman

  Acting CEO

  Sound Transit

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  Daniel Meyers

  Mr. Meyers is currently the Sr. Vice President, Project Management with Madison Marquette. He oversees Madison Marquette’s Northwest portfolio of projects including Pacific Place, A specialty retail center in the heart of downtown Seattle. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Meyers has been a pivotal influence on urban development throughout the Seattle metropolitan region. He is a graduate of Washington State University School of Architecture and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the American Institute of Architects, and the Urban Land Institute.

  Madison Marquette

  SVP

  Daniel Meyers

  SVP

  Madison Marquette

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  Josh Nasvik

  Based in our Seattle office, Josh leads business development and operations as Vice President Regional Manager for our rapidly-expanding portfolio in the Pacific Northwest. He has directed the sales and marketing strategy for communities throughout the West Coast and works to foster communication between developers, marketing, sales and third-party vendors. Josh brings an unparalleled 18+ years of experience in real estate and a thoughtful, holistic approach to every development he manages.

  Polaris Pacific

  VP & Regional Manager

  Josh Nasvik

  VP & Regional Manager

  Polaris Pacific

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  Greg Wharton

  With more than 25 years experience in the Seattle architecture and real estate industries, Mr. Wharton is IBI Group's practice leader for mixed-use architecture and transit-oriented development in the Pacific Northwest region. The sixth largest architectural firm in the world, IBI Group is a recognized global leader in urban residential mixed-use (#1 residential high-rise firm worldwide) and TOD projects. IBI Group has been instrumental in the development of Toronto and Vancouver, BC since the 1970s, is a key partner with Microsoft in the Smart Cities Council, and has "written the book" on TOD best practices for the World Bank Global Platform for Sustainable Cities. Among recent local projects are the Totem Lake Mall redevelopment, Onni Bellevue Towers project, and several Sound Transit Link Light Rail facilities.

  IBI Group

  Principal

  Moderator

  Greg Wharton

  Principal

  IBI Group