PEOPLE

CAROL PUGH

Designated Broker, Co-Founder

Carol started her real estate career in residential sales, achieving the status of Million Dollar Salesperson her very first year in the business. She was consistently a top salesperson year over year for over a decade before transitioning to commercial real estate. In 1991, she joined Sandy at West Coast Commercial Realty and has been instrumental in the development of our high standards for practice management, operations, client relations, transaction management and business development. Carol is the backbone of our high production brokerage practice, ensuring we maintain the highest level of professionalism, education, ethics and client service. She has been awarded the CoStar PowerBroker® award numerous times and she is a key factor in the success of each individual broker in the company. 

SUSANNA TRAN

Senior Associate, Broker

Susanna came to commercial real estate from a dynamic background as a small business owner/operator in the beauty, restaurant and fashion industry, including owning a high-end optical retail boutique, holding strategic positions in the family restaurant business and owning several spas. She primarily focuses on tenant representation, leveraging her experience as a former retailer and business owner to help her clients achieve their location and expansion goals. Additionally, she holds several key positions in community development, such as South East Effective Development (SEED) and Mercy Housing Northwest where she is Vice Chair. She is also a founding member of the Ethnic Business Coalition and she serves on the Celebrate Asia Committee with the Seattle Symphony. 

BLAKE TAYLOR

Broker, Sales & Leasing

Blake began his real estate career over a decade ago, spending the early days in property and asset management. Since that time, he has gained extensive experience in tenant and landlord representation, disposition and acquisition of commercial properties, as well as identifying redevelopment opportunities for a diverse client base including small partnerships, owner/users, traditional retailers and investment groups. The creative approach and personal energy that he adds to the marketing and transaction process has lead to results that clients, new and existing, continue to respond to. Blake has established himself as a valuable resource for his clients, leveraging his unique experience with management in helping to foster positive landlord/tenant relationships from the outset. 

CHRISTIAN DECKER

Broker, Sales & Leasing

Christian came to West Coast Commercial Realty through a long affiliation with his family's business — a real estate development and holding company with assets around Puget Sound. After graduating from college in Virginia, Christian moved back to the Northwest and officially joined the family business where he actively worked on the development, acquisition, leasing and property management of multi-tenant commercial and residential assets. This direct hands-on experience, coupled with a lifetime of being immersed in the real estate world, has given Christian a comprehensive understanding and a unique outlook on commercial real estate that is an asset to his clients.  Christian focuses on owner representation in retail and office disciplines.

AMEER LOWE

Broker, Sales & Leasing

Ameer came to WCCR from a diverse background including investment management and finance on Wall Street, IT consulting, and real estate leasing, sales and advising in New York before transitioning out to WA State, where he served as a business management consultant for several years. After getting his WA real estate license, he started working with retailers and retail landlords throughout the greater Seattle area. He brings a high level of professional acumen and a deep understanding of the financial and operational concerns related to the client's commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions and leasing. As was customary in all of his prior professional experiences, he excels at developing ideas and cultivating resources while implementing result-based strategies that are rooted in relationships, data and research. His focus on a commitment to integrity, community, leadership and professionalism is directly inline with WCCR core values and we are grateful to have his expertise and energy as part of our team

SANDY PODY

Broker, Co-Founder*

Sandy moved into commercial real estate after a diverse career owning restaurants, a sporting goods retail store, and holding various sales positions early in his working life. He was a pioneer in retail landlord representation in Puget Sound, making an early name for himself by being one of the few brokers listing retail properties and working on behalf of the owner's interests. Sandy was a well-respected leader in the industry for over three decades. He completed several million square feet of retail leasing and sales, and was awarded the CoStar PowerBroker® award every year that it was given for retail brokerage, up until his death. Having thrived through several cycles of growth in the Puget Sound commercial real estate market, Sandy was a vital player in the heartbeat of retail in our market. 

*We are sad to share that Sandy passed away unexpectedly on November 1, 2017. 

ROBERT CORON

Senior Vice President, Retail

Robert has over 30 years of diverse real estate experience, including early years spent in development coordination, and over a decade spent at Savers, Inc. as the Assistant Real Estate Director. While at Savers, he was directly involved in the significant expansion and repositioning of their stores, while also managing the leasing and marketing of their large portfolio of company-owned shopping centers and surplus properties throughout the US and Canada. In 2005, he moved into brokerage as a tenant representative, managing the expansion and market penetration for several large national retailers such as Ethan Allen Furniture, CarMax, Grocery Outlet, Hobby Lobby, Savers, Super Supplements, QDoba and Mattress Depot. Robert brings over 25 years of retail real estate and shopping center experience to WCCR.

KEENAN VAN GAVER

Broker, Sales & Leasing

With a diverse background in foreign property investment management, finance, consulting and biotech sales, Keenan has a long history of exceeding client's expectations and company goals, working at companies such as Merck, Washington Mutual and Accenture. In 2009, she founded a real estate investment agency in Paris, France, specializing in assisting foreigners with residential and commercial property purchases, sales and management. She grew the company to include over 40 properties under contract management. In late 2017, she came back to Seattle full-time and joined West Coast Commercial Realty in early 2018. With her experience and expertise, she is poised to offer her clients exceptional real estate brokerage and transaction services, designed to meet shareholder goals including investment value, tenant mix, property positioning, marketing and strategic planning.

JULIE SHIZUKUISHI 雫石　珠里 

Broker, Sales & Leasing

Julie brings over 25 years of direct and dynamic restaurant, travel and retail operations experience including tenure as General Manager, Product Manager and/or Director of Operations with Seattle standouts Miller's Guild, Campagne, Flying Fish, La Spiga, Uwajimaya, Young's Market and many more. Having worked on the real estate, construction and launch of several restaurants, Julie decided to get her real estate license in 2018 and focus on the real estate aspect full time. Julie's background, all in leadership positions, makes her an effective and powerful partner, applying her deep operational experience to steward her clients through complex real estate decisions. She is bringing her deep knowledge and long list of connections to our team, making her immediately ready to jump into the marketplace with a fresh and effective approach.

Julie is fluent in Japanese, written and spoken. 

LARA TREPANIER

Managing Director, Brokerage Operations

With over 25 years of operations management in leadership roles at Grand Central Bakery, Sur La Table, Eddie Bauer and Briazz, Lara has rich experience in specialty retail and restaurants. Originally from Santa Monica, CA where her family owned and operated multiple restaurants, Lara moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. She chose a career in hospitality and quickly found her niche in operations management by building the infrastructure that supports front-line teams while focused on growth and maximizing profitability. Along the way she has led the opening teams for hundreds of retail and restaurant locations around the country for start-ups, large retailers, and family businesses. She last worked as the Retail Director for Grand Central Bakery where she managed retail team members in Portland and Seattle and all café operations including the real estate site selection, negotiation and leasing of new locations. Lara uses her experience as a client and professional business manager to support the WCCR family of brokers, clients and vendors.

TIFFINI CONNELL

Managing Broker, Principal

After an early decade-long career in marketing and public relations, Tiffini moved into commercial real estate in 2004. Starting in 2006, she has been  named a CoStar PowerBroker® 13 times, consistently recognizing her as a top retail broker in our market and nationally. In September of 2016, she was also named as a Bisnow Power Woman in the digital media company's first-ever Seattle edition of influential women in commercial real estate. She is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Commercial Brokers Association, a commercial real estate member organization with over 4,500 broker members in two states. She continues the legacy of landlord and owner representation, and has helped expand our practice by tackling mixed-use, urban and other newer retail applications. 

BAYLOR GORDON

Senior Vice President, Investment Sales

Baylor brings over 15 years of CRE investment sales experience and has been involved in transactions totaling over $400M. This includes early years as a SVP with a multi-national firm securitizing raw land into an investment vehicle, and managing a national sales team. Since 2008, he has focused exclusively on investment sales in the PNW. Throughout his career, he has skillfully navigated complex transactions and negotiated innovative deal structures addressing issues such as environmental contamination, 1031 exchanges, debt pre-payment clauses, tenant ROFR options, adding value by renegotiating leases and rezoning prior to marketing properties for sale, working through assemblages, and other nuanced sales scenarios. He has also worked with investors and owner/users to find creative opportunities, often off-market, that meet challenging acquisition criteria.

JONATHAN WILLETT

Broker, Sales & Leasing

Jonathan came to West Coast Commercial Realty through the company's 2018 affiliation with Windermere Real Estate, where he worked for several years for both Windermere Services Company (Windermere's parent company) and the company's principals. During his time at Windermere, he managed real estate offices throughout the Seattle area, as well as handled the leasing, disposition and administration of commercial office buildings and retail shopping centers owned and operated by the principals and other entities throughout the region. Prior to his time with Windermere, he was a partner in a small construction company. As a result of his in-depth real estate background, Jonathan has the unique experience of being able to respond and react to the tenant's needs, while also 

understanding the landlord's criteria to establish best-use and long-term value for their commercial investment. 

ANDREA LERUM

Broker, Sales & Leasing

A longtime South Puget Sound resident, Andrea spent a considerable part of her 12+ year commercial real estate career overseeing a combined total of nearly two million square feet of investment properties, many of them in the South Sound market, including large retail power centers, strip and grocery-anchored centers, and medical and mixed-use properties, including small office. As a broker, leasing manager and portfolio/asset manager, she skillfully managed large operating budgets, developed strategic leasing and management plans, and curated vital relationships internally and externally. In all of her roles, Andrea demonstrates a collaborative and focused approach, backed by strong market and experience intelligence, which is a huge asset to her clients and to the WCCR team. Andrea focuses on retail and office properties in South King County, and Pierce and Kitsap Counties.