Real Perspectives Podcast

Pamela Anderson-Brulé is co-founder and president of Anderson Brulé Architects, the San Jose firm she started in 1984.

Working exclusively in the public realm, Pamela created a new architectural practice model through her development of Strategic Process Design. The process was developed and fine-tuned by ABA over the firm’s 35+ year history. ABA was nationally recognized specifically for the groundbreaking new service and operational models utilized in the development of the City of San Jose / San Jose State University, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Joint-Use Library.

Pamela was the first woman in Santa Clara County to be elevated to a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and was a past president of AIA Silicon Valley. A long-term advocate for women, rooted in her all-girls high school education, Pamela founded the AIASV’s Women in Architecture Committee and she has been an educator and lecturer at SJSU and Notre Dame High School. Pamela continues to be a community leader and mentor and has been a Rotary International member for over 20 years.

ABA is certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise and Woman-Owned Small Business, a legacy firm committed to transforming people, place, and practice through strategic design. Pamela is joined in her 30-person practice with principals Lee Salin and Mark Schoeman, each of whom practices in the firm’s core markets of Education, Community and Health & Wellness.

Ryan Grams & Eugene Gershman are two leaders of GIS International Group in Seattle, a real estate development and construction company serving the greater Puget Sound area. The company specializes in single-family and multi-unit projects, and it is known for its work on all types of terrain with a particular understanding of difficult building sites such as steep slopes and wetlands.

As a third-generation company, GIS has discovered ways to overcome the limitations of traditional building methods, and Ryan and Eugene continue to innovate and lead the enterprise into the next phase of their evolution.

Brad Hinthorne is a principal in the Seattle office of Perkins and Will. He was born in a Bavarian-themed town in Washington, spent his childhood in the Seattle suburbs, and his teenage years on the family’s cattle ranch prior to attending college and graduate school at the University of Washington. His three decades of professional experience is equally diverse, having practiced in Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Brad takes leadership roles on both public and private sector projects for a wonderfully diverse range of clients extending from healthcare to higher education, from mixed-use to multi-family, and from civic to commercial.

Brad owned his own architectural practice prior to joining Perkins and Will. His personal and professional ethos is grounded in an innate need to be in the lead, likely a combination of his DNA, upbringing, and athletic background.

Brad lives in Seattle with his wife and his dog and has two sons.

Today, we sit down with John Thatch, senior principal at the Dahlin Group in San Francisco. John oversees the design innovation and design quality control at the firm. As a leader and mentor, he places a special focus on staff education and professional development for the benefit of everyone at his firm. John often gains inspiration for design through travel and walking the great cities of the world—seizing and sharing experiences and the smallest details of a place. 

John joins us today to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the design industry and how it stands to be transformed in the years to come.

Today we sit down with Tim Schoen, the President and CEO of BioMed Realty, the leading provider of real estate solutions for the life science and technology industries. Tim has been BioMed’s CEO since 2016, when he joined the company following its acquisition by Blackstone Group. Tim brought to BioMed years of commercial real estate experience from Healthpeak and Kilroy Realty Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Salk Institute in San Diego and is also the chair of Salk’s Conquering Cancer Initiative Advisory Committee.

Susan Boyd is the CEO of Bellwether Housing in Seattle. She was elected to her role in February of 2017 after 28 years of experience in direct social service, policy analysis, advocacy and law and as a respected voice on regional housing issues. Prior to her current role, Boyd had served as Bellwether’s Director of Real Estate Development, leading housing development strategy and tripling the number of units the organization has in production. Before Bellwether, Boyd was a partner at the law firm Kantor Taylor Nelson Boyd & Evatt, representing tax-exempt nonprofits, for-profits and public agencies throughout the West Coast in all aspects of the development and financing of affordable housing and community facilities. 

Manny Fishman is a shareholder in the San Francisco office of Buchalter, where he focuses his practice on representing real estate developers and owners in the acquisition, sale and financing of commercial properties. In addition, he has an active leasing practice representing owners of several major office buildings in San Francisco, as well as tenants in lease and sublease transactions. 

Manny also acts as outside general counsel to start-ups that seek to leverage some part of commercial real estate into a tech application.

Manny is well known in San Francisco where he serves as chair of the Building Owners and Managers Association of San Francisco’s Government Affairs and Policy Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Real Property Sections of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California.

Most recently, Manny has been recognized as a 2020 Best Lawyer in America in Real Estate Law, an honor he has received since 2007.

Today, we are speaking with Jake McKinstry and Gabriel Grant. Both are principals with Seattle-based Spectrum Development Solutions. Founded in 2008, Spectrum is a mission-driven for-profit real estate development and advisory company. The company has a diverse, cross-sector focus spanning workforce housing, student housing, healthcare and civic-oriented projects. All of their projects have a strong community focus with an emphasis on transit-oriented and environmentally sustainable development. 

Jake’s expertise spans complex land use issues, transit-oriented mixed-use development, healthcare and historic renovations. Jake began his career developing affordable housing projects in New York City and currently oversees a variety of projects and clients throughout the greater Seattle. 

Gabriel brings a passion for creating great places, a deep commitment to civic affairs, and a strong multi-disciplinary approach to real estate. Gabe is currently leading a number of workforce and student housing development projects.

Eric Foster is the Chief Executive Officer of Swinerton, a San Francisco-based construction company that today is in 17 offices across 8 states. The company was founded in 1888, and Eric is the company’s only 11th CEO since its founding 132 years ago.

Eric joined Swinerton in 1982 as a Project Engineer for the San Francisco Structural division after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Civil Engineering, he has progressed through several roles from Project Manager to Division Manager, and most recently as the company’s President and Chief Operations Officer.

Cynthia Parker is President & CEO of BRIDGE Housing, a leading San Francisco-based nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing. Ms. Parker brings over 30 years of relevant experience to BRIDGE, including establishing the Housing Office of the City of Seattle and serving as the City’s Director of Housing under two separate mayors.

Under Ms. Parker’s leadership at BRIDGE Housing, the organization has doubled its production capacity and has added depth in its provision of resident services and community impact. BRIDGE has approximately 11,700 apartments in its portfolio, with another 7,000 homes ($3.8 billion in total development cost) in its pipeline.