Oakland Construction & Development: The Boom Continues!

Alan E. Dones is a licensed contractor, a long-time entrepreneur, an outspoken advocate of equal opportunity in employment and contracting, and an accomplished musician/producer. Dones is principal of ADCo, LLC and managing partner and co-founder of SUDA, LLC, a firm specializing in large-scale, innovative, public agency projects and mixed-use development. SUDA has completed several landmark projects in Oakland, CA and is currently pioneering international development projects in Africa. In 1988, Alan Dones co-founded and served as CEO of Rondeau Bay Construction, Inc. (RBC), an engineering and construction firm based in Oakland, CA. Under his leadership, RBC grew to include offices in five major US cities and completed over $70 million of construction projects. Alan is active in a number of local and national organizations. He has worked with agencies throughout the United States to revise and enhance their small business and W/MBE policies. Currently, he is a member of the City of Oakland’s Workforce Investment Board; member of the Alameda County Health Care Foundation; and member the East Bay Conversion and Reinvestment Commission. Formerly, Dones served as president of the Northern California Chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors; vice-chairman of the Oakland City Charter Review Committee; board member of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce; delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business; and member of the Legislative Committee for the Engineering and Utility Contractor’s Association. As a member of the Military Conversion and Reinvestment Commission, Mr. Dones was instrumental in promoting legislation and drafting revisions to the language of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) that enhanced the ability of Women and Minority owned firms to compete for DOD and conversion related contracts. Mr. Dones has authored several articles on minority business issues in local and National publications. He has co-authored a measure on the 1996 ballot in Oakland, California to amend Oakland’s City Charter mandating Affirmative Action programs, combating disparities in City employment and contracting. This initiative had national significance in that it is one of the first voter responses to counter the impact of the controversial anti-affirmative action California Civil Right Initiative (CCRI). Alan Dones is executive producer and co-founder of Strategic Media Alliance, LLC (SMI) ― an international production company based in Oakland, CA. His musical credits are many. Alan co-authored the 1981 hit single, “Be Yourself” with world-renowned bassist, Nathan East. The song appeared on singer Debra Laws’ first solo album, “Very Special” and rose to the top-ten mark on Billboard’s R&B charts [listen]. In 1981, Dones co-authored, “Go For It”, performed by Bill Summers & Summers’ Heat and featured on their classic Jam the Box album. Alan has produced, written and performed with many of the Bay Area’s top artists, including Rodney Franklin, Ray Obeido, Larry Batiste, Jennifer Johns, Hannibal Means, Patricia Banks, Harvey Scales, David Daniel, and The Nemonics. He performed for more than a year in the award-winning and highly acclaimed San Francisco musical review, “Soul, Style & Sass.”

Michael E. Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of UrbanCore Development, LLC which he founded in 2012 to focus on public-private, mixed-income residential development projects. Prior to establishing UrbanCore, Mr. Johnson was the President of Em Johnson Interest, Inc., a real estate development company based in San Francisco for 20 years. Over the combined last 25 years, his companies have been one of the largest African American businesses in the Bay Area. This is as a result of recent completion or current undertaking of over $800 million in project development activity, representing over 3,000 housing units and several mixed-use projects. He has served as the Managing Partner of award winning redevelopment projects such as the Fillmore Heritage Center, an $85 million mixed-use project in San Francisco; the $32 million Easter Hill HOPE VI project in Richmond, California; and the $45 million Mary Helen Roger Senior Center in San Francisco. Mr. Johnson has recently completed projects in Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego. This includes the completion of the $40 million Cannery Place 180-unit Affordable Housing project in Sacramento, the $35 million Warren-Eviva both in Sacramento (118 units), and the $50 million Eviva-Mission Bay project in San Francisco (129 units). UrbanCore also is currently completing construction on the largest modular housing project in Oakland, the $56 million, 110-unit Coliseum Connections apartment project scheduled to begin occupancy in March 2019, and is in the final pre-construction phase of the LakeHouse Commons - mixed income $250 million apartment project near Lake Merritt, and in Oakland which is schedule to break ground in the 3rd quarter of 2019. Mr. Johnson previously was a co-Managing Partner of the $102 million North Beach Place redevelopment project completed 2004, which has received numerous awards. Mr. Johnson has two degrees - a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Urban Planning in 1976, and a Master of Architecture with a concentration in Real Estate Development in 1979, from the University of Maryland and the Georgia Institute of Technology respectively. While at the Maryland, Michael was a student-athlete as a member of the track & field team, and was an Atlantic Coast Conference Champion in 1974. Mr. Johnson is currently a Member of the University of Maryland’s Board of Trustees and also serves on the Oakland Zoo Planning Advisory Committee, along with serving on the Board of the national non-profit Neighborhood Development Collaborative. He has also served on the Board of Trustees for the St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Oakland, on the Planning Commission, YMCA and Library Boards while in Atlanta, and the Board of Glide Memorial Church’s Housing Corporation in San Francisco. Mr. Johnson also lectures regularly at the University of Maryland’s Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development.

In addition to his role helping to guide SRM's investment strategy and real estate development activities, Ryan serves as SRM's CFO/COO, overseeing finance, accounting, capital markets and investor relations. He is also responsible for asset management, IT Systems and HR. Ryan received his BBA in Accounting from Gonzaga University and his MBA from Berkeley-Haas. Ryan enjoys the entrepreneurial spirit and risk involved in real estate development along with the challenges and opportunities that come with it.

John has over 20 years multifamily/commercial real estate experience in finance and asset management. He is responsible for business development in the San Francisco Bay Area. John has arranged financing for more than $2 billion in real estate and has led the disposition effort on over $500 million in institutional real estate. Prior to joining Bellwether Enterprise, John was First Vice President of Asset Management and Marketing at Essex Property Trust in Palo Alto, California. Before his time at Essex, John was Senior Vice President of Finance and Asset Management at Prometheus Real Estate Group in San Mateo, California.

Todd represents clients in the broad spectrum of land use, real estate and environmental issues in both litigation and administrative proceedings. He works with private clients and public entities, including landowners and developers of residential, infill, commercial and industrial property, as well as local agencies, providing property entitlement processing and local government land use approvals; CEQA compliance and litigation; planning and zoning law advice; and real property litigation. He also has experience with infill project streamlining, density bonus and housing laws, affordable housing and historic preservation regulations, as well as advising clients on public-private partnerships, the Subdivision Map Act, the Williamson Act, and cannabis land use regulations, along with easement and boundary dispute matters. A contributing editor on the 2010 – 2011 edition of State and Local Government Land Use Liability, and a reviewer of the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Municipal Law Handbook, Todd also has spoken throughout the state on land use law, with particular emphasis on CEQA.

With over 28 years of real estate and business operations experience, Scott serves as CityLift’s Chief Executive Officer. Prior to creating CityLift, Scott served as Chief Operating Officer for Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust where he played a key role in establishing the single family rental industry as an institutional asset class—eventually taking the company public in 2014. Previous to this, Mr. Gable was with Wells Fargo Bank where he helped create the home equity lending business and ultimately served as its EVP of Operations across the United States. Scott began his career with Booz Allen & Hamilton where he consulted on operations and strategy for consumer products, entertainment, and retail companies—eventually becoming a principal. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB in International Relations from Stanford University.

In his twenty plus years with MBH, David has proven his versatility on a multitude of project types managing projects in retail, hospitality, multi-family and mixed-use developments. As Studio Director of the Special Projects team, David has successfully carried various Bay Area projects through design to completion, artfully managing strict government guidelines and navigating the challenges presented by clients and consultants. David’s project experience includes the renovation of Hilton San Francisco, the ground-up mixed-use Oakland development Broadway Grand, the LEED Certified San Francisco residential project Ashton and most recently, the LEED Platinum certified mixed-use Berkeley development Higby. As a licensed Architect and Senior Associate, David has been an exemplary role model for each member of his direct team and to all within the company.