January 31 Creating Centers

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Task Force

You're invited!

Please join us for a special evening meeting of the Sustainable Thurston Task Force:

Creating Centers 2010 - 2040:
Changing demographics and market demand in Thurston County cities and towns

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Lacey Community Center

6729 Pacific Ave SE

Lacey, WA 98503 (map)

Come and learn about:

- "The Future of Our Housing Market"

New Home Trends, Inc. - Suzanne Britsch and Deanna Sihon

Long- and short-term trends in multi-family housing, such as apartments and condos, in the PNW and in the Thurston Region

How job growth and changing demographics affect our housing market

Current comparisons of owner-occupied and rental housing

How we can use this data to inform the Sustainable Thurston and Regional Housing planning processes

- "Commercial Market Potential in Our Urban Centers and
Corridors, and South County City/Town Centers"

BERK Consulting - Kapena Pflum and Gary Simonson

Commercial market assessments for Thurston Region urban districts and corridors

Experiences and lessons learned in urban corridor and urban center initiatives in the cities of Renton, Shoreline, and Burien

Potential tools and strategies that local jurisdictions can use to support and encourage desired commercial development

About the presenters:

Suzanne Britsch - Suzanne founded the Real Estate consulting company Real Vision Research, Inc. in 1986 and has since worked on over 2,500 developments in the Puget Sound area plus some in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Japan. NewHomeTrends, Inc. was started by Mike and Suzanne Britsch in 1994 to keep industries leaders informed on a daily basis of what is happening in new residential sales and development. Today, Suzanne is the Principal and Senior Analyst at New Home Trends, Inc. Over the past 23 years, Real Vision Research Inc and New Home Trends, Inc. have come to be known as the top residential real estate research, data and consulting firm in the Pacific Northwest. Suzanne is a member of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA).

Deanna Sihon (Seehone) - Deanna began her real estate career in 2001 with Windermere in Bellevue. In 2003, she joined New Home Trends Inc. to focus her efforts on the market research side of the business. In 2006, Deanna became a principal of New Home Trends. Deanna has worked on projects throughout the Northwest including Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and has worked on everything from infill projects to Master Planned and Resort Communities in both single-family and multi-family housing. She has a keen understanding and passion of the housing market and buyers and their wants and needs in housing. Today, Deanna is Vice President of Consulting at New Home Trends, Inc.

Kapena Pflum - Kapena is a senior financial and policy analyst and BERK's GIS Coordinator. He has significant experience in economic development and cluster strategies, regional market analysis and demographics and fiscal modeling. He holds a Certificate of Commercial Real Estate from the University of Washington, and received his M.P.A. at the UW's Evans School, where he worked as a research assistant with the Center for Urban Simulation and Policy Analysis. Prior to joining BERK, he worked as a senior research associate at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, DC. Originally from Hawaii, Kapena came to the mainland to pursue his B.A. in East Asian Studies at Brown University.

Gary Simonson - Gary is a policy analyst with a background in geography and urban/transportation analysis. He supports the firm through his research, analytical, and GIS skills. Gary received his B.A. from the University of Arizona and his M.A. in Geography from the University of Washington. His thesis examined the effects of urban redevelopment on low-income residents in South Seattle. Gary has served as a consultant for Seattle's Office of Sustainability and Environment, and as an intern for the Seattle Department of Transportation. He has also worked as a teacher for at-risk youth at Job Corps, and spent a year teaching English in Japan. These experiences shaped his passion for improving transportation and urban infrastructure, fostering strong local communities, and advocating for social justice.

TRPC ensures full compliance with Title VI of the civil Rights Act of 1964 by prohibiting discrimination against any person bsed on race, color, national origin, or sex in the provision of benefits and services resulting from its federally assisted programs and activities. For questions regarding TRPC's Title VI Program, you may contact the Department's Title VI Coordinator at 360.956.7575.

If you need special accommodations to participate in this meeting, please call us at 360.956.7575 by 10:00 a.m. three days prior to the meeting. Ask for the ADA Coordinator. For TDD users, please use the state's toll-free relay service, (800) 833.6388 and ask the operator to dial 360.956.7575.

**Please consider using an alternate mode to attend this meeting: bike, walk, carpool, or vanpool.**

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