Revitalizing San Francisco

Reconfiguring the city for a hybrid world, reimagining downtown, and uplifting the economy

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  Rachael Tanner

  Rachael A. Tanner has dedicated her life to generating positive social change. A passion for leadership development in tandem with strategic thinking undergirds her work. Rachael is committed to developing strong systems and leaders that support institutions and organizations, because it is through these institutions that people can unite for collective action. Rachael serves as the Assistant Director of Planning & Development Services for the City of Palo Alto, assuming this leadership role in June 2019. She has served local governments as a bureactivist—as distinguished from a bureaucrat—since 2013; serving the City and County of San Francisco (2016-2018) and the City of Long Beach (2013-2016). In the late 2000’s, Rachael served as Executive Director of Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in the Community (ISAAC), a community-based organization in Kalamazoo, Michigan. There she learned how to organize, build winning coalitions for policy change, and hold government accountable to implementing successful programs. She earned her Political Science Bachelor’s Degree with minors in Spanish and also Urban Studies from the University of Michigan. At Michigan she co-founded the Semester in Detroit program, which continues to serve students today. Rachael earned her Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She focused on Housing, Community, Economic Development. Upon graduation, Rachael was recognized as the AICP outstanding student of the year. Rachael lives in San Francisco with her partner Nathan Baird. In her free time, she serves San Francisco as the president of the San Francisco Planning Commission and officiates weddings through her business Officially Hitched. You can find her biking to Caltrain (once Shelter in Place is over), playing board games, and exploring the peaks and valleys of California.

  City and County of San Francisco

  Director of Long Range Planning

  Rachael Tanner

  Director of Long Range Planning

  City and County of San Francisco

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  Anne Taupier

  Anne Taupier serves as the Director of Development overseeing the management and entitlement of large private and public mixed- use development and affordable housing projects on behalf of the City of San Francisco. The role includes leading negotiations with developers to provide community benefits packages that reflect and enhance the City’s housing, affordability, sustainability, jobs, open space, equity and transportation policy objectives. Anne has worked extensively on San Francisco development projects including: The Hunter’s Point Shipyard, 2013 America’s Cup Host City, 5M, The Plumber’s Union Development, The Conservatory of Music student housing, India Basin, the Flower Mart, Potrero Power Station and Balboa Reservoir. In addition, her experience includes working in the administration under former Mayor Gavin Newsom and as an investigator for the San Francisco Office of the City Attorney. Anne has a strong belief that scarce and unaffordable housing is a local, national and global crisis and that safe and stable housing is an essential component of every community’s public health plan. This focus on providing housing security for everyone is also critical to job stability and a strong and diverse local economy. Anne is a life-long trail runner and former competitive cyclist and tri-athlete. She has worked as a fitness instructor and advocates for programs that encourage girls and young women to participate in sports, athletics, dance and movement that build strong self-confidence and leadership skills. She has a Masters of Art Education and a B.A in French and Fine Arts from The University of Massachusetts. Anne was also the Co-founder and former Vice President of “The Kerouac Corporation”, a 501-C3 established in her hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts.

  SF Office of Economic & Workforce Development

  Director of Development

  Anne Taupier

  Director of Development

  SF Office of Economic & Workforce Development

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  Matt Dorsey

  Supervisor Matt Dorsey represents District 6. Matt is a City government veteran who most recently served on the command staff of the SFPD as the department’s communications director. Previously, Supervisor Dorsey served for fourteen years in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, where he worked to support groundbreaking cases around marriage equality, education access, public health, tenants rights, and worker protections. Supervisor Dorsey is an out gay man who joined Supervisor Mandelman as the Board’s second LGBTQ member. He is also the only openly HIV positive member of the Board of Supervisors and the only current member to acknowledge his history with substance-use disorder. Prior to joining SFPD in 2020, Dorsey led Tobacco-Free Kids’ communications strategy for the 2019 No on Prop C campaign, soundly defeating a multimillion-dollar ballot measure by vaping giant JUUL Labs, Inc. that became the most expensive per-vote loss in San Francisco history. Supervisor Dorsey is committed to providing paths to recovery for those struggling with addiction, supporting new housing at all levels to meet growing demand, and investing in public safety resources to ensure that all people can feel safe in their communities.

