Investment & Development Outlook

Getting Deals Done, Weighing Investor Confidence, Land Use Planning, Approvals And Entitlements

• 

  Brad Griggs

  Brad Griggs is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blake|Griggs Properties which focuses on mixed-use development and investment in high density multifamily projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Opportunity Housing Group which focuses on acquiring existing assets and converting them to Workforce Housing for Essential Workers. Brad has developed more than $4 billion of real estate investment totaling over 8,500 apartment units, 40 Extended-Stay Hotels, and 2,000 for-sale residential homes. He also has acquired and sold for either his own account or that of companies he has work for more than $2 billion of existing apartment communities totaling over 7,700 apartments. Brad was the former Executive Vice President/Chief Investment Officer for publicly traded BRE Properties, Inc; Senior Vice President with Security Capital Group’s Homestead Village; Project Director for The Fieldstone Company; Director of Operations for M.J. Brock/Ryland Homes; and Apartment Division Manager for Pacific Scene Properties, Inc. Brad holds a degree in Architecture from California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo and is a licensed California State Architect. Brad is a full member of Urban Land Institute.

  Blake|Griggs Properties

  Co-Founder & Managing Partner

  Brad Griggs

  Co-Founder & Managing Partner

  Blake|Griggs Properties

• 

  Sean Murphy

  Partner

  Pacific Development

• 

  Eric Harrison

  SVP Development

  Signature Development Group

• 

  Steve Buster

  Steve Buster is Senior Vice President, Development for Grosvenor Americas with overall responsibility for the development activities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Steve has fifteen years of real estate investment and development experience, most recently directing development activities for large master planned, mixed use projects in the Bay Area. He earned his MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business in 2007 and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), Finance from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2000. Steve is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) & the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

  Grosvenor

  SVP, Development

  Steve Buster

  SVP, Development

  Grosvenor

• 

  Jeremy Harris

  Director, Development

  oWow

• 

  Todd Williams

  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.

  Fennemore

  Attorney

  Moderator

  Todd Williams

  Attorney

  Fennemore

Addressing The Need For Affordable Housing

Solving For The Housing Crisis By Bringing In More Resources And Making Low Income A High Priority

• 

  Andrea Osgood

  Andrea lead’s Eden’s Real Estate Development team and is responsible for Eden’s new business and pre-development pipeline, new construction, real estate acquisition and portfolio renovation efforts. Under her leadership, Eden currently has a pipeline totaling nearly 5,000 homes for lower-income households across California. Since joining Eden’s development team in 2008, Andrea has overseen the development of over 2,500 new units and the acquisition of over 1,500 existing units in six California counties – from Sonoma to San Diego County. She is currently managing Eden’s expansion into new regions in California, with a growing department of 27 development professionals. Andrea has significant experience in construction management, construction litigation and public contracting. She worked as a construction management consultant for Capital Projects of UC Berkeley where she was involved in large rehab and new construction projects – from planning and development through funding and construction. Additionally, she was the lead paralegal in the construction group at Hanson Bridgett Marcus Vlahos & Rudy, a San Francisco law firm. Andrea serves as President of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County (board member since 2013) and is an inaugural board member and Treasurer of SV@Home, a housing advocacy organization in Santa Clara County. Andrea Osgood earned her Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Honors from Pomona College and a Master of Arts in Urban Planning from the UCLA Graduate School of Public Policy and Social Research.

  Eden Housing

  Chief of Real Estate Development

  Andrea Osgood

  Chief of Real Estate Development

  Eden Housing

• 

  Denice Wint

  VP, Real Estate Development

  EAH Housing

• 

  Emily Weinstein

  Director of Housing & Community Development

  City of Oakland

• 

  Christophe Laverne

  Christophe has over 20 years of design, project management, and construction administration experience for a variety of project types focused on senior living communities, multi-family residential communities, municipal projects, and an array of public facilities. His approach to architectural design is rooted in meaningful, sustainable, and healthful experiences for users that balances nature and the architectural built environment. He serves as Co-Chair for the AIA San Francisco Chapter’s Design for Aging Committee, where he leads interdisciplinary discussions on topics addressing the challenges and opportunities of design for aging and how architecture can thoughtfully and effectively support the quality of life for our aging society.

  HKIT Architects

  Principal

  Christophe Laverne

  Principal

  HKIT Architects

• 

  Howai Lai

  Howai has close to 20 years’ experience designing multi-family residential projects with a focus on affordable housing. An Oakland resident, Howai has seen first-hand the urgency in providing affordable housing, not only for our neighbors resorting to living in encampments and cars, but also for those that are under-housed or living in sub-standard housing. Currently, he is directing affordable housing projects in various Bay Area jurisdictions including Oakland, Redwood City, Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Pinole. In addition, Howai and the team at Studio T-Square have completed a number of affordable housing projects in Southern California and in the Tahoe region, all of which brought positive change to the community through the firm’s commitment to place-making and community-responsive, sustainable development. Studio T-Square brings expertise in large scale master planning/urban design, transit oriented and mixed-use development while leveraging practical experience in the state density bonus process. With over 20 affordable communities realized and another 10 on the boards, Howai and Studio T- Square are actively working with development partners and jurisdictions to carry out the important mission of creating safe, attractive, and energy efficient communities to tackle the housing shortage crisis.

  Studio T-Square Architects

  Senior Associate

  Howai Lai

  Senior Associate

  Studio T-Square Architects

• 

  Nora Garcia

  What I like best about architecture + design: I’ve always enjoyed the process of combining creative and critical thinking to design buildings that respond to the needs of the ultimate occupants. From starting with developing the initial concept to fine tuning it until it feels ‘right’. Documentation through construction is just as interesting since there is always something new to learn as we strive to achieve the concept/design! What I add to a project team: An extensive archive of technical knowledge mixed in with very many lessons learned that I like to share with the team. I also bring strong leadership and mentorship.

  Lowney Architecture

  Studio Director

  Moderator

  Nora Garcia

  Studio Director

  Lowney Architecture

Developing, Designing And Operating In A Competitive Market

Attracting And Retaining Residents While Unlocking The Housing Production Puzzle in Oakland, Berkeley and Surrounding Cities

• 

  Marc Babsin

  In addition to 15 years of experience in real estate development, Mr. Babsin is an attorney and CPA. Mr. Babsin holds a BS in Accountancy from the University of Illinois, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a Master in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley.

  Emerald Fund

  President

  Marc Babsin

  President

  Emerald Fund

• 

  Seth Lang

  As SVP of Development and Partner at Riaz Capital, Seth oversees land acquisitions, construction, design, and entitlement. With over 9 years of experience in the real estate business, Seth leads with a people-first mindset and manages the many moving pieces so the organization can deliver on its vision of quality workforce housing at an affordable price. Prior to Riaz Capital, he earned his B.A. in Economics and then worked in public accounting at Deloitte and Touche LLC, where he focused primarily on commercial real estate and learned the business inside and out. Seth found the accounting world engaging but not particularly innovative. At Riaz Capital, he discovered he could be both commercial and innovative.

  Riaz Capital

  Partner and SVP of Development

  Seth Lang

  Partner and SVP of Development

  Riaz Capital

• 

  Heather Wallace

  As Managing Director, Heather Wallace oversees business development and client engagement; optimizing the company’s position as a national brand; seeking innovative technologies and services that offer operational efficiencies, enhancing the customer experience, increasing asset value; and executing financial and business goals. Heather is a customer-centric, innovative thought leader in the multifamily field. During her career, Heather has held various roles, including Development Partner, Acquisitions Director West Coast, Senior Vice President of Client Services and Vice President of Operations. Heather also worked for Alliance Residential Company, Sares Regis Group, Trammell Crow Residential and Lincoln Property Company.

  Bozzuto

  Managing Director

  Heather Wallace

  Managing Director

  Bozzuto

• 

  Michael Thomas

  Director of Operations

  Panoramic Interests

• 

  Mark Loper

  Mark is a partner in the firm’s land use group. His practice emphasizes entitlements, due diligence, administrative compliance, and environmental law. Mark’s clients range from property owners looking to reuse or remodel existing buildings to investors performing diligence and institutional developers proposing mixed-use projects exceeding a million square feet. Mark has experience throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. He regularly appears in front of decision makers, including San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, Board of Appeals, and Zoning Administrator; the Oakland Planning Commission; the Berkeley City Council; the Daly City Planning Commission and City Council; the San Mateo Planning Commission and City Council; and state and federal courts. Mark is an expert in local and state zoning laws and regulations, as well as the application of the California Environmental Quality Act to infill development projects. Along with appearing before local decision-making bodies, Mark provides strategic advice and counsel to property owners, project sponsors, investors and potential purchasers, and commercial tenants. Before joining Reuben, Junius & Rose, Mark practiced civil litigation, giving him unique insight into the transactional and entitlement pitfalls that lead to lawsuits and the importance of creating a robust administrative record. Mark is an East Bay native and passionate about civic issues affecting San Francisco, the Bay Area, and California.

  Reuben, Junius & Rose

  Partner

  Moderator

  Mark Loper

  Partner

  Reuben, Junius & Rose