Fortress

FORTRESS | Welcome Home

Elevating communities,

creating environments for life.

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Our Mission

Elevated Developments for Inspired Living

Our mission is to boost the communities where we live and create environments where memories will be shared for generations to come.

Fortress Development is a commercial real estate developer and privately held investment company based in Bellevue, Washington. We tackle projects with vision and integrity. In-depth research coupled with market trend tracking helps us find development opportunities in prime locations with strong metrics and absorption.

A commitment to our employees, partners and customers is what drives our passion for building world-class developments of exceptional quality that help shape the communities, neighborhoods and cities where we live, work, and play.

Who
We Are

A Forward-Looking Team

We are bold. We are diverse. We have vision and integrity. We’re committed to developing places that matter, where people connect. Where life happens.

We have over half a century of combined experience. And it shows: in our commitment to owners, first and foremost, but also in our responsibility to quality and to creating homes and communities that matter. Our future depends on it.

Andy Lakha

CEO,
Principal

Andy Lakha is Fortress’ Principal and CEO. A Bellevue resident, Lakha has been in commercial real estate for more than two decades.

A graduate from the University of Illinois, Andy began his extensive career in the mid-1990s, buying, selling and developing more than 80 different properties across the United States. During the early part of his career, developments ranged from convenience stores, car washes and gas stations to outposts for fast food chains like McDonald’s. In more recent years, Andy owned and developed several office buildings, mixed-use projects, large-scale commercial plazas and shopping centers. Standout projects include Park Lane, a 33-acre landmark destination for shopping and dining that spans four entire blocks and has become the most talked about intersection in Dallas. Andy also developed the Mercado Santa Clara shopping center, a 24-acre retail development located along Highway 101 in the heart of Silicon Valley’s “Golden Triangle.”

Andy’s passion and enthusiasm for real estate development has taken him around the globe, along the way finding inspiration and ideas. He brings those to Bellevue—his home, backyard and the city he loves—to create a flagship development. To that end, Andy spent more than a year finding and assembling a dream team of designers, architects, restaurateurs and other experts in their fields to help realize his vision and legacy project.

Arne J. Hall

Director of
Development

Arne J. Hall is Director of Development at Fortress, where he is responsible for the overall development management for the company.

Arne's responsibilities include consultant selection, design, pre-construction management and services, budget development and control, general contractor selection, GMP negotiation, as well as all City, State and Federal entitlements and permits.

Prior to Fortress, Arne owned and managed his own company where he provided a wide range of design, construction and real estate development management services to owners and developers for private sector office, hotel, resort and mixed-use projects. Arne was the Senior Development Manager for the Bravern while at Schnitzer West and Founding Partner of DPR Construction for Seattle and Portland’s offices following his tenure with McCarthy Construction. While at Callison Architecture, he was a member of the winning design and construction team for the Microsoft World Headquarters Campus in Redmond, and was the project architect for the first nine office buildings and the initial data center.

A member of the Bellevue Downtown Association, as well as AGC of Washington and Washington State Golf Association, Arne is also the Co-Founder of Annual ACE (Architects / Engineers / Contractors) Charity Golf Tournament benefiting the First Tee of Greater Seattle, where annual donations average $50,000.

A native Seattleite, Arne holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering and a Minor in Construction Management from Washington State University.

David J. Murphy, AIA

DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER

David J. Murphy is a Development Manager at Fortress where he is responsible for design coordination, quality control, consultant management and owner procurement.

With over 40 years of design and real estate experience, David brings a wealth of information and experience in his core markets of hospitality and urban residential projects.

Prior to joining Fortress Development, David, a licensed practicing architect with over 40 years of experience, founded Murphy Varey in 1991 and has been responsible for a wide variety of work, including many retail, hospitality, and general commercial projects in the Seattle area and projects out of the Puget Sound region throughout the United States.

Prior to founding his own firm, Murphy spent nine years with The Callison Partnership focusing on hotel design. Some of his notable projects there included the 585-room Madison Hotel in Seattle, SeaTac Marriott, Ramada Inns, renovations for Alaska-based Sheffield Hotels (Westmark) including the historic Baranof Hotel in Juneau, Master planning for a 40-acre San Diego convention center with 2,000 guestrooms, and design of the Oyster Bar at the Inn-At- Semiahmoo in Blaine, Washington. David is NCARB certified and currently licensed in the States of Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

David is a native of Seattle since graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon.

Eric Dumas

DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER

Eric Dumas joined the Fortress Development team in 2018. His specific responsibilities include the overall structure and leading the retail tenant improvements for the Avenue retail podium.