  City and County of San Francisco

  District 6 Supervisor

  Matt Dorsey

  District 6 Supervisor

  City and County of San Francisco

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  Katherine Daniel

  Kat Daniel serves as the Director of Economic Recovery Initiatives for San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, where she leads the strategy development and coordination of San Francisco’s economic recovery efforts. Prior to this role, she served as the Deputy Director of Workforce Development at OEWD and Sr. Deputy Commissioner of Labor for Suffolk County, NY. She has spent her career leading and implementing programs, policies, and solutions that maximize equitable growth and economic development and enable diverse communities to access the resources and opportunities that allow them to flourish. She received her Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley with a concentration in Regional Economic Development.

  Office of Economic and Workforce Development

  Director of Economic Recovery Initiatives

  Katherine Daniel

  Director of Economic Recovery Initiatives

  Office of Economic and Workforce Development

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  Ashley Breakfield

  Ashley Breakfield represents large-scale urban developers, real estate investors, renewable energy companies, and private property owners in sophisticated land use and real estate matters. In the land use realm, Ashley specializes in advising clients on Bay Area mid-scale project development strategies, beginning at the project’s inception with evaluating a site for possible uses and strategizing on development plans. She then works to shepherd the project through the administrative process, including evaluating, negotiating and obtaining permits and other entitlements and administrative approvals, and counseling clients on environmental review under both CEQA and NEPA. In the commercial real estate aspect of her practice, Ashley’s transactional background is equally extensive. Her experience includes counseling developers and real estate investors with acquisitions, dispositions, and leasing of office, industrial, retail, mixed use, and agricultural real estate. In addition, Ashley’s real estate practice includes significant experience counseling clients on the negotiation and documentation of various financial arrangements, including acquisition, construction, mezzanine, and permanent financing. Prior to joining Farella’s Real Estate Industry Group, Ashley was a member of our Environmental Law practice group. In that role, she counseled clients on regulatory and compliance matters involving state and federal environmental, land use, and natural resources laws and statutes, and represented clients in state and federal court, as well as before various administrative agencies and boards. This experience is frequently an integral part of her real estate work. Ashley’s approach to her practice is forthright, practical, and results-oriented. Personable and straightforward, she is skilled at negotiating and communicating, emphasizing that both parties would like to get a deal done, and striving, whenever possible, to collaborate in the interest of getting to “yes” a little faster. Combined with her deep, firsthand knowledge of the ins and outs of the Bay Area real estate market, she’s an effective and persuasive advocate for her client’s interests. Ashley served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Edward M. Chen of the United States District Court, Northern District of California, and as a legal intern for the California Attorney General’s Office – Natural Resources Section and the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. Ashley is the President of Commercial Real Estate Women of San Francisco (CREW SF) (2024) and served on CREW Network’s Diversity & Inclusion Task Force (2020-2021). She is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). Ashley previously served as a co-chair of the Minority Bar Coalition of the San Francisco Bay Area (2019-2022) and as a member of the board of directors for the Bar Association of San Francisco (2021-2022). She is recognized among Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch in the area of Land Use and Zoning Law (2023-2024), Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law (2023-2024), and Super Lawyers’ Northern California Rising Stars (2015-2021). Ashley earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 2011, where she served as editor in chief of Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy. She received her B.A., with highest honors, from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2008.

  Farella Braun + Martel LLP

  Partner

  Moderator

  Ashley Breakfield

  Partner

  Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Investment & Development Outlook

A closer look at what, where, and how today's owners and developers are building and deploying capital in and around San Francisco

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  Angela Biggs

  Angela Biggs serves as Managing Director, Investment for Grosvenor and has over 19 years of industry experience. She is responsible for acquisitions of multifamily, retail and office properties in Northern and Southern California. She chairs Grosvenor's Eaton Program, a global initiative designed to enable improvement through the delivery of strategic initiatives across worldwide operating companies. Angela co-chairs ULI NEXT, is active in her firm’s DEI Racial and Gender Equity committees and was recognized by GlobeSt. as a 2022 Woman of Influence. Prior to Grosvenor, Angela oversaw portfolio management for the Sares Regis Group Value-Add Multifamily Funds, developed enterprise data centers for Vantage Data Centers and invested in retail and lodging portfolios at Farallon Capital Management. She holds a B.A. from University of California Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania.

