Kidder Mathews has welcomed three senior brokers — Blake Weber, Don Whittles, and Ned Whalen — along with their Brokerage Team Coordinator Brynleigh Samuelson in Washington State. The team specializes in representing retail tenants and landlords throughout the greater Puget Sound region. Weber, Whittles, and Samuelson will be based in the firm’s Tacoma office, while Whalen will operate from Seattle.
All four professionals join Kidder Mathews from First Western Properties. This announcement follows the arrival of two other First Western brokers, multifamily specialists Elijah Piper and Tony Herrmann, to Kidder Mathews’ Tacoma office earlier this month.
Blake Weber, senior vice president, spent more than a decade as a broker at First Western, where he built a strong reputation in the Puget Sound retail sector, representing tenants and landlords in leasing, ground-up development, and investment sales. Over his career, he has completed transactions totaling more than $568 million and over 6.5 million square feet. His client list includes more than 30 national brands such as Carl’s Jr., Heartland Dental, IHOP, Safelite Auto Glass, and Wingstop.
Don Whittles, senior vice president, brings three decades of experience specializing in retail with a focus on shopping center leasing and sales. He has a proven track record in tenant and landlord representation, with notable transactions including leasing major shopping centers to full occupancy and representing national and regional brands such as The Original Pancake House, Farrelli’s Pizza, Big Chicken, and Cooper’s Food & Drink.
Ned Whalen, senior vice president, has extensive experience in leasing, investment sales, and ground-up retail development. His work in brokerage includes leasing mixed-use developments, negotiating sales of quick-service restaurant sites, and representing national retailers like Uwajimaya, Edward Jones, and IHOP. Earlier in his career, he worked in finance and consulting, including three years with Deloitte.
“This is a people business, and it’s those amazing people that brought us here. I’ve worked countless deals on the other side of the trenches of Kidder Mathews, and I enjoyed every one of those start to finish,” said Weber. “This is going to be so big for our clients and our business. We were drawn to the firm’s platform, databases, collaborative culture, strong retail presence in the region, and again…the people. This move allows us to continue serving our clients with top-tier research, marketing, and industry expertise, with the amazing brand Kidder Mathews has established.”
“At Kidder Mathews, we believe that great brokerage is built on genuine relationships, market expertise, and a client-first mindset,” said President and COO Brian Hatcher. “Blake, Don, and Ned exemplify all of these qualities, and we’re excited to have them on board.”
Kidder Mathews continues to expand its brokerage division in the Pacific Northwest, welcoming 21 new brokers in the region since January 2024, and reaffirming its long-term commitment to downtown Seattle with a new headquarters space at Two Union Square.
About Kidder Mathews
Kidder Mathews is the largest fully independent commercial real estate firm in the Western U.S., with over 900 professionals in 19 offices across Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona. We offer a complete range of brokerage, appraisal, asset services, consulting, and debt & equity finance services for all property types. Kidder Mathews averages $9 billion in transaction volume, manages more than 58 million square feet of space, and conducts 2,400 appraisal, consulting, and cost segregation assignments annually. For more information, visit kidder.com.
