Northern California Student Housing & Higher Education Summit

Thu Apr 30, 2026

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Northern California Student Housing & Higher Education Summit

Exploring the Next Wave of Campus Expansions, Innovative Delivery Methods, P3s and Designing Vibrant Communities

Thursday April 30 2026 @ 8:00 AM PDT

$140.00

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Speakers and Panels

Reed Kawahara

Director, Public-Private Partnerships, UC Davis

Wendy Hillis

Assistant Vice Chancellor and Campus Architect, UC, Berkeley

Hamid Ghaemmaghami

My work experience, education and training of 25 years in public, private sectors of real estate industry has allowed me to utilize skills, education, ideas and experience acquired during my career with the service aspect that is the focus of the public sector ensuring exceptional results while providing the highest level of dedication, ethical conduct, economic returns, customer service, social justice and focus that is required in working with public agencies. In my professional career, I have worked on many high impact large development projects to improve and bring values to the communities and interacted positively with many governmental official, non-profit organizations, commercial tenants, private sector developers, financial institutions, consultants and professional in educational sectors. I have extensive real estate experience in public and private sectors in areas of right of way, Eminent Domain, development, asset management, marketing, commercial office and retail leases, ground leasing, permits, licenses, easements, CEQA process, redevelopment, feasibility analysis, land acquisition, airport property management, below market & affordable housing, solar leases, telecommunication leases, surplus disposition, non-profit leasing, economic development and site assembly of high impact projects. My experience in the public sector has been with two of the most diverse and economically challenged cities in the Bay Area, Cities of East Palo Alto and Oakland, one of the most affluent, the City of Palo Alto and finally with presently with San Francisco State University (SFSU). I also have extensive leadership experience and volunteerism working with community-based non- profit organizations and unions. I served on the board of Rebuilding Together Oakland and Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Pacific Renaissance Plaza and currently serve as a bord member of Rebound Institute. During my employment with City of Oakland, after being elected as the president of the Engineering Unit, an once underperforming unit has become one of the most dynamic and vocal units of IFPTE Local 21 Oakland.

San Francisco State University

Executive Director of Real Estate Development

Hamid Ghaemmaghami

Executive Director of Real Estate Development, San Francisco State University

Kelly Snider

Director of Real Estate, SJSU Urban & Regional Planning

Danielle Robins

Director, University Partnerships, Greystar

Nadine Kelley

Executive Director, Housing Services, California State University-Sacramento

Patrick Kennedy

Owner, Panoramic Interests

Nhan Nguyen Le

CEO & Founder, Valiance Capital

Jon Salisbury

Executive Director, Facilities Planning, Cabrillo Community College District

Vincent Polhemus

Associate Director of Preconstruction, Clark Pacific

Mahalakshmi Balachandran

Senior Associate, McCullough Landscape Architecture

What You'll Learn:

What You’ll Learn:

Discover how UC colleges and other Northern California campuses are aligning enrollment growth and infrastructure investments to meet long-term student housing goals.
Explore how new building methods, from design-build and modular to mass timber and prefab are improving delivery speed and project feasibility.
Gain insight into how architects are designing wellness-focused, sustainable, and community-driven student housing environments across the Bay Area and Sacramento regions.
Understand how partnerships between universities, private developers, and cities are helping unlock funding, streamline approvals, and improve housing attainability.
Learn how design and construction teams are navigating rising costs, material constraints, and regulatory hurdles unique to Northern California.
Examine how inclusive, human-centered design strategies are shaping the next generation of campus housing and learning environments.

How You’ll Do More Business: As NorCal’s leading universities push to expand housing and modernize campuses, navigating costs, collaboration and smart building methods are key to success. Join us to connect directly with the leaders driving capital projects, student housing growth, and P3 delivery models.

Who You’ll Meet During Networking: Owners, developers, investors, brokers, city and government officials, business consultants, architects, engineers, lawyers, accountants, and bankers.

Why You Should Attend This Session: Bisnow events bring together the biggest power players in the industry to help you identify opportunities, build your network and expand your business. With the largest audience of commercial real estate professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than we do.

For questions, recommendations, comments, or press inquiries, please email our event producer, Bora Altunay, at bora.altunay@bisnow.com.

Interested in Sponsorship? Contact max.stein@bisnow.com to get information on sponsorship, pricing, and availability at this event.

Agenda

Time	Activity
8:00 AM 9:00 AM	Breakfast & Networking
9:00 AM 9:45 AM	Building and Designing Vibrant Student Housing Communities Exploring Experiential Design, Wellness, Sustainability, and Amenities on Campus Projects
9:45 AM 10:30 AM	Getting Projects to Pencil: Feasibility, Speed to Market & Delivery Navigating Costs, Materials and Building Methods to Accelerate Student Housing Production
10:30 AM 11:00 AM	Networking Break
11:00 AM 11:45 AM	Partnering for Progress: The Future of P3s in Higher Education How Universities and Private Partners Are Collaborating to Deliver Affordable, Scalable, and Sustainable Student Housing
11:45 AM 12:30 PM	Planning for Tomorrow: Capital Projects & Campus Expansions Balancing Enrollment Demand, Affordability, and Infrastructure to Build Sustainable Campus Communities
12:30 PM 1:00 PM	Closing Networking