San Diego Multifamily & Affordable Housing Summit

A graduate of Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo, David formed McCullough Landscape Architecture as a sole proprietorship in 1999 while consulting for another firm. After wife and partner, Catherine joined the business in 2001 and became Chief Executive Officer and President in 2002; the firm became a woman-owned corporation and a certified Small Business by the State of California. With offices in San Diego and the Bay Area, McCullough creates spaces for hospitality, retail, mixed-use and institutional properties around the world. As principal landscape architect, David oversees all aspects of the design and production of firm projects at McCullough. He serves as head designer on all projects and maintains quality control on all work completed. Previous projects have earned awards and recognition in several national publications. David finds time in his schedule to take leadership in creative organizations such as the the San Diego Architecture Foundation (SDAF) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) local Urban Design Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the Pecha Kucha Night program, which is on its sixth successful year. He finds it inspiring to take part in such a diverse mix of creative minds while bringing them together to share with the public their wild ideas. In addition, recently David was appointed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to serve on the Historical Resources Board as Chair, which governs the identification, protection, retention and preservation of historical sites in San Diego. Concurrently, he has been invited to serve on the city’s Code Monitoring Team (CMT). David’s design philosophy is centered around merging context and creative passion with grit, soul, and style. The firm takes every project with a uniquely creative approach that centers around diversity, discovery and conservation. David feels it’s important to engage the human spirit with nature, while expressing empathy. Recent projects include a large waterfront development in Shanghai, China, Seaport San Diego redevelopment, several multifamily projects in Calgary and Vancouver, along with other notable hospitality, entertainment, and mixed-use collaborations in the Western US and Canada.

Joe von Meier approaches each client’s unique legal and business challenges from a proactive, problem-solving framework. Combining strong business acumen with sound legal judgment cultivated over nearly 20 years in practice, Joe's focus on construction and development across all segments of the commercial real estate sector has established him as a trusted partner for some of the country's top developers, investment groups and construction firms. By leveraging his command of all aspects of the development process – from entity formation and financing to construction, stabilization and disposition – he expertly guides his clients in complex real estate ventures involving investment fund creation, traditional and non-traditional debt, design and construction, and disposition of multifamily, office and warehouse/industrial assets. Uniquely, Joe gained specialized practice in the areas of development and construction when he was retained shortly after law school by an upstart real estate development company in Chicago. Being integrated with his client's operations providing comprehensive legal and business counsel, Joe helped the company expand and grow from multi-million-dollar single-family projects to luxury adaptive-reuse condominiums, which spawned architecturally significant multi-family towers and eventually led to the client's current focus on national award-winning student housing communities. Today, Joe utilizes his extensive legal toolbelt to draft and negotiate design and consulting agreements and construction contracts for developers and end users of recognizable commercial, industrial and residential projects. His national practice emphasizes mixed-use developments and research and development facilities in urban centers. A versatile advisor to his clients, Joe also delivers strategic value and helping entrepreneurs raise equity from private investors by preparing Private Placement Memoranda, Limited Liability Company Operating Agreements and ancillary formation and regulatory documents. Prior to joining CGS3, Joe launched his career at Chicago-based Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella PC where he worked for nearly 15 years and rose to partner. During his tenure with Burke, Warren, he served as Chair of the Summer Associate Committee helping many top attorneys launch their careers. A member of a variety of top legal and real estate industry professional organizations, Joe has become a valued and respected member of San Diego's business community.

Rammy Cortez, Rammy Urban Infill, is a Small Scale Urban Infill Developer + Builder of more than 60,000 SF of transit oriented missing middle housing in San Diego's Metro. He has a Master's in Real Estate from the Burnham-Moore's Center for Real Estate, University of San Diego and is a CA Licensed General Contractor. Rammy's leadership in the ULI (Urban Land Institute) San Diego / Tijuana includes; served as a YLG (Young Leaders Group) Board Member, is a former Co-Chair and currently serves as the Advocacy Co-Chair of the Small Scale Infill Development Product Council, Advisory Committee Member, and Mentor of the Young Leaders Group. Rammy is Member of Circulate San Diego’s, San Diego Housing Federation, California Yimby, Policy Committees, is a Member of LAI (Lambda Alpha International), Board Member of San Diego Council of Infill Builders, serves on the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board, and is a regular panelist on infill development. Rammy lives, works, plays, and serves Downtown San Diego- you'll find him weekly as lead volunteer at Path Connections Housing serving formerly homeless supportive housing residents.

