The Future of the Eastside

John Chelminiak, first elected to the City Council in 2004, is a champion for human services. The mayor represents the council on the Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board, the Bellevue Convention Center Authority Board and the coordinating board of All Home. He is council liaison for Bellevue's Planning Commission and the Wilburton-Grand Connection Citizen Advisory Committee. John is the senior manager for public sector solutions at Waste Management, the nation's largest environmental solutions provider. He is the only council member to wrestle a bear, surviving a mauling near his vacation cabin at Lake Wenatchee in 2010. Prior to joining the council, John served on the Planning Commission. He has served on the board of Seattle's O'Dea High School since 1999. He was also a member of the Coordinating Committee for Regional Water Supply Planning. John holds a bachelor's degree in communications from Washington State University. The Alliance of Eastside Agencies named him Elected Official of the Year in 2011. John and his wife Lynn live in the Vuecrest neighborhood with daughter Megan, who attends Bellevue High School. His stepdaughter, Morgan, is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Conrad Lee is Bellevue's first minority member of the City Council, the longest continuous serving member of the council and the first mayor (2012-2013) of Asian (Chinese) ancestry. He represents Bellevue on the board of the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County, and economic development is a priority for him. The veteran councilmember also serves on the Association of Washington Cities Federal Board. For many years he was Bellevue's representative on the National League of Cities, and is a past president of the NLC Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials. In addition, he has been a member of the Economic Development District Board of the Puget Sound Regional Council. As co-chair of the ACCESS Downtown Citizen Advisory Committee, Conrad was involved with critical freeway and arterial projects. He served on the I-405 Executive Committee and King County Regional Transit Committee. He was the former president and chair of the Society of Chinese Engineers of Seattle, as well as the Chinese American Association for Professionals. He chaired the Ethnic Chinese New Year Festival and was president of the Chinese Garden Society. Conrad holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Michigan. Conrad is retired, after working as the regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and an engineer for the Boeing Co. and Seattle Solid Waste Utility. Born in China, Conrad grew up in Hong Kong and has lived in Bellevue since 1967. He and his wife Winnie live in the Somerset neighborhood, where they raised their two children, Christopher and Jennifer. They have three granddaughters.

Villette Nolon, CEO, Imagine Housing. After three years as a board member, Villette stepped into the role of Executive Director and now CEO to lead Imagine Housing through a period of strategic growth. She brings a solid track record with over 25 years experience introducing successful new technology solutions and driving rapid revenue growth for multiple start-ups and Fortune 150 companies. She is an executive leader with deep experience in high tech business management, angel investing, as well as non-profit executive management.

Jon Hall’s background in multi-family, mixed-use, and retail developments is extensive. Jon is very focused on the quality and durability of a project even from early design studies and carries his sensibility about entitlements, detailing, budget constraint, constructability, and schedule through the process, bringing the project along in a creative yet pragmatic way. He has well-established relationships with project consultants, contractors, and clients alike. In addition, he is the Quality Management Director for GGLO, providing guidance to interoffice initiatives for document quality, sustainability and design excellence. Thanks to Jon’s thoroughness, he has been highly successful during jurisdictional review for a number of the firm’s more visible urban projects such as Broadway Crossing, University Village, Mark24, and AMLI South Lake Union. In his personal life, he can often be found running the roads and trails of the Pacific Northwest or at the next Mariners, Seahawks, Huskies, or Seattle Hockey team event.

John is one of the founding partners and the Chairman of Cairncross & Hempelmann, a full-service Seattle law firm. He has over 40 years of experience as a land use, natural resources and real estate development attorney. He has worked extensively to help form the legislation that governs Washington’s land use law. John assists clients with real estate development projects, including their land use, zoning and environmental matters, and with their natural resource permit processes. A major focus of his work is helping clients develop transit- oriented communities around the region’s rapidly expanding light rail system.

Mr. Guincher is the president of Continental Properties LLC (“CP”), with over thirty years of experience in the real estate industry, and has directed the development of over 3,800 multifamily units over the past twenty-five years in the Puget Sound region. CP has developed the highest quality apartments and condominiums in the Seattle area, setting numerous price per unit and absorption records for the region. Mr. Guincher holds a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Finance and Real Estate from the University of British Columbia. He has been married for twenty-six years, with two children, ages twenty-two and nineteen.

Jean Paul Wardy began his career in real estate while attending the University of Southern California. Mr. Wardy joined the Alexander Haagen Company in 1990, and by 1993 had been promoted to Vice President, Acquisitions. From 1993 through 1998, Mr. Wardy was the executive primarily responsible for the successful acquisition of over 20 shopping centers. In 1998, Mr. Wardy co-founded CenterOak Properties with Fred Bruning, which became CenterCal Properties in 2004. Since that time, Mr. Wardy has committed his efforts toward creating successful retail driven projects that both enhance and elevate the communities they serve. In the pursuit of his real estate career, Mr. Wardy built upon the solid foundation of his family’s successful retail background in the Amen Wardy Stores and Amen Wardy Home Stores. Mr. Wardy is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Urban Land Institute, and is a devoted husband and father.

Bret brings over 27 years of commercial real estate experience to Ryan, with a strong background in brokerage, development and investment, and experience with diverse product types such as office, build-to-suit, industrial, retail, healthcare, multifamily and senior living. As President of Northwest Region, he is responsible for sourcing new opportunities, supporting the region’s current work, coaching current and future staff, and developing and executing a plan to continue building Ryan’s success throughout the Seattle area. Aside from his many years of experience and community involvement, Bret is regarded for his genuine sense of empathy toward customers and their concerns and enjoys the challenge of navigating through conflict to a solution that works.

Mark has been in the real estate development and construction industry for over 25 years and is focused on addressing and accelerating client’s real estate objectives. He has extensive experience in leading consultant and business development teams for regional general contractors, energy services and developers. Mark also was head of Design and Construction for a large national bank that had over 25 million sf of office space and over 2500 retail locations. Having spent much of his career in construction and development he is now focused on bringing spaces to life by helping companies capitalize on their two biggest assets, the people and the real estate. As the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at OpenSquare, Mark Conway leads a team of over 30 workspace consultants. His team works with corporate and commercial clients, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, local and federal government, and mixed use/multi-family developments. This gives Mark a front-line view into our region and the trends that affect change, growth and construction.