Downtown LA Renaissance

Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Downtown Center BID, is known as DTLA’s biggest champion. Before she landed in DTLA, she was an SVP at the California League of Savings Institutions and then deputy regional director for the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp, where she oversaw the liquidation of billions of dollars in assets of failed savings institutions in the 12 western states. The most rewarding part of her job these days is touting the success of DTLA’s transformation. “Being a pivotal player in Downtown’s complete transformation has given me the greatest satisfaction,” she says. The possibilities are endless in DTLA, according to Carol. She sees construction costs and land prices as challenges developers face as a result of the progress that has been made. “We’ve become a victim of our own success,” she says. Carol also has concerns about the “misguided” anti-development legislation now being tossed around. She advises women and others getting started in the industry to “trust your instincts, and don’t take no for an answer." Away from the office, she enjoys the opera and theater as well as traveling, hiking and swimming.

Barry Shy immigrated from Israel in 1978. Since then he’s been involved in developing all types of real estate. In 2004, Barry started to convert high rise office buildings into live/work lofts per the adaptive reuse ordinance. Barry was the first developer in L.A. that converted high rise buildings into condominiums and so far has developed over 2,000 units in DTLA. Currently, he is in the process of developing 3 high rise buildings which consist of over 1,000 units.

Elizabeth began her foray into Downtown Los Angeles in the Old Bank District, now a bustling community developed by Tom Gilmore. Gilmore, whom she had met in Hollywood while refurbishing the Equitable building, brought her on to help secure the entitlements for a collection of three buildings and an anchor restaurant, Pete’s Café, while simultaneously entitling the The Standard, Downtown LA. Since then, Elizabeth’s client roster at EPG has swelled to include the KOR Group, CIM Group, Kennedy Wilson, Palisades Development, as well as such iconic projects as The Edison, Wiltern Theater, Chateau Marmont, and The Standard, Hollywood. In addition to her land use expertise, Elizabeth is also an experienced lobbyist and hospitality professional. Her career in the hospitality industry spans from booking agent to club manager to restaurant and bar owner. Her experience as an operator and owner provides her with deep insight into the challenges faced by owners/operators and provides her with a unique advantage as she moves to solve challenging entitlement and permitting issues. Passionate about community development in historic and urban neighborhoods, Elizabeth is devoted to creating positive live/work/play environments by returning historic buildings to their full vitality and reactivating street life through captivating hospitality, retail, and commercial development. She has consulted internationally on the economic and social benefits of responsible nightlife and has helped cities Toronto, Norfolk, VA, Seattle, Philadelphia, and San Jose, CA transform their urban cores into vibrant centers of community entertainment and economic vitality. Elizabeth is the LA chair for RADD, a non-profit organization offering designated driver programs, a member of The Friends of Park 101, founder and chair of the Northeast Hospitality Alliance, a leader of the Downtown Hospitality Forum in Los Angeles, and a vocal supporter of local Community Police Activity Boards.

Mike provides industrial and investor clients in the Los Angeles region with a full scope of real estate advisory services including but not limited to investment sales, leasing, and redevelopment projects. As Southern California is a broad region with many different geographic regions, Mike utilizes an approach that analyzes the different submarkets based on a variety of factors such as price per square foot, transportation costs, labor force analysis, building specification needs, infrastructure access and pricing, redevelopment costs, and underwriting, as well as many other variables. With his M.B.A. in Marketing, he provides a unique approach utilizing a wide array of tools and techniques to help maximize exposure of his listed properties and to find the right deals for his clients.

As the U.S. leader of Lockton Insurance Brokers’ China Practice, Claudia is at the center of the investment flow from China into U.S. real estate. She and her Lockton teams help large and medium-sized Chinese developers and investors overcome the insurance and risk management challenges of real estate projects here. For example, she has drastically driven down insurance costs for her client SCG America (the U.S. branch of Shanghai Construction Group, one of the world’s largest contractors and developers) on its redevelopment project at Broadway at Fourth, a 400-condo unit revitalizing the historic core of downtown Los Angeles. Claudia advises clients in mitigating risks in real estate development, optimizes risk transfer strategies, develops and implements cutting-edge solutions, and holds carriers accountable for claims resolutions. She has 20 years of insurance industry expertise from life & health to property & casualty insurance, and received her MBA from USC. Claudia’s fierce dedication to client service is one reason why Lockton, the world's largest privately-held global insurance broker, has a 98+% client retention rate in the Pacific Region (over 13% higher than industry average). Driven by market-leading 10% organic growth for the past 50 years, Lockton now has over $1.35 billion in revenue and a stellar reputation for delivering top technical expertise for Mid-Market and Fortune 1000 companies, with particular strength in development, construction, and real estate management. Claudia and her real estate teams maintain a peerless commitment to providing five-star service and value-added consulting from the beginning stages of project planning and throughout the years-long cycles beyond the completed projects. Claudia is passionate about our Southern California communities, and in recognition of that was recently re-appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to a second term as a Commissioner of the L.A. County Arts Commission. She is equally passionate about helping Southern California businesses succeed and serves on various nonprofit and civil boards in the community.