Charly Ligety leads Housing on Merit’s research and development initiatives forming new and collaborative ways to build more affordable housing across the U.S. In addition, Charly is the Managing Director of The Housing Innovation Collaborative (or “HICo”), a global housing development research platform, sponsored by HOM, that showcases the latest design, finance, and policy solutions to address the housing affordability crisis across the world. Prior to joining HOM, Charly worked in the commercial real estate finance industry for over 10 years, working for a boutique real estate private equity firm as an analyst prior to joining Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate Group as a Relationship Manager in Los Angeles. In that role, Charly developed new business relationships with large investment firms and developers and managed a $400 million loan portfolio, which included underwriting and managing value-add and construction loans on a range of property types throughout the U.S. Charly graduated with honors from the full-time MBA program at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in 2018. While in graduate school, Charly became a published author of “Let’s Do Us”, an interactive conversation guidebook for couples, which he co-authored with a former colleague. Charly earned his Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College, majoring in Geography and Economics. At Dartmouth, Charly was a varsity member of the nationally ranked Division 1 Dartmouth Ski Team. As a native of Park City, Utah, Charly is still a passionate skier and mountain biker. Charly enjoys exploring his adopted city of Los Angeles, along with biking, hiking, and long walks on the beach with his wife and son.

Beginning in 1994, Kevin Nivinskus has developed a career with a variety of projects including designs for the Salk Institute, a monastery in Italy, shipping container housing solutions, modular affordable Housing, UCSD student housing, elementary and high schools, housing for the formerly homeless and many others. In 2017 Kevin started the firm, GLO Architecture. GLO Architecture is a mission-driven, creative architecture firm based in San Diego, California. We specialize in affordable housing solutions as well as mission-driven industries such as senior housing and education. The award-winning firm has a portfolio which includes affordable housing for seniors, formerly homeless, veterans and families. Additional projects include academic, residential, commercial as well as mixed-use buildings. GLO Architecture works spans the state of California notably in San Jose, Los Angeles and of course our hometown San Diego. GLO Architecture is dedicated to a collaborative, and creative design process. Participating in community design reviews, design workshops and one-on-one client design charettes. A signature of GLO Architecture is to provide personable, creative, collaborative and efficient designs. Kevin personally leads each project for its full duration, assisted by a team of collaborative and talented architects. This ensures that trust, relationships, design integrity, and coordination are maintained throughout the journey of the project. The firm is noted for creative solutions within limited budgets and designs that are sensitive to specific sites and program criteria.

Bo is an associate in the San Diego office and a member of the Land Use practice. He regularly advises clients on land use entitlement in all jurisdictions throughout San Diego County and Southern California. Bo has worked on many of the region’s most significant entitlement projects over the last several years. He has helped entitle tens of thousands of housing units and has worked on landmark local projects including Midway Rising, the San Diego Sports Arena redevelopment, and Tailgate Park, the redevelopment of four blocks next to Petco Park. Bo also has worked on many of San Diego’s life science campuses, in addition to innumerable smaller developments.

Ken has nearly 30 years of experience in the real estate industry developing multifamily, mixed use, retail, and office projects across the United States. He is responsible for the development of over three-thousand multifamily units in over a dozen projects and over 1M square feet of Class A office space. Prior to joining TAC Ken was the Senior Director of Western National Group where he led the development of three significant and high-profile Southern California apartment projects totaling more than 900 units and over $600M in realized value. Prior to joining Western National, Ken was the Senior Vice President of LNR Property Corp (Starwood Capital Group) where he spent over eighteen years leading the company in its development of multiple property types throughout the United States. Ken received his BS in Finance from St John’s University in New York City and his JD from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton. He is a member of the State Bar of California, the Urban Land Institute and NAIOP.

