LYNNWOOD, WA-The 90,000-sf retail center has received the permanent financing. It was arranged through L.J. Melody & Co, with Nationwide Life Insurance Co. providing the funding on behalf of the Mukilteo Center LLC.

GRAYS HARBOR, WA- Driven by the decline of the

SEATTLE-Microsoft joins the Northern Virginia high-tech community this week, opening is $25 million Innovation and Technology Center in Reston, Va. The goal of the facility is to bring jobs and new technology investment to the region.

SEATTLE-The locally-based Starbucks opens its first store in Athens, Greece, marking a continuation of the coffee company's international expansion plans. Starbucks opened its first store in continental Europe in Zurich, Switzerland last year.

SEATTLE-Rob MacAulay is leaving owner-developer Martin Smith Inc. after five years as a principal to become a partner at Meriwether, where he will be reunited with former Martin Smith Principals Robert Briscoe and Joel Aslanian.

BELLEVUE, WA-In their first public discussion of the possible $94-per-sf acquisition for a new civic center, Bellevue City Council members called it a bargain price. Necessary renovations would raise the total project cost to as much as $350 per sf.

BELLEVUE, WA-The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish counties is seeking a more spacious office and has set its sights on the City University building. The group's board will vote today whether to purchase the CU facility for $5 million and ultimately unload its current headquarters for $1.6 million.

SEATTLE-Seattle Art Museum officials will consider this week a plan that would allow Washington Mutual to build a 40-story office tower next to the museum. In exchange, the museum would be able to triple its size eventually.