Real Perspectives Podcast

H. Pike Oliver is the sole proprietor of URBANEXUS through which he works on managing land and creating built environments. He is also an Affiliate Instructor for the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. 

Early in his career, Pike worked for public agencies, including the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. For the next three decades, he worked on master-planned communities at the Irvine Ranch in Southern California and other properties in western North America and abroad.

Prior to relocating to Seattle in 2013, Pike taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in urban and regional studies.  He is active in the Northwest District Council of the Urban Land Institute and is a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable. 

Pike is a graduate of the urban studies and planning program at San Francisco State University and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from UCLA.

Today, we sit down with Rene Olivo and Chris Henderson. Rene is the president of Skyline Construction in the Bay Area and Chris is the president of Unimark Construction in Seattle. Both are part of the larger, Skyline Enterprises organization and lead their companies in California and Washington. 

We talk to them about what it’s like to run a construction and building organization in today’s environment and to hear stories directly from the work sites that their companies operate. While the craft of building will likely remain very similar in the future, the nature of the industry is bound to have profound change.

Today, we sit down Josh Santos, a Bay Area resident and current Northern California Division President for Landsea Homes, where he leads all aspects of the Northern California portfolio for the company. We talk to Josh about home building and home buying and the challenges this part of the industry is experiencing today. As you’ve probably heard, people want more single-family detached homes, and Landsea has been there to help. Josh’s work includes the sale of beautiful new homes across the companies communities, such as: Skylark at Sanctuary Village, Catalina in Santa Clara, and coming soon, Relevae in Orinda.

Jeremy Thornton is an executive vice president of Colliers International in San Francisco, and he has 20+ years of experience in the sourcing and structuring of debt and equity capital for commercial real estate transactions nationally and internationally with over $6.5 billion in successfully completed assignments in his career. His expertise encompasses a wide spectrum of transaction types including financing for new construction, acquisition, and recapitalization of all major commercial property types including office, retail, industrial, multifamily and hospitality.

Having served as a principal on the lending, ownership and brokerage sides of the commercial real estate industry during the course of his career, Mr. Thornton brings a wealth of knowledge and offers a unique 360-degree perspective to real estate capital markets transactions. He previously held positions with Deutsche Bank, Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Strategic Realty Capital and Palmer Capital Inc.

Mr. Thornton has extensive long-standing relationships with a diverse base of domestic and foreign capital sources including insurance companies, pension funds, commercial and investment banks, foreign banks, conduits, commercial mortgage REITs,  opportunity funds and credit companies. He is focused on providing comprehensive and creative debt and equity solutions for private and institutional clients nationwide.

Amy Bradac founded Bradac Co. in 2011 as a full-service real estate construction management firm. As the CEO, she is responsible for the daily operations of the company, building new business relationships, and ensuring her team delivers high quality, high-value service to all of her firm's clients. Amy’s 20 years of experience as an architect and contractor give her the unique perspective of having viewed the industry from every angle, which makes her particularly adept at facilitating communication and moving projects forward on time and on budget.

Kim Snyder is responsible for all activities for Prologis’ West region, including development, acquisitions and operations. Key markets include San Francisco, Seattle, the Central Valley, Southern California, the Inland Empire, Las Vegas and Phoenix. He joined AMB Property Corporation in 2005, bringing extensive experience in real estate development and construction, acquisitions and industrial leadership.

As managing director and senior vice president during his tenure at AMB, Kim managed AMB's Airport Group, as well as Mexico and Brazil operations. Prior to AMB, he was president and CEO of Paragon Capital Corporation, and served as managing director for Insignia-ESG's Western region development operation before working at Paragon. Prior to Insignia, Kim was a partner with Investment Building Group based in Los Angeles.

Kim has a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University, summa cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a trustee for NAIOP and The Gooden School and is on the Advisory Board for the NAIOP-IE Chapter, the Technical Committee/Advisory Board of FIBRA Prologis (Mexico) and the Logistics Committee of the Southern California Leadership Council.

John Cumbelich is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of John Cumbelich & Associates. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA, the firm has been responsible for several of the highest-profile retail real estate transactions in Northern California since its inception in 2000.