Eric's construction experience includes complex, large-scale projects over 35 years, beginning in 1987 with a Phoenix based general contractor and relocating with the company to the Pacific Northwest to manage the very significant renovation of the historic Lloyd Center. At the conclusion of the Lloyd Center Eric remained in Portland and joined a Pacific Northwest based general contractor. In 1995 Eric parlayed his regional mall experience to transition from the general contractor side to the owner / real estate developer side with The Mills Corporation. Eric managed large regional mall projects from coast to coast before returning to the Pacific Northwest to manage low to mid-rise office and industrial projects. Eric has managed nearly 20 regional and destination quality mall and mixed-use projects, every one of them with a successful outcome. Eric has led project teams in Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Bellevue, Baltimore, San Francisco, Las Vegas, City of Orange, Denver, Nashville and many others. Eric has worked with and represented top tier regional developers including The Mills Corporation, Schnitzer West, Simon Property Group, Premium Outlets, Kimco and Fortress Development.

Eric has two degrees from Northern Arizona University (BS Business / BS Construction) and has been married to his wife Kristin for 32 years with two young adult children.

Guy R. Detrick

DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER

Guy R. Detrick is a Development Manager at Fortress. He has oversight of the GC field operations, monitoring construction sequencing and managing procurement of owner-supplied deliverables.

Guy has an active field presence confirming work in progress, observing construction means and methods and evaluating QA/QC and specification standards. He communicates directly with the project GC and publishes daily job progress reports to Fortress management to track critical path elements.

Prior to joining Fortress, Guy has worked for over 25 years in the Seattle market on many types of projects including multi-family, mixed use, restaurants, retail, and hospitality.

Earlier in his career, Guy owned an international air freight and packaging company in Washington D.C. That experience has helped Fortress manage supply chain issues critical to meeting schedule milestones and ensure successful project completion.

A native of Pennsylvania, Guy holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Physics from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Patrick A. LaMear

DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER

Patrick A. LaMear is a Development Manager at Fortress where he is monitoring the GC construction sequencing of the MEPF contractors and Installations.

Prior to joining Fortress Development, Patrick has worked for over 20 years with his family’s regional Mechanical and Industrial contracting firm focusing on a wide range of industrial construction projects, including the construction of manufacturing plants, nuclear plants, warehouses, and commercial buildings throughout areas of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

In recent years, Patrick has been the principal and founder of a custom manufacturer of F, F & E for commercial office, restaurant spaces and the residential interior design community. Patrick has been featured on HGTV, CNN & Inc. Magazine showcasing his work.

Patrick has been married for 30 years and is a proud father of two children. When not spending time with his 2 Golden Retrievers, he has a strong passion for Washington State Wine.

Chrystene Milner

VICE PRESIDENT /
ASSET MANAGER

Chrystene is the Vice President and Asset Manager at Fortress where she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of property management.

Chrystene started with Fortress in 2015 and has more than fifteen years of property management experience. Her responsibilities include management of all owned properties, lease negotiating, risk management and quality control, property budgeting and reconciliation processes, contract negotiations, construction supervision, HR administration and office management.

Prior to Chrystene’s work at Fortress, she worked as a Property Manager for Columbia West Properties in Bellevue, WA, and she held a Senior Administrative position at Vertical Transportation Services (an Otis Elevator company) which included customer service, human resources, accounts payable, accounts receivable, collections, purchasing and contract writing.

Chrystene holds a Washington State Real Estate Broker’s License and Washington State Public Notary License and volunteers for local animal rescue groups.

Our Projects

Livability Elevated

Great projects are inevitably a mix of the familiar and the intriguing. Great places are ones that feel of the now. You’re in the heart of things when you’re in them.

Our projects feed the local as it embraces the international. We develop projects for visitors and locals—places where there’s warmth and belonging; there’s energy and buzz. We develop great places to live, shop, eat, connect. Great places to be. For the now and for the future.

Bellevue

Avenue Bellevue

A New Gathering Place

Avenue is a hub of urban sophistication and spirit. It’s a bold new development where you can eat, shop and come together. Stay a night or stay a lifetime.

Currently under development, Avenue is our mixed-use project, a graceful landmark of global inspiration featuring two sleek towers connected by a Plaza and designed to become Bellevue’s new gathering destination. With an InterContinental Hotel and sophisticated homes with exceptional views, gourmet restaurants, elegant bars and shops, the best of the region is right here. Explore Avenue.

News

Media Contact

Fortress in the Spotlight

We're elevating communities for inspired living, and people are taking notice. Browse through a selection of recent press releases and media coverage.

Downtown Bellevue Network
425 Business
The Registry
Downtown Bellevue Network
425 Magazine
urbanlivn
Seattle Magazine
Seattle Met
The Stranger
425 Business
Eater Seattle
Superb Crew
Downtown Bellevue Network
KOMONEWS
Seattle Times
The Registry
Luxe
seattle pi
Seattle Refined
Forbes
425 Business
Downtown Bellevue Network
Eater Seattle
San Francisco Chronicle
CoStar
urbanlivn
Connect Media
The Registry
Connect Media
Connect Media
Connect Media
Connect Media