King County Executive Dow Constantine has appointed Kenmore’s Douglas J. Barnes to serve a five-year term as a King County Housing Authority (KCHA) commissioner. Barnes was approved Dec. 8 by the Metropolitan King County Council. Barnes replaces KCHA Commissioner Peter Orser, who has served on the board for two terms.
“A dynamic business leader with a wealth of experience in construction and real-estate development, Mr. Barnes will provide good counsel to KCHA on a wide array of issues,” said Executive Director Stephen Norman.
Currently, Barnes is a principal of Resource Transition Consultants, LLC, a firm that focuses on distressed property receivership services including acquisition, management and disposition to qualified buyers.
A graduate of Oregon State University, with a master of business administration degree from the University of Washington, Barnes has worked for nearly three decades in all facets of real-estate development, including contracting, sales and marketing, land acquisition and development, residential and commercial construction, leasing and strategic/financial planning and analysis.
Starting in 2004, Barnes served as president of the Washington state division of Centex Homes, one of the nation’s leading home-building companies. In 2006, he was promoted to executive vice president, Northwest division, where he oversaw operations in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii and northern Nevada. He was named Northern Pacific Division president in 2008, a position he held until his co-founding of Resource Transition Consultants, LLC in 2009.
Prior to joining Centex, Barnes worked for nearly a decade as a principal- residential development for Intracorp Real Estate, which is headquartered in Seattle.
Before Intracorp, Barnes worked as the general manager in various partnerships in the residential development field for seven years, building throughout Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. He was a certified public accountant with Touche Ross & Co. for six years after graduating from college.
Barnes is a past president of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish counties. The Master Builders Association honored Barnes with the Builder of the Year award in 2005 and 2007. In 2005, Barnes also received the Gold Nugget award for “outstanding service within the community” for Centex’s “Extreme Home Makeover” house in Kingston, Wash., of which he was lead manager.
As one of five commissioners, Barnes will help guide KCHA’s policies and priorities.
“After a career of more than 25-plus years in real estate, I see that one of the big issues in our region is affordability,” said Barnes. “Providing quality, affordable housing is a tremendous asset to the community, the residents who live there, and KCHA — a home run for all. I’m looking forward to using my experience to help provide good, affordable housing in the Puget Sound region.”
KCHA administers a range of quality affordable rental and homeownership programs for residents of King County. The authority serves more than 18,000 elderly, disabled and family households on a daily basis.