John has more than 30 years of retail real estate experience and has personally been involved in transactions totaling in excess of $3.5 billion. He has successfully built one of the most respected retail real estate firms in the west and the leading independent retail firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. The firm focuses on the representation of premier retailers and restaurants; select high profile retail centers, High Street leasing, and investment sales in the Bay Area’s premium retail submarkets.

Mr. Cumbelich is perhaps best known for his role in sourcing several of the landmark ground-up developments of the past generation in the Bay Area.  Some of the major new developments sourced and sold by John include The Corners in downtown Walnut Creek (Tiffany & Co, Apple, GAP), Plaza San Jose (19 acres, Target), Jones Ranch (27 acres, Lowe’s), East Washington Place (34 acres, Target), Sycamore Crossing (13 acres, Lewis Retail Centers) and Bayside Marketplace (17 acres, Wal Mart).

John has worked on behalf of many of the nation’s premier retailers, including: Bank of America, Cost Plus World Market, Dunkin’ Brands, El Pollo Loco, Jared Jewelry, Kroger, Lowes, Petco, Pier 1 Imports, Smart & Final and Sport Chalet.

When engaged on leasing assignments for owner and investor clients, Mr. Cumbelich has completed transactions with several of the most prized retailers in America, including: Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, BevMo, Dick’s Sporting Goods, GAP, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Orchard Supply Hardware, Paper Source, PetSmart, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Sprouts, Starbucks, Stein Mart, TD Ameritrade, Tommy Bahamas, Vineyard Vines, Walgreens, Walmart, Wells Fargo, Whole Foods and Z Gallerie.

Several of the most respected owners and investors in the industry have trusted Mr. Cumbelich and his firm in the representation of their Northern California assets, including: BlackRock, Browman Development Company, Cortese Investments, DDR, Essex Property Trust, Lewis Retail Centers, Regency Centers, UBS Realty Advisors and Urban Edge Properties.

John is a founder of X Team International, a partnership of 35 North American brokerage firms, and he served both as President of the organization and as a board member.  He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and has served as Chairman of the Northern California Conference on multiple occasions.  Throughout his distinguished career, John has also served as an advisor to local municipalities and institutions alike, such as the City of Walnut Creek, the City of Hercules and Mills College of California.  John has served as a speaker and commentator both at industry conferences and in both regional and national publications including The Registry, The San Francisco Business Times, Shopping Center Business, BISNOW and GlobeSt.com.

Today, we sit down with David Karol, Principal at Ridge Capital Investors and Dick Scott, Divisional Vice President of PS Business Parks. Dave is a chapter president of NAIOP San Francisco and Dick leads NAIOP Silicon Valley. Today, we speak with them as representatives of their local NAIOP chapters, where we discuss the impact of California Senate Bill 939 and its intended and unintended consequences on the commercial real estate market throughout the region. Here are their thoughts!

As the CEO of Grosvenor Americas, Steve O'Connell provides the strategic direction for the company's investment, development and financing activities. Steve O'Connell was appointed to the Grosvenor Americas Board in 2018 after joining in 2011. He became Chief Executive of Grosvenor Americas in 2019. Steve led Grosvenor’s Development team in San Francisco and successfully established its multifamily programme there before being appointed Managing Director, Investment in 2015 where he oversaw Investment and Co-Investment activities in North America.

He holds a B.Eng. degree from McGill University and an MBA from the UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business. Steve is an Executive Committee and Board member of UC Berkeley’s Fisher Center Policy Advisory Board, a member of the Bay Area Council Board of Directors and belongs to an Urban Land Institute (ULI) National Mixed-Use Development Council.

Julie Taylor is an executive vice president of Colliers International in its San Francisco office. She works exclusively to serve the needs of retail real estate property owners, investors, and retailers. Julie is highly active in the Downtown San Francisco trade area leasing flagship properties and representing luxury and urban retailers. She has leased almost 800,000 square feet totaling 70 transactions with an aggregate lease value of over $750 Million in the Union Square market. Her area of expertise spans the regional retail markets of the Bay Area and urban retail in San Francisco. Julie also leases the 100,000 square foot Salesforce Transit Center in Downtown San Francisco. She is known for her creative leasing strategies and her ability to communicate effectively with retailers. Julie has had extensive experience representing chain stores expanding throughout Northern California.