Bob Lisauskas serves as Principal in the firm’s placemaking studio. He offers more than two decades of experience with noteworthy master planning and mixed-use architecture projects in California and across the world. Bob has dedicated his time to working with clients who are focused on creating mixed-use residential districts and the re-imagining of cities. Current work includes the development of three multifamily residential projects in Downtown San Diego. Their basis of design includes an exploration of experiential placemaking opportunities, biophilia, and the integration of health and wellness initiatives. Holding degrees in both architecture and urban design, Bob is passionate about working at various project scales. In his local LA neighborhood, Bob has served as a board member of the Silver Lake Urban Design and Preservation Committee for the past ten years and acts as a student mentor at USC. Before joining RDC, Lisauskas served for seven years as senior associate, vice president at CallisonRTKL, and before that as project design director at RDC’s predecessor firm, P+R Architects.

Cameron Canepa, Senior Interior Designer & Business Development Manager for Maybeck Design, is a Southern California native with a passion for design, travel, and storytelling. The San Diego State University, Interior Architecture & Design Alumn, brings a versatile and elevated approach to every project with her strong foundation across residential, multifamily, hospitality, and commercial design, whether it’s local or cross-country, large-scale or intimate. Her work is driven by the belief that thoughtful, detail-rich design leaves a lasting impact. She collaborates closely with clients, artists, and multidisciplinary teams to deliver spaces that are visually compelling, deeply personal, and universally resonant. In addition to her design practice, Cameron hosts a podcast, Beyond The Basics, exploring the intersections of creativity, entrepreneurship, health/wellness, and the business world. Her strong business development acumen and intuitive understanding of client needs have been instrumental in growing her portfolio and building lasting industry relationships.

Rebecca Louie is a longtime leader in the affordable housing sector with over two decades of experience. Since starting at Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation in 2005, she has overseen the development and operation of more than 50 affordable housing communities, creating nearly 9000 homes for families, seniors, veterans, transition-age youth and people experiencing homelessness. A Native Alaskan and a member of the Tlingit-Haida tribe, Ms. Louie is widely known as a strong advocate for affordable housing, social and environmental justice, and homelessness. Ms. Louie holds a B.A. in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley..

Sean is the President & CEO of Community HousingWorks. Sean has served as a top local and state government leader in successive community development roles in the cities of New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and in Sacramento for the State of California. Prior to joining Community HousingWorks in 2020, Sean was the Assistant General Manager at the Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department where he was responsible for leading its housing production efforts and directing the operations of its Housing Development Bureau. The Bureau facilitates the financing of housing development projects with its business and community partners, leveraging its resources to the maximum benefit of the City’s residents and neighborhoods. Sean was formerly the Managing Director with Hunt Mortgage Group where he consulted on the acquisition, development, financing and execution of affordable housing development transactions, and originated new debt and equity executions. He also most notably served as the Executive Director of the California Debt Allocation Committee (CDLAC) from 2009-2015, administering the $3.8 Billion private activity bond program for California. Sean brings additional private sector experience from his time with Fannie Mae; then providing housing development and public financing resources across the Western United States. Throughout his career he has developed both new project financing structures (especially for affordable housing preservation), as well as designed and implemented billion dollar governmental programs with the goal of building better communities for those in greatest need. Sean holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees from Cornell University, and is a member of the invitation-only Lambda Alpha International Society for Land Economics.

Ms. Ruane has spent her career in finance, training, and real estate development. As Senior Vice President with Bank of America’s Community Development Banking Group, she managed a team of client managers to provide loans to the for-profit and non-profit development community to create affordable housing in Southern California. Following Bank of America, Ms. Ruane was Vice President of Affordable Housing Development at Fairfield Residential, a nationwide developer of multifamily housing and had responsibility for the Pacific Northwest regions. In this capacity, Ms. Ruane worked on the financing and development of affordable housing in partnership with cities/counties and non-profit organizations. More recently, Ms. Ruane was Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for the San Diego Housing Commission and oversaw Real Estate Development, Policy and Strategy for the agency. With eight departments reporting to her, she was responsible for ensuring all employees were skilled and trained in the public sector business. Her nine years with the Housing Commission further enabled her to work directly with San Diego City Council members and Housing Commission Board members, helping them understand the financing of affordable housing from the development standpoint, as well as the financial mechanics including how bonds and tax credits are utilized. Upon leaving the San Diego Housing Commission, Ms. Ruane founded Norwood Development Strategies, a consulting firm that specializes in providing solutions for the creation of multifamily housing to serve workforce families. Norwood Development Strategies was created to optimize Ms. Ruane’s experience in finance, real estate development and government by facilitating collaborative solutions for developers, financial institutions, and local jurisdictions to address housing shortages in major metropolitan areas. In this capacity, she works closely with the University of San Diego as an Adjunct Professor helping educate undergraduate and graduate degree candidates on housing finance and construction, urban development, and socio-economic impacts of housing affordability. Concurrently with the founding of Norwood Development Strategies, Ms. Ruane created the Middlemarch Fund, an equity vehicle to create housing for middle-income individuals and families. Through fundraising and collaboration with nonprofits, social impact investors, and foundations, the Middlemarch Fund is creating deed-restricted housing affordable for residents earning between 80% and 120% of the area’s median income. In its third capital raise, Middlemarch will continue to create mixed-income rental housing for a critical component of our market that has been severely overlooked. She studied Business Administration and Engineering and has a Master of Science degree from the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego. Ms. Ruane has served as Adjunct Professor of Real Estate at the Point Loma Nazarene University (2019) and is a frequent guest lecturer at the University of San Diego’s Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate and the School of Business. She was Chair of the Finance Committee for the San Diego Building Industry Association in 2023 and is a Board member for The Lucky Duck Foundation (focused on homelessness) and Eden Housing (focused on affordable housing).

Since joining Studio E Architects in 2007, Maxine Ward has served as Project Architect and design team member on a variety of the firm’s notable projects, including multiple charter schools, sizable projects on university campuses and multi-family housing. Maxine is responsible primarily for project management and team coordination - she brings strong organizational and communication skills in addition to design talent to her projects. She is well versed in the requirements for LEED certifications and confidently leads the consultant team toward a goal of high energy efficiency and sustainable standards. Maxine has more than twenty years of professional experience in all phases of various project types, from programming to construction administration and from schools to libraries to housing. She is able to find creative solutions to complex programmatic requirements. With a design philosophy focused on finding value and energy and financial efficiency, Maxine endeavors to find thoughtful responses to the needs of the client and user for the long term. Through clear communication and collaboration, she cultivates the team around a shared goal to deliver an environment that will fulfill the client’s unique vision. Maxine has served as a director of the San Diego Architectural Foundation since 2007. In 2015 she was honored with the Young Architect of the Year Award from American Institute of Architects, San Diego Chapter. She has been featured as one of San Diego’s “100 Influential Leaders” by The Daily Transcript.

Doug Austin, FAIA, is Founder, Chairman and CEO of AVRP Studios, a California-based architectural firm well known for its expertise in the design of affordable housing and the urban environment. Mr. Austin is recognized by his peers as a visionary design leader. Since establishing his firm in 1976, he has led teams in designing projects both domestically and internationally that have been recognized with over 150 awards for design excellence. Doug’s passion for architecture and his mission to make housing available to all, led him to some of the first micro-unit housing during the 80s in trying to make homes naturally more affordable through design as an alternative to unsustainable government subsidies. He challenged the building Industry, who was faced with inclusionary housing issues, to build two projects that ranged in size from 195 SF per unit to 295 SF. The premise was simple “if people can’t afford more there should be a good option to buy or rent less?” In its outside-the-box nature, the firm was recently awarded US and International patents for a new methodology involving prefabricating modules that act as the formwork for Concrete buildings up to 75 stories in height that hold the potential to save significant construction cost and time in the process. Austin serves as Chair of the Advisory Board for YIGBY (Yes in God’s Backyard), which is an organization committed to finding innovative ways to house its poor and homeless. YIGBY is one of many ways that represent AVRP Studios’ commitment to the larger goal of housing for all. Austin served as the Vice chairman of San Diego’s Redevelopment Agency and currently sits on the City’s Planning Commission. Austin received his B’ARCH from Cal Poly SLO, where he is an Honored Alum and serves on the President’s Council of Advisors. His firm sponsors a grant each year for “Housing Innovations”. Austin has furthered his post graduate education studying at the Harvard’s Graduate Center for Design and participating in the exploration of workforce housing at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing.