What's Next For Redmond Developer Randy Kyte?

With the possible exception of Bill Gates, no one has done more to reshape Redmond than Randy Kyte. As vice president for development at Safeco subsidiary Winmar, he's spent the past 10 years working on Redmond Town Center.

With its central shopping area, midrise hotel, apartments and cluster of corporate offices, Town Center has brought a bustling urban feel to downtown Redmond. Nearly a year after the first stores opened, Winmar is about to seek city approval of the last building, a 50,000-square-foot Larry's Market.

Now Kyte, 40, is deciding what to do after September, when Safeco expects to sell its entire commercial real-estate portfolio to a buyer with extremely deep pockets. He hasn't made a decision, but confirms he's considering a move to Langly Associates, Russ Keithly and Lang Sligh's partnership that developed Issaquah's Pickering Place.

Growing while downsizing: The last time I wrote about the Bellevue health-industry software company HBS International, most of the company's employees had just taken a day off for an expenses-paid day on the ski slopes at Stevens Pass.

That kind of perk, along with such morale builders as weekly pizza parties and summer hikes up Mount Si, has contributed to the company's image as a great place to work. Last month, Ernst & Young named founder and President Gregg Bennett its Pacific Northwest software entrepreneur of the year.

After I wrote about the ski trip, several former HBSI employees took issue with management's statement that employee turnover was only 5 percent. "Is this the same HBSI that I used to work for?" asked one skeptic.

Nine days ago, managers abruptly shut down the company's computer network and informed 20 workers that, effective immediately, they were no longer employees.

With the company hoping to sell stock to the public next year, some people are wondering how a reduced work force will be able to introduce new software and serve a growing customer base.

Briefly: Primex Aerospace, the far-out Redmond company where employees' cars sport license plates such as "ROKT DR" and "GO 2 MARS," has a new, down-to-earth product. The Car Catcher deploys a net that can stop speeding cars at border crossings and entrances to military bases. . . .

Estate Interiors, a store selling furnishings on consignment, has opened on Northeast Eighth Street in downtown Bellevue. . . .

Northwest Link, a Bellevue-based Internet service provider, has expanded its market into Skagit and Snohomish counties with its acquisition of Skagit On-Line Services. . . .

ImageX, the Bellevue company that takes business printing orders over the Internet, has raised $6 million in private capital and landed Puget Sound Energy Chairman Richard Sonstelie as a board member.

Coming up: A day at the races for the Bellevue, Greater Seattle and Southwest King County chambers of commerce. 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Emerald Downs, $10 prepaid, $15 at the door, $20 for nonmembers. Call 425-454-2464.

Keith Ervin's column appears in Business every Saturday. You can reach him by phone at 206-515-5632, fax at 425-453-0449, or e-mail at: kervin@seattletimes.com