Local architect receives honor

Bumgardner Architects, the Seattle firm which designed The Rekhi six-story mixed-use building currently under construction at NE 125th and Lake City Way, recently received a commendation in the 2000 Honor Awards for Washington Architecture.

The commendation was awarded for Bumgardneršs design of another project: Saffron, a four-acre mixed-use project in Sammamish, which includes housing, shops and restuarants.

Mark Simpson, a principal with Bumgardner and a North Seattle resident who lives in the Blue Ridge neighborhood, was the lead architect for the Saffron project.

In addition to The Rekhi building in Lake City, Bumgardner is also designing the Fremont Block 40 project, which is slated to be built on the half-block site on the corner of N. 34th and Fremont Ave. N., that is currently occupied by the Red Door building. This project will include 130 apartments, 38,000 square feet of retail space and nearly 200 parking spaces.

Fremont area hardware store to close

Fremontšs City Peoplešs True Value hardware store is set to close down sometime near the end of the year.

According to Judith Gille, a managing partner with City Peoplešs, a variety of factors lead them to their decision. First among them: parking. According to Gille, when the store first opened there was plenty of street parking in the area.

Not so anymore. Density in Fremont has increased, new construction threatens to disrupt business in the near future and the storešs rent, had they chosen to renew their lease, would have gone up, Gille said.

Gille acknowledged the new Fremont-Ballard area Fred Meyer store has impacted her storešs business recently, especially in their garden section, but she also said that itšs hard to sell garden products like large bags of soil when therešs no convenient place for customers to load it into their cars.

Gille said the five partners involved in City Peoplešs have no immediate plans to open a new store, adding that several of the partners have young children they would like to spend time with.

Allstate agent Joe Noyes moves to Shoreline

Allstate Agent Joe Noyes has moved out of his office space in Lake City to take over a new site at 18405 Aurora Ave. N., Suite F, in Shoreline. The move took place in August.

The Shoreline office space became available when another Allstate agent retired. Noyes said he realized that the new space would be big enough for his staff and that the infrastructure was already in place for them. Noyes shares the office with fellow insurance agent Jeff Talbot. The office handles many types of insurance policies, including home, renters, auto and life.

Noyes is a Washington native who has been an insurance agent for 16 years. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Jim Noyes, who is an insurance agent with State Farm in Green Lake.

Dexter & Chaney makes ŒFast 50š tech list again

Dexter & Chaney, a software development company located at 9700 Lake City Way NE, has been named to Deloitte & Touchešs prestigious ŗFast 50˛ list of Washington statešs fastest growing technology firms. It is the fourth straight year that Dexter & Chaney has made the list. The company placed 43rd in this yearšs list, for generating a 214 percent growth in revenue from 1995 to 1999. Dexter & Chaney makes software that helps construction companies improve how they manage information.

Northgate Chamber update

The steering committee of the newly-formed Northgate Chamber of Commerce has voted to operate independently, at least for the time being, after spending its first five months of existence under the wing of the Lake City Chamber of Commerce. The Northgate Chamberšs new contact is Michelle Rupp.

The Chamber is in the process of developing a set of by-laws and determining their structure. After these are in place, the Chamber will hold an election to vote in a Board of Directors.

The group holds noon luncheon meetings at Northaven Retirement Home on the third Wednesday of every month. Cost to attend is $10. For more information, contact Michelle Rupp at 363-1110.