  Grosvenor

  Managing Director, Investment

  Angela Biggs

  Managing Director, Investment

  Grosvenor

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  Aaron Reuter

  Managing Director: Head of Portfolio Management and Co-Head of Investments for Veritas Investments and has over 20 years of industry experience. Mr. Reuter focuses on multifamily portfolio management and investment activities for the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining Veritas, Mr. Reuter held senior positions at Swift Real Estate Partners, The Green Cities Company, and Prologis. Mr. Reuter holds a BA from UCLA and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

  Veritas Investments

  Managing Director & Head of Portfolio Management

  Aaron Reuter

  Managing Director & Head of Portfolio Management

  Veritas Investments

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  Keith Brown

  With over 30 years experience as a registered architect and development manager, Keith has directed the design and construction of many projects both large and small. His project involvements include the creation of large campus facilities, corporate tenant improvement programs, historic building renovations and adaptive reuse projects, and many free-standing retail, food service, institutional and residential buildings.

  Sares Regis Group of Northern California

  SVP

  Keith Brown

  SVP

  Sares Regis Group of Northern California

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  Crystal Lofing

  Crystal Lofing is a partner in our Century City office's real estate group whose practice involves multiple facets of real estate transactions, specifically including acquisitions and dispositions (including note purchases and subsequent foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure processes and negotiations), commercial leasing, real estate joint venture agreements, ground lease and development transactions and other documents relating to the ongoing operation and management of commercial property, including easements, covenants, conditions and restrictions, property management and brokerage agreements. She represents landlords, tenants, sellers, buyers, developers and other real estate users, ranging from entrepreneurial individuals and entities to real estate investment trusts and other highly sophisticated institutional investors.

  Allen Matkins

  Partner

  Moderator

  Crystal Lofing

  Partner

  Allen Matkins

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  David Lynn

  David Lynn, Ph.D., CRE, is an award-winning institutional real estate investor, portfolio manager, and investment strategist with expertise in national and global commercial real estate. He is a member of The Counselors of Real Estate. Dr. Lynn is the founder and CEO of Unity Medical Properties (UMP). UMP is a focused private equity real estate firm investing and managing medical buildings around the country. Previously David was founder and CEO of Everest Healthcare Properties, LLC. He built a portfolio of institutional medical buildings across 11 states and eventually sold the firm to a leading Fortune 500 multinational firm achieving top quartile returns and wining “Best Equity Deal of 2019” awarded by Real Estate Finance and Investment. Prior to establishing Everest Healthcare Properties, LLC, he was the CIO, Executive Vice President, and Head of Portfolio Management for Cole REIT and Cole Investments. As key leader of the Executive Team, he managed the investment functions for a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of private and public real estate funds. At ING Clarion, Dr. Lynn was the Managing Director and Partner and Head of Global Investment Strategy for its $100 billion dollar AUM platform. Prior to ING Clarion, he was the Managing Director, Global Head of Strategy and Research, with AIG Global Real Estate, Senior Director with AvalonBay, and Vice President for Regional Real Estate Investments for the Keppel Corporation in Singapore. Dr. Lynn was Professor of Professional Practice at the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and has published six real estate investment books. He received his Ph.D. and Master of Science in Financial Economics, with Distinction, from the London School of Economics. Dr. Lynn also earned a Master of Business Administration, and Sloan Fellowship, from the Sloan School of Management at MIT as well as a Master of Art in Urban Planning and Real Estate as a Cornell Professional Scholar at Cornell University.

  Healthcare One Properties

  Managing Partner

  David Lynn

  Managing Partner

  Healthcare One Properties

Future of San Francisco's Market

Taking a deeper dive into market's future, analyzing asset classes, examining vacancy rates, and exploring innovative strategies to attract tenants

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  Adam Voelker

  Adam Voelker serves as Business Unit Leader and Principal for Trammell Crow Company’s Northern California Business Unit. In this role, he is responsible for day-to-day operations of the office and strategic oversight of all new development and investment activity in the Bay Area. Prior to joining Trammell Crow Company, Adam worked as a Managing Director for Tishman Speyer for nine years in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. He was responsible for acquisitions and new development opportunities in Northern California across office, life science and residential product types. In this role he was integrally involved in all capital markets activities, partner relationships and managed the development of Mission Rock, a 2.7-million-square-foot mixed-use project in San Francisco on the waterfront. Before joining Tishman Speyer, Voelker worked in Acquisitions and Project Management at The Abbey Company in Southern California after graduating from Penn State University. Voelker is actively involved in ULI through the national IOPC Council, with City of Hope on the Bay Area Building Hope board, and through several local community organizations.

  Trammell Crow Company

  Principal

  Adam Voelker

  Principal

  Trammell Crow Company

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  Mike Kim

  Mike Kim serves as Senior Managing Director of Mill Creek’s Northern California office, where he leads the development activities in the San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, and Silicon Valley metro regions. During his 24-year real estate career, he has been involved in the development and construction of multifamily mixed-use communities, and commercial developments with aggregate values in excess of $2.2 billion in the NCAL and PNW markets. Prior to joining Mill Creek, Mr. Kim served as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at SIMEON Properties where he led the firm’s multifamily and commercial development activities. He began his real estate career in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he was involved in complex urban developments across various typologies including high-rise, horizontal and vertical mixed-use, master plans, and commercial developments. Prior to his career in real estate development, Mr. Kim served the nation for seven years as a Naval Officer leading maritime missions and expeditions in all major theaters of operation. Mr. Kim holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. He has served on various boards such as the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley CA, NAIOP San Francisco, and several municipal Advisory Councils.

  Mill Creek Residential

  Sr Managing Director, Development

  Mike Kim

  Sr Managing Director, Development

  Mill Creek Residential

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  Paul Stein

  Paul is a co-founder of SKS Partners and has over 35 years of real estate experience in leasing, acquisition, asset management and disposition of commercial properties. Over the course of his career, Paul has managed the negotiation and execution of over 5 million square feet of lease transactions. From 1989 until founding SKS, Paul was V.P. and Director of Marketing for The Shorenstein Company, one of the nation’s largest privately held real estate development and asset management firms specializing in Class A office buildings. From 1980 until 1989, Paul was a Limited Partner and Director of Office Leasing for Damon Raike and Co., a full service commercial real estate brokerage firm whose activities were primarily on the west coast. Paul holds a BA degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

  SKS Partners

  Managing Partner

  Paul Stein

  Managing Partner

  SKS Partners

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  Nikki Marongiu

  Business Development Director

  McCarthy Building Companies

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  Elton Kwok

  Elton Kwok is the VP & General Manager of US West and Canada for WeWork. Elton, who is based in San Francisco, heads the company’s business in Canada, California, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon. Before coming to the Bay Area, Elton launched WeWork in Portland, Oregon, where he built the WeWork market from the ground up. Since then, he has spent the last eight years scaling and optimizing the company’s West Coast portfolio. In 2019, Elton Kwok made the San Francisco Business Times 40 Under 40 list for his leadership and impact. Before WeWork, Elton was an Assistant Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Chief Operating Office for the Private Banking and Investment Group in New York. A native to Southern California, Elton is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in engineering and business finance. With over a decade of experience, Elton brings a wealth of knowledge across financial services, business, technology and commercial real estate. Elton also serves as a mentor for First Round Capital, board member of BUILD California Non-Profit, and is a board member for the USC Emerging Leaders Board. In his free time, Elton enjoys advising early-stage companies.

  WeWork

  Vice President, West

  Elton Kwok

  Vice President, West

  WeWork

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  Tara Shabahang

  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.

  Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

  Partner

  Moderator

  Tara Shabahang

  Partner

  Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Opening Remarks

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  Zach Haupert

  Zach Haupert is a commercial sales and leasing expert focusing on San Francisco office, flex and industrial real estate. With more than 15 years of hyper focused experience in San Francisco commercial real estate, Zach brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts to every transaction and relationship. He has built one of the largest commercial and well respected real estate brokerage platforms in San Francisco. Along with his team, including Michael Sanberg and Trevor Gudim, they represent more than 180 building owners totaling over 5,000,000 square feet of commercial real estate.

  Touchstone Commercial Partners

  Leasing Broker

  Zach Haupert

  Leasing Broker

  Touchstone Commercial Partners

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  Michael Sanberg

  Michael brings a wealth of knowledge to the Touchstone Commercial Partners team. His ability to build relationships, evaluate investment opportunities and negotiate transactions is a strength that applies ideally to leasing and selling commercial real estate. Michael Sanberg partnered with Zach Haupert in 2013, coming from a successful background in private equity and portfolio management. Since joining, Michael has helped grow the platform by also focusing on owner, buyer and tenant representation for leasing and sales.

  Touchstone Commercial Partners

  Leasing Agent

  Michael Sanberg

  Leasing Agent

  Touchstone Commercial Partners