Douglas Howe,
Developer

A Tacoma native of a fifth generation Washington pioneer lumber family, Douglas has enjoyed a 40-year career as a commercial real estate developer. As the founder and CEO of Touchstone, Douglas built a reputation developing buildings that make a positive impact on the built environment; from restoring historical landmark structures to award-winning, architecturally distinctive buildings. In 2014, Howe transitioned ownership of Touchstone to the Urban Renaissance Group, remaining active as an investor and developer. Now, Howe leads Howe Family Holdings, bringing his expertise and experience to private investment and scalable development opportunities. Current projects include the tommie Hotel in Seattle and Latitude 47 Commerce Center in Gig Harbor. 

Education
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science/Economics, University of Washington
Master of Business Administration in Finance, University of Puget Sound

Awards & Associations
Developer Hall of Fame, NAIOP, 2017
National Developer of the Year, NAIOP, 2016
National Chairman, NAIOP, 2009 
President, Washington State Chapter, NAIOP, 2004 
Governor, NAIOP Research Foundation
Board of Directors, Runstad Center, University of Washington 
Board of Directors, Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Board of Directors, Institute for Systems Biology

Philosophy
Howe has built a 40-year reputation for bringing together exceptional teams of project managers, construction managers and financial experts to create award-winning properties. The company’s development approach focuses on three principles: 1) develop inspiring spaces that add value to clients’ business propositions, 2) invest in opportunities that make exceptional economic, business and design sense and 3) create sustainable, architecturally distinct properties that add vibrancy to communities.