Institutional Real Estate Executive, working for some of the country’s largest and most diversified commercial real estate companies, having developed and managed more than 5,000,000 sf of commercial space. A visionary, strategist, and articulate leader in devising creative real estate solutions to address real-world market dynamics. Reputation for being a high-impact player and a quick study with a keen sense for both assessing immediate strategic needs and implementing development programs with a sense of urgency. Appreciates and has deep knowledge of mixed-use, office, and retail product types and maintains detailed knowledge of CEQA regulatory processes and compliance.

Tom Warren currently oversees The Holland Partner Group’s Southern California operations, and has been directly responsible for the development of over 2,500 units in 12 projects and a total transaction volume of more than $1 billion since he joined Clyde in launching Holland Development in 2001. Holland’s Southern California development pipeline includes more than 2,000 units in Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. During the 14 years that he has been involved in the multi-family industry, Tom has conceived and executed a wide variety of multi-family product types – ranging from mixed-use high-rise and mid-rise buildings in urban locations to townhome communities in neo-traditional neighborhoods. All of the projects he has sponsored reflect his passion for designing quality living space that is tailored to enhance the experience of its residents, the character of the community and the economic viability of the asset. By focusing on creating value in every aspect of a project, Tom configures each deal to ensure a profitable venture for our partners and investors. Prior to joining Holland Partner Group, Tom served as Development Partner for Trammell Crow Residential (TCR). During his tenure with TCR, he was responsible for land acquisition, financing, and entitlements for the company’s development operations in Seattle. His contributions at TCR were instrumental in the delivery of more than 2,000 units in eight individual communities. He has been active in the real estate industry since 1994, when he worked as a development consultant for BSW International in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Tom graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an Architectural degree and a minor in Structural Engineering.

Arden leads Trumark Urban projects from property acquisition through buildout and sales. From working with architects and consultants on building design and meeting with neighbors regarding their needs for a project, to hard hat tours of job sites and reviewing financial analyses of projects—Arden has his finger on the pulse of every aspect of Trumark Urban. Since joining Trumark in 2006, Arden has been instrumental in over $1.5 billion of residential and mixed-use development. In 2012, Arden led the effort to launch Trumark Urban where he now manages a pipeline of over 1 million square feet, and an over $1 billion investment in office, mixed-use, and residential development projects. Prior to his role at Trumark Urban, he served as Senior Vice President for Northern California at Trumark Companies.

California Licensed Architect -36 Years Experience. Mitchell has led his project teams to over 50 Design Awards and Commendations. He oversaw the work of his design studios in Los Angeles, San Diego, Beijing and São Paulo before joining HED. He lived a number of years in DTLA and has worked in DTLA since 1980 Mitchell’s strength is in guiding well-crafted design solutions, managing complex project teams, and working with local Governing Agencies to maximize the project’s potential and community benefit.

For over 30 years, Paul Zeger has been the definitive source of information for new construction sales and marketing in the Bay Area. His leadership in identifying and capitalizing on residential development opportunities is unparalleled. Paul’s client relationships include some of the most successful real estate development firms on the west coast – TMG Partners, Emerald Fund, Lennar Urban and Wilson Meany to name a few. Paul believes in making commitments to his clients, and building trust by delivering on his commitments. Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics at Colgate University and a Masters in Business Administration from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

Paul Rohrer represents governmental entities, nonprofit educational institutions, healthcare providers, developers and other property owners in land use and entitlement matters and in the acquisition, sale, optioning and ground leasing of real property. He has extensive experience negotiating and drafting various land use and real estate agreements, including joint development agreements, owner participation agreements and construction-related agreements. Mr. Rohrer has also led real estate due diligence teams in the review and analysis of existing agreements (such as leases, licenses and easements) and matters of record affecting properties to be acquired, as well as the evaluation of existing zoning and permitting and future opportunities for expanded entitlements. Mr. Rohrer has worked extensively with public/private transactions, air-rights transfers and the creation of special use districts for signage. He has appeared in front of city councils, planning and architectural commissions and community redevelopment agency boards in support of his clients’ projects. He works with government officials, private parties and nonprofit entities to create economically and socially viable development solutions. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Rohrer worked for 15 years in nearly every area of the real estate industry, and his business experience provides background and texture to his law practice.

Sonnet currently serves as Vice President and General Manager for Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA), a national real estate advisory firm specializing in Development Management, Project Management, Investor Representation and Program Management services. She has spent the bulk of her 30-plus year career as an architect, developer, business strategist and planner working for both national and international firms. As general manager, Sonnet oversees projects across multiple sectors, including high-rise and multifamily residential, entertainment, healthcare, educational, and commercial. Prior to joining PMA, Sonnet was Vice President, Design and Construction at NBC Universal, where she was responsible for developing and leading design, construction and related capital planning services for NBCUniversal and DreamWork’s West Coast Studio Operations. In this role, she managed the planning and execution of construction projects at the iconic 400 + acre Universal Lot in Studio City. She was honored in 2016 and 2017 by Bisnow as one of “Los Angeles’ Power Women.” In the past year, Sonnet has been recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as part of their Women’s Leadership Series, the 2020 class of Thriving in Their 40s, and as a Women of Influence in Construction and Design. Sonnet Hui is a Trustee of the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU).

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2004 with B.A. in Mass Communication, Brigham moved back down to Los Angeles and found himself enthralled by the early signs of urban revitalization happening in Downtown LA. It started with a camera and a mission to learn about the hidden treasure in his city’s own backyard. As he wandered into the “foreign” territory of a forgotten urban landscape, left forlorn and dilapidated by years of neglect due to the centrifugal forces of suburbanization, the historic edifices that lined the streets of LA’s urban heart were whispering tales of grandeur of LA’s heyday decades before he was even born. The more Brigham visited Downtown LA, the more he familiarized himself with the landscape, memorizing streets and the history behind each building. It was no surprise that he was soon hired by the Downtown Center Business Improvement District to help contribute toward the urban renaissance. Hired as an economic development “gatekeeper,” Brigham acted as liaison to businesses and property owners, potential residents and real estate agents. For two years, he worked tirelessly to recruit businesses and residents to Downtown LA dealing with both local and national companies looking to capitalize off of Downtown LA’s resurgence. He worked on large scale programs that successfully marketed Downtown LA as the most exciting new place to be in LA. Today, Downtown LA is livelier than ever and continues to evolve into the dream that Brigham has always had for his beloved city of LA–creating the urban connection destroyed by suburbanization. Brigham remains in the real estate industry (7 years and counting) and is now a real estate agent. He has a popular LA blog and is an avid writer on all things “urban” and “mass transit.” He has garnered great positive feedback and support from the Los Angeles communities for his blog, including being recognized by the national magazine The Advocate in their “40 under 40″ issue and the Pasadena Weekly.

Samuel A. Brownell has been involved at the transaction level in the institutional commercial real estate business since 2001, when he started his career at Colliers International in San Francisco as a leasing broker for the #1 ranked landlord representation team South of Market Street (SOMA). Sam earned International Rookie of the Year honors and was a Top 10 producer in the San Francisco office by his third year in the business. While at Colliers, Sam was involved in the exclusive representation of over 2,000,000 square feet of Class A Creative Office Space, the exclusive representation of over 100,000 square feet of creative tenant requirements, and in the sale of over $150,000,000 of investment properties. In 2005, Sam joined Blatteis & Schnur as Director of Acquisitions, subsequently Chief Acquisitions Officer, and was directly involved in the sourcing, fundraising, and development of approximately $150,000,000 in High Street retail properties in the United States leading urban retail markets. In addition, Sam’s responsibilities included overseeing the successful re-development of 200 Powell Street and 800 Market. At the time, 200 Powell (Skechers) and 800 Market (Diesel), established high water marks of over $400 psf respectively for ground floor retail space in San Francisco. 200 Powell won numerous awards for the restoration of a historic 80 year old Art Deco building. Following a one year sabbatical, in 2009 Sam began work as a Director in the Institutional Sales Group at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) in San Francisco, becoming the offices’ first retail hire. While at HFF, Sam was directly involved in the sale of over $300,000,000 of Urban Real Estate and over $100,000,000 in commercial real estate debt transactions. In May of 2013, Sam returned home to Blatteis & Schnur to help drive the growth and further expansion of the firm. Over the past year, Sam has spearheaded the firm’s acquisition business, sourcing over $200,000,000 of prime High Street retail properties including on Boston’s Newbury Street, Philadelphia’s Walnut Street and Los Angeles Arts District. In addition to Sam’s day-to-day involvement in the Arts District development, Sam has been tasked with expanding and establishing Blatteis & Schnur’s principal business in Miami, Washington DC and New York. Sam is an avid reader, exercise enthusiast, world traveler, and sports fan. Sam attended UCLA where he was a Walk-On Pitcher on the Bruin’s 1997 College World Series qualifier.

Mr. Bar-Zemer was born and raised in Jerusalem. He attended the Music Academy of Jerusalem and continues to be a lover and patron of the arts in Los Angeles. He lives in one of his own developments in the Arts District with his wife and two daughters, who grew up in the neighborhood. As a avid supporter of Downtown and the LA River communities, Bar-Zemer sits on the Board of Friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR) and ICA LA (formally the Santa Monica Museum of Art). He is also involved in the social entrepreneurship co-working concept Impact Hub LA, and the Institute of Field Research. Civics include: LARABA, ADCCLA, Arts District BID, Historic Cultural Neighborhood Council, HCNC-LARABA Land Use Committee, Design Advisory Committee for the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project, Technical Advisory Committee for the In-Channel Bike Path, and the Preservation Zoning Advisory Committee (ZAC) for re:code LA.

Timothy B. McGinity is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office where his practice focuses upon real estate and business litigation. Tim specializes in commercial, corporate and partnership litigation, landlord-tenant issues, writs of mandamus, writs of attachment and forfeiture matters on behalf of financial institutions. He has handled claims involving business torts, contracts, construction disputes, CERCLA, partnership, limited liability companies and alter egos, purchase and sale disputes, land use disputes, and many other issues. Tim represents individuals, business entities and financial institutions, and has a variety of trial and alternate dispute resolution experience. His experience includes representing a pension fund with regard to landlord-tenant disputes for real estate holdings in California, coordinating all forfeiture matters on a nationwide basis for a bank, representing a developer of a $450 million project with post-construction issues, representing a prior land owner in a CERCLA claim, representing a financial institution concerning a commercial loan default and obtaining an $11 million writ of attachment, representing a developer in a land use dispute concerning a conditional use permit, and representing high-profile clients in various real estate matters. Tim is also a real estate transactional attorney who handles purchase and sale transactions involving office, industrial and hotel properties. Tim was recently involved with the purchase and sale of a $48 million hotel, $50 million industrial property and over $100 million in office buildings. Prior to attending law school, Tim was a member of the United States Navy. During his naval career, Tim was deployed to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope. He also received two meritorious advancements, a Letter of Commendation, a Letter of Appreciation, the Navy League Award, the National Defense Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and Sea Service Ribbon. Tim is an avid triathlete having completed the Arizona Ironman (2014), Wildflower (Long Course), Superfrog Santa Barbara (Long Course) and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.

Mick McConnell is a multi-disciplinary architect, retail design leader and executive creative director, with management experience in corporate retail, architecture, environmental graphics, brand strategy, interactive design, graphic design, teaching and advertising. Active in education as visiting professor, critic and lecturer at Harvard, Yale, and others, McConnell most recently was the New York City professor at Syracuse in 2012-2013. An award-winning author of LAX, The Los Angeles Experiment, McConnell has worked with leading corporations, architects, agencies, and design firms both in-house and as a consultant. As the Head of Product Development at WeWork, Mick is developing new design standards, supervising special projects, and working across multiple channels for holistic solutions to large-scale initiatives. Mick previously was the head of design for Chipotle and also served as the Director for the design and construction of the Yas Viceroy Hotel in Abu Dhabi for Asymptote Architecture which consisted of the largest grid-shell in the world and was designed and built in only 20 months.

Ronen Olshansky is a co-founder and CEO of Cross Campus, a Los Angeles based real estate and hospitality platform re-imagining the office experience for creative professionals through a combination of workspace, services, and business events. Ronen’s background in finance and technology includes having worked for companies like Lehman Brothers, Arthur Andersen and JPMorgan in countries including Russia, UK, Turkey, and Brazil. He has been a founder or early stage executive in software, climate change, and real estate businesses.

Vice President of Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group responsible for acquisitions in Southern California. Previously, Mr. San Andres was a director of development for a Washington DC-based development company. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Housing Rights Center, a LA-based anti-discrimination non-profit organization, and Urban Land Institute. Education: Oberlin College, BA; Southern California Institute of Architecture, MArch; University of Virginia, MBA

Matt is leading the charge in energy management and high performing buildings software as VP of Yardi Energy at Yardi Systems. He was previously Vice President of North American Sales at Tesla Motors where he led the 450-member sales team to record sales and gains in market share. Before Tesla he was VP of Operations and Product Management at Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: SUN) where he led the operations as Sunrun grew from 30 employees and 2,000 residential solar customers to 1,200 employees and 55,000 customers. Matt also led the software team that created and designed the industry’s leading solar sales toolkit (“BrightPath”), customer website, and solar fleet management tools. Prior to Sunrun, Matt was Director of Product Management at fuel cell manufacture Bloom Energy and worked in product management at Genentech. Matt graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. from Duke University, and has an MBA from Stanford. He is on the Board of Ecology Project International, the Advisory Board for the Duke University Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment (EDGE) and sits on IREM’s sustainability advisory board and the utilities committee at NAA.

LaCoursiere has 10 years of commercial brokerage experience, spending most of his career with Cushman & Wakefield in New York City and Chicago, where he built the Global Alternative Investment Services practice group with partners in six global hedge fund/trading markets.