San Francisco State of the Market

Oz Erickson founded Emerald Fund in 1979 and has been actively developing projects in the Bay Area since that time. Oz identifies new projects and is involved with the entitlements, financing, project design and sales and marketing. Oz has been recognized with many industry honors including the San Francisco Business Times’ Lifetime Achievement Award for Most Admired CEO in 2013. Oz received a BA degree from Harvard University and a MBA from Stanford University

Laurent co-founded Pacific Workplaces (PAC) in 2003, an operator of coworking locations. Since then, he has grown the portfolio to 16 locations, mostly in Northern California. Prior to that, he held various positions at Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard,  with director-level responsibilities including Corporate Real Estate and Corporate Development. He worked in management consulting and investment banking early in his career. He holds an MBA from the Haas School at UC Berkeley.

Ms. Kleiman is responsible for overall Operations of the Company, which includes Portfolio, Asset and Property Management; Technology; Data Analytics and Research; Redevelopment and Resource Management; and Commercial Departments. Ms. Kleiman served as the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2015 to 2020 and was responsible for the overall transaction management for the $16 billion merger with BRE Properties. She joined Essex in 2009 to manage the Private Equity platform and grew the business from $750 million to $3 billion in gross assets. Prior to joining Essex, Ms. Kleiman's real estate career focused primarily on institutional investment management and investment banking. As a Senior Equity Analyst and Vice President of Investor Relations at Security Capital, she was responsible for over $2 billion of the firm's REIT investments and all client communications. As a Vice President with J.P. Morgan Real Estate & Lodging Investment Banking Group, she advised senior management and boards in strategic business platforms and capital markets transactions. Ms. Kleiman began her career in real estate development management in 1991. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University, and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management. She is a member of NAREIT and NMHC.

Nicholas Fogle serves as a Principal in Ryan’s Real Property Tax practice, based in the Ffirm’s San Francisco office. He advises clients on complex California property tax matters, delivering innovative solutions that address valuation, compliance, audit defense, and legislative-driven change. Nick partners closely with commercial property owners and tenants to manage property tax exposure across evolving regulatory and assessment environments, providing clarity and confidence in high-stakes jurisdictions. Nicholas Fogle Principal, Real Property Tax Property Tax San Francisco With extensive experience leading West Coast property tax operations, Nick brings a practical, market-driven perspective shaped by years of advising institutional owners, occupiers, and investors. He is known for combining deep technical property tax knowledge with a strong understanding of commercialreal estate fundamentals to achieve measurable savings. In addition to his client work, Nick is actively engaged in professional education and public policy,regularly speaking for Ryan clients and internal programs, as well as forthe California Assessors’ Association and the California State Board of Equalization, and contributing to statewide property tax reform initiatives. Education and Qualifications Bachelor of Science Degree, Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, Wisconsin School of Business Experience and Achievements Principal, Real Property Tax, Ryan, San Francisco office Advises clients on California property tax strategy, valuation, and dispute resolution Delivers innovative solutions across complex and high- value property portfolios West Region Leader, national property tax management firm California Market Leader, national property tax management firm Head of San Francisco Office, national property tax management firm Commercial Real Estate Broker, Cornish & Carey Commercial Member, California Alliance of Taxpayer Advocates Contributor, California State Board of Equalization Property Tax Relief Task Force

Alexander J. Pugh is a Partner in Lubin Olson's Real Estate, Business, Finance and Workouts, and Construction Law Practice Groups. Mr. Pugh represents clients in a wide range of real estate and business transactions, including debt and equity financing, real estate acquisitions and sales, real estate construction and development, commercial and industrial leasing and ground leases, workouts, mortgage loan repurchase transactions, and UCC and mortgage foreclosures. He represents private equity funds, hedge funds, corporate and individual developers and owners of office, multi-family, retail, hotel, industrial, recreational and high end residential real estate, mortgage and mezzanine lenders, and other public and privately-held companies investing in or using real estate. Mr. Pugh also has particular expertise in matters relating to California broker licensing. Before joining Lubin Olson, Mr. Pugh practiced in the real estate and finance group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. Mr. Pugh lives with his wife, son and daughter in San Francisco. Mr. Pugh was honored by Thompson Reuters as a Northern California Super Lawyer “Rising Star” in 2016 and 2017.

Brent Saldaña advises investors, developers, owners and operators, and others in the real estate industry in diverse, sophisticated real estate and corporate transactions. His clients span from individual investors and family-owned real estate enterprises, to established developers, to sponsors launching real estate funds, and his experience touches on multiple asset types and classes, including multifamily, office, hospitality, industrial, R&D campuses, and vineyards, among others. He serves as chair of Farella Braun + Martel’s Real Estate Group. Brent has extensive experience in acquisitions and dispositions, construction and permanent financings, multi-tiered joint ventures and entity formations, development projects, leasing, and asset and property management arrangements. He advises clients in many unusual deals requiring creative structures, including unique land swap transactions and challenging tenant workouts. Brent also works closely with members of Farella’s Family Wealth Group in structuring real estate holdings and succession planning for families looking to preserve generational wealth. Brent’s practice has a particular focus on complex real estate projects in the San Francisco Bay Area that require negotiating mutually beneficial solutions among multiple stakeholders to protect his clients’ interests. His work involves thoughtful consideration of interrelated agreements, excellent project management skills, and a continual appreciation of the big picture. He brings an infectious enthusiasm for placemaking, the built environment, and all things real estate. Representative work includes:  Representing the interest of a major investor in a hotel property in Oakland, CA, and representing the seller of a hotel in Oakland.  Representing the owner in the refinancing and sale of Cavallo Point Lodge in Marin County.  Representing the developer in adaptive reuse projects in the East Bay involving the exercise of purchase rights in leases with the municipality, structuring of joint ventures, obtaining construction financing, and negotiation of reciprocal utility easements with adjacent owners.  Representing a multifamily owner and operator in the restructuring of a dozen of its limited partnerships and tenancy in common holdings along the West Coast.  Representing the seller in the sale of a Peninsula office building re-entitled for multifamily construction. This sale, involving seven separate owners, required intricate seller financing, facilitated by the appointment of an administrative agent.  Representing a sponsor in the formation of a single-family residential investment fund targeting assets in the Southwest.  Representing owners and operators of collective retail experiences, including representation of a flower market operator and food hall operator.  Advising an office/retail unit owner in the foreclosure of an assessment lien under a reciprocal easement agreement against an adjoining unit owner.  Negotiating a $175MM credit facility, including lines of credit, secured by personal property assets for a Bay Area-based construction company.  Advising clients on Subdivision Map Act, Tenant Protection Act, Commercial Tenant Protection Act and other California statutory law issues.  Negotiating financing for the developer of a mixed-use project in India Basin in San Francisco.  Assisting an East Bay developer with build-to-suit leases, including a build-to-suit lease for a 220,000-square-foot office building for a life sciences company.  Representing winery and vineyard owners and operators in water infrastructure and water rights easements.  Advising a senior living owner and operator in sale negotiations with a developer of an adjacent mixed-use project in San Jose in which the senior living owner obtained future easement and other rights in an intricate set of sale and easement agreements. Brent is a 2025 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow. Prior to joining a law firm, Brent worked in development and marketing at The San Francisco Foundation and as in-house counsel for a CDFI fund (nonprofit lender) lending to businesses in New York and in disaster recovery zones. Brent earned his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.A. with honors from Tufts University. He is admitted to practice in California and New York.

Tara Shabahang is a Partner in the Real Estate Transactions and Finance group at the San Francisco office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. She represents real estate developers, investors, property owners and operators in all aspects of real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, financing, joint ventures and leasing. Tara leads her firm’s borrower-side finance practice with expertise in mortgage and mezzanine debt, construction financing, secured and unsecured lines of credit and CMBS loan servicing. Her project coverage is national and spans a variety of asset classes, including office, multifamily, retail, industrial, hotel and mixed-use. With a particular focus on commercial real estate development, Tara is trusted by some of the Bay Area’s leading developers and investors to navigate large-scale development projects, from the evaluation and acquisition of a development site, through project entitlement and construction, until assets are operational and stabilized. Tara is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) as well as her firm’s DEI and Women’s Initiative committees. Tara was named to Legal 500’s 2025 Next Generation Partner list for Real Estate, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2025 list of Rising Stars. In addition, she has been named to Best Lawyers in America’s Ones to Watch list in Real Estate Law from 2022-2024. Tara holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a J.D. from University of California, Davis.