Real Perspectives Podcast

Innovation in homebuilding is something that many companies have been pursuing recently, but Mountain View-based Aro Homes is taking a truly new approach. The company is focusing on in-fill construction and development opportunities, and the homes are going to be carbon-negative and sustainably built. How they’ll get there is what Carl Gish, the company’s co-founder and co-CEO is here to tell us. So, welcome to the podcast Carl.

Today, we want to introduce you to Codi, and its founder & CEO, Christelle Rohaut. 

Codi, like so many other startup firms, is looking to transform its industry, and in this case the commercial real estate industry. The business is here to help provide flexible office space solutions for any size company and any type of configuration, and it will even work with you if you want to share your space with another company. 

Christelle brings a fresh perspective to the industry and wants tenants to rethink how they lