Planning for Tomorrow: Capital Projects & Campus Expansions

Balancing Enrollment Demand, Affordability, and Infrastructure to Build Resilient Campus Communities

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  Jason Doyle

  Associate Director, Capital Planning & Real Estate

  UC Merced

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  Troy Stahlecker

  Troy is the Director of Project Delivery at California State University, Cal Poly. The Director role provides executive oversight and Board of Trustees reporting on a $1.4B portfolio of capital improvement projects. Troy manages the Project Delivery group in collaboration with Facility Management and Development business leaders, the Associated Vice President, and Executive Vice President. The Director role has oversight for a varied portfolio of projects that align with the Cal Poly strategic master capital growth strategy. Oversight includes financial performance, risk management, data driven metrics, forecasting, and proactive mitigation strategies to ensure on-budget delivery and transparent communications on project health. The Project Delivery team leads construction projects aligned with Cal Poly’s growth as part of collaborative team across the Administrative and Finance workforce. The collaborative culture is equally applied within Cal Poly and to the construction community supporting Cal Poly. Day to day practices are led with a safety-first, industry best practice mindset, empowering all voices focused on psychological safety, accountability, and innovation. Prior to arriving at Cal Poly, Troy had a similar role with the University of Washington evolving contracting methodologies, strengthening the University of Washington’s reputation as a state and national leader in public construction delivery.

  California Polytechnic State University

  Director of Project Delivery

  Troy Stahlecker

  Director of Project Delivery

  California Polytechnic State University

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  Anders Carpenter

  Higher Education Practice Leader

  Perkins&Will

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  Mahalakshmi Balachandran

  Maha received her Bachelor of Architecture from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. With her previous experiences as an Architectural Designer, she learned to appreciate the visual connection between architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture through residential and community masterplans. Working with McCullough for more than 10 years as a project manager, she has experience in designing and managing a range of projects, including multi-family, mixed-use housing, education, retail, and corporate campuses. Having lived in India, Finland, Canada, and the U.S., she brings a unique perspective to her role. Her design approach is rooted in the principle “every landscape has a purpose.” She oversees the project design, documentation, implementation, and supports the firm with her business development efforts in the Northern California region. Maha is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) International Northern California Chapter, Urban Land Institute San Francisco Chapter, and Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) San Francisco chapter. A little-known fact about Maha is that she enjoys painting and working the landscape through her line art. Additionally, she has been reading and writing poetry for over a decade.

  McCullough Landscape Architecture

  Senior Associate

  Mahalakshmi Balachandran

  Senior Associate

  McCullough Landscape Architecture

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  Aravind Batra

  Aravind Batra has over 30 years of experience in consulting engineering, covering both renovation and new construction. He currently serves as Vice President, where he helps to ensure P2S quality standards continuously. Aravind brings an in-depth knowledge of electrical systems and their requirements to numerous needs assessments, systems upgrades, renovations, and new building projects for various educational, municipal, commercial, and industrial clients. He is responsible for designing numerous high-performance buildings, independent reviews of various types of buildings, and providing peer review on multiple renovations and new building projects for educational, industrial, and commercial facilities. Aravind has also been involved with developing sustainability master plans for various clients addressing their energy efficiency opportunities, their facilities' impact on the atmosphere, sustainable sites, water use efficiency, waste management, and high-performance green building issues. He has been instrumental in developing electrical standards for various facilities that promote energy-efficient designs and help clients standardize their systems and equipment to reduce operational and maintenance costs. His professional activities include past service as Treasurer for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) and recently as Membership Chair of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Long Beach Branch.

  P2S

  VP, Sr Electrical Engineer

  Moderator

  Aravind Batra

  VP, Sr Electrical Engineer

  P2S

Designing the Modern Campus: Planning, Facilities & Student Life Strategy

How Universities Are Elevating Social Spaces, Amenities & Student Experience

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  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

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  Raoul Amescua

  Senior Vice President-Development, Student Living with The Michaels Organization (Michaels), leading the company’s public-private partnerships with higher education institutions in California, by bringing nearly 20 years of real estate development and finance experience including the development of large-scale housing and dining facilities that utilized public-private partnership (P3) delivery models. In addition to delivering P3 real estatement development projects on-campus, Raoul is the company's leader for off-campus student housing development in California.

  The Michael's Organization

  EVP, Development

  Raoul Amescua

  EVP, Development

  The Michael's Organization

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  Christen Soares

  Principal & CFO

  Field Paoli Architects

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  Morris Adjmi

  Morris Adjmi is the Founder and Principal of Morris Adjmi Architects (MA), an award-winning multidisciplinary planning and design practice known for creating buildings and environments that “stand out by fitting in.” For nearly three decades, he has guided the firm with a passion for placemaking and a research-driven design approach that bridges tradition and innovation. Since establishing MA in 1997, Morris has led the design and delivery of more than 27 million square feet of built space across more than 25 cities in the United States and abroad. Under his leadership, MA has grown from a small architectural studio into a dynamic interdisciplinary practice encompassing urban planning, architecture, interior design, and art services, with a portfolio spanning a wide range of scales and typologies—from large-scale district plans to multifamily developments to state-of-the-art education and research facilities. Recent higher education work includes the U.C. Berkeley Anchor House, a LEED- certified dormitory that reimagines the student residential experience within the university’s distinctive urban campus context. MA is also currently leading the curation of more than 300 works of art for UCSF’s New Hospital at Parnassus Heights (NHPH). Prior experience includes NYU’s Wilf Hall—the first academic building in New York to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Morris is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and holds a Master of Architecture from Tulane University, which honored him in 2023 with the Angela O’Byrne Alumni Award. He has taught at Columbia University and the University of Houston, and lectures widely on historic and contemporary architecture.

  Morris Adjmi Architects

  Founder and Principal

  Morris Adjmi

  Founder and Principal

  Morris Adjmi Architects

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  Mark Davis

  Mark Davis brings design sophistication and analytical prowess to complex challenges. With over twenty years of experience in project leadership, innovative problem-solving, and energy efficient building design he brings deep technical and delivery expertise to each of his projects. Currently, Mark is Principal-in-Charge of the Bancroft-Fulton student housing project at University of California, Berkeley. Prior to this he served as the PIC for Henley Hall or the Institute for Energy Efficiency, a new high-performing laboratory building at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as the Tidelands, a 590-unit affordable housing complex for medical residents and trainees at the University of California, San Francisco. His earlier work at KieranTimberlake includes the building envelope design at both Rice University’s Brockman Hall for Physics and the US Embassy in London. Having led two IPD projects, Mark now lectures on how colleges and universities can effectively utilize this delivery method on their campus projects.

  KieranTimberlake

  Principal

  Mark Davis

  Principal

  KieranTimberlake

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  Curtis Caton

  Curtis Caton, AIA, is a senior principal at PYATOK architecture + urban design, specialists in California multifamily housing design and planning. Curtis joined PYATOK in 1996 as the Project Architect for the firm’s first venture into campus housing design with studies for UC Berkeley that led to the replacement of 920 apartments for student families at University Village in Albany. He has since led dozens of housing and mixed-use projects for students, seniors, families, and individuals with special needs. Curtis’ 40 years of housing experience includes student housing on six higher ed campuses, including public-private partnerships. Curtis is an enthusiastic team player and relishes the opportunity to develop innovative projects that meet the unique requirements of each client’s program and site with an appropriate economy of means. He recently oversaw the completion of Crescent Grove affordable/supportive suburban infill in Castro Valley; Flicker Bird homes, clinic, and cultural gathering space in Oakland; and the 206-unit rehabilitation of Del Nido Apartments in Santa Rosa.

  PYATOK Architecture + Urban Design

  Sr Principal

  Moderator

  Curtis Caton

  Sr Principal

  PYATOK Architecture + Urban Design

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

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  Reed Kawahara

  Reed is the Interim Executive Director and Director of Public-Private Partnerships within Real Estate Services at Design and Construction Management. Reed plays a lead role in the planning, development, and ongoing administration of public-private partnership (P3) projects developed on both the Davis and Sacramento campuses of UC Davis. This involves close coordination with the campus’ P3 development partners in areas including project design, economics, financing, business terms, development approvals, and compliance with University regulations and policies. Over the years UC Davis has become an industry leader in utilizing the P3 delivery model to produce much needed campus facilities. Reed is a graduate of UC Davis and joined the UC Davis staff in 2017 after 25 years of real estate development and consulting experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to joining UC Davis Reed developed affordable housing with BRIDGE Housing Corporation and advised public agencies throughout the west on a wide range of real estate and economic development projects with Keyser Marston Associates.

  UC Davis

  Director, Public-Private Partnerships

  Reed Kawahara

  Director, Public-Private Partnerships

  UC Davis

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  Danielle Robins

  Danielle Robins joined Greystar in 2022 as a Director of University Partnerships. She supports Greystar’s business development platform by developing relationships with institutional partners, conceptualizing and underwriting Public-Private Partnership (P3) projects, and managing the pre-development process in partnership with Regional Development offices. She is currently managing projects across the West that, at completion, will total 4,200 beds and $964M in development. Prior to joining Greystar, Danielle was a Vice President at U3 Advisors, a nationally recognized real estate advisory firm where she worked with universities, non-profits, and local government agencies to plan and implement complex development projects in partnership with the private sector. Danielle has a BA in Urban Studies from UC Berkeley and a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

  Greystar

  Director, University Partnerships

  Danielle Robins

  Director, University Partnerships

  Greystar

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  Jon Salisbury

  Jon Salisbury is a human being trying- like most of us- to make sense of the brief and bewildering experience of being alive. He has devoted nearly half a century to this work, sometimes gracefully and sometimes not, and has reached the irrefutable conclusion that he is getting older. Along the way, he has held a range of roles and accumulated a variety of credentials, all of which he respects, while remaining especially attentive to the qualities that tend to matter most over time: sound judgment, service to others, and care in how work is done. He holds a particular respect for the poetry of blue-collar work- the skilled, physical labor that quietly sustains our institutions and communities. He is deeply aligned with the mission of the community college system and remains curious about how strong teams and durable operations are built, supported, and sustained. Jon serves as Director of Facilities Planning & Plant Operations for Cabrillo College, where he sits in the Owner’s seat on complex capital and infrastructure efforts, focused on turning long-term institutional needs into work that is practical, durable, and accountable. He is a husband and a proud father of three, which remains his greatest credential and fiercest joy. If you would like to know more, he welcomes a conversation or a well-titled email. He will almost certainly respond- and he may even have something worth saying.

  Cabrillo Community College District

  Executive Director, Facilities Planning

  Jon Salisbury

  Executive Director, Facilities Planning

  Cabrillo Community College District

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  Ben Mickus

  Ben Mickus is an award-winning architect and product designer, working concurrently in both disciplines. He has over 22 years of experience in cultural, educational and mixed-use architecture with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SOM and WRNS Studio, where he is currently a partner. He was lead designer on The Juilliard School & Alice Tully Hall transformation at Lincoln Center in New York, Cabrillo-UCSC Student Housing, College of Arts at Cal State University Monterey and the Elco Yards mixed-use neighborhood in Redwood City. His current research focuses on biophilic and multi-sensory design, and mass timber fabrication possibilities. His furniture designs are included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, and his lighting designs have been installed around the world. Ben holds a Master of Architecture from UCLA and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly. Ben currently lives in Alameda and is a father of two.

  WRNS Studio

  Partner

  Ben Mickus

  Partner

  WRNS Studio

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  Quynh Pham

  Quynh Pham is a Senior Business Development Director and strategist for McCarthy Building Companies with a heavy focus on commercial development and higher education projects. Her work centers on how projects are positioned and brought to market, aligning delivery strategies, partners, and procurement approaches with market conditions and institutional priorities. She works at the intersection of development strategy and project delivery, with a focus on how early decisions shape deal structure and long-term outcomes. As moderator, she brings a market-informed perspective to P3 student housing, connecting how projects are pursued with how they are delivered.

  McCarthy Building Companies

  Sr Business Development Director

  Moderator

  Quynh Pham

  Sr Business Development Director

  McCarthy Building Companies

Getting Projects to Pencil: Feasibility, Speed to Market & Delivery

Navigating Costs, Materials and Building Methods to Accelerate Student Housing Production

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  Kelly Snider

  I have deep experience in residential, retail, commercial, and mixed-use real estate development in urban places with an emphasis on transit adjacency. I shepherd projects and teams from property acquisition through grand opening. I advise private owners and corporations on planning, project design, transportation demand management and real property development - plus I advise public agencies and municipalities on growth strategies and partnering with private partners. I have decades of experience hiring and managing teams of all sizes and am fostering excellent relationships with local and regional government officials. Committed to adapting our built environment to enhance community health, diversity, and long-term economic sustainability. I'm an experienced board member and volunteer, with outstanding community relations skills and political acumen. My specialty is figuring out how to optimize a path toward the best possible sense of place and well-being in a community - and doing it on time and on budget.

  SJSU

  Director of Real Estate

  Kelly Snider

  Director of Real Estate

  SJSU

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  Patrick Kennedy

  Patrick Kennedy is the owner of Panoramic Interests, a development firm that has been building housing, live-work space, and commercial property in the Bay Area since 1990. The firm has focused on dense, mixed-use, mixed-income, infill developments, typically financed with private funds. All of the multi-family housing projects include below market rate units. The firm’s projects incorporate the Smart Growth principles designed to discourage auto use, mitigate sprawl, encourage local business, and enhance the pedestrian streetscape. Mr. Kennedy grew up in the East Bay, and attended Claremont McKenna College, majoring in Economics and English. He is a former member of the Carpenters Union and Steelworkers Union, and the California Bar. After college, he worked as a contractor, and then attended Harvard Law School and MIT, graduating with a J.D. and a Masters in Real Estate Development. Early development work included building his own house, and renovating several small commercial properties. His hobbies include open water swimming and ultra-light backpacking, both of which have furnished surprising insights into his work in development.

  Panoramic Interests

  Owner

  Patrick Kennedy

  Owner

  Panoramic Interests

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  Nhan Nguyen Le

  Nhan Nguyen Le is the CEO and Founder of Valiance Capital, a Berkeley-based real estate investment firm specializing in value-add and ground up development in student housing and multifamily. Valiance is a vertically integrated owner-operator with over 1,000 beds under management in Berkeley. With an AUM of over $300 million, aggregated across a 26-property portfolio with a growing pipeline in Berkeley, Valiance is one of the most active and leading market participants. Valiance’s in-house property management division, The Berkeley Group, is amongst the leading specialized student housing management firms in the market, with a nearly perfect 100% year-over-year occupancy, over the past 12 years. Recently, Valiance and The Berkeley Group has become the proud student housing partner of Cal Athletics. Nhan graduated from UC Berkeley and currently lives in Elmwood, Berkeley. For more information visit: www.valiancecap.com

  Valiance Capital

  CEO & Founder

  Nhan Nguyen Le

  CEO & Founder

  Valiance Capital

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  Vincent Polhemus

  Vincent Polhemus is Senior Business Development Manager at Clark Pacific, a leading design- manufacturer-builder of prefabricated building systems. Vincent’s experience in prefabricated building systems spans 20 years in Southern California and includes unitized curtainwalls, window walls, aluminum panels systems, architectural precast concrete, thin-shell concrete and GFRC. Starting as a project manager for a glazing contractor, Vincent moved to Preconstruction in 2016, and has worked on award winning projects throughout California, including the California New Natural Resources Building in Sacramento, 510 S Vermont in Los Angeles and One Westside in Los Angeles.

  Clark Pacific

  Associate Director of Preconstruction

  Vincent Polhemus

  Associate Director of Preconstruction

  Clark Pacific

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  Jacob Adiarte

  Jake Adiarte serves as Director of Marketing, Strategy and Growth for the North Coast States Carpenters Union (NCSCU), leading enterprise growth strategy across a jurisdiction spanning from Bakersfield, California through Washington and Oregon to the Canadian border. Under this expanded footprint, the organization now represents approximately 60,000 carpenter members and maintains a leading position in the West Coast construction market. He oversees market expansion, contractor engagement, and long-term strategic initiatives designed to increase market share, strengthen labor-management partnerships, and drive sustainable employment growth. His leadership integrates organizing, workforce development, and compliance strategy to enhance competitiveness and industry standards. Previously, Jake directed one of the largest organizing operations in the labor movement, advancing regional market density and expanding contractor participation. With more than 18 years in the industry, he brings a holistic perspective, having begun his career as a carpenter apprentice in 2002 before transitioning into union leadership in 2008.

  Nor Cal Carpenters Union

  Director

  Moderator

  Jacob Adiarte

  Director

  Nor Cal Carpenters Union

Remarks from the Podium

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  Diana Garcia

  Diana Garcia has over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Diana Garcia is a results-driven leader recognized for her strengths in sales, strategic planning, and project implementation. She began her career with Time Warner Cable as a top producer in the bulk multi-family market, where she successfully managed a multi- million-dollar portfolio and built a reputation for delivering consistent results. In 2014, Diana joined Comcast and transitioned into the on-campus housing segment, where she played a pivotal role in driving growth and expansion. She led the deployment of Xfinity on Campus services across more than 11 college campuses within the Comcast California footprint, helping to extend the brand’s reach while enhancing the student residential experience. As she moved into project management, Diana became known for her thoughtful, strategic approach and her ability to forge long-term partnerships. Her work continues to focus on aligning business objectives with customer needs, delivering scalable solutions, and elevating the overall customer experience.

  Xfinity Communities

  Strategy Manager

  Diana Garcia

  Strategy Manager

  Xfinity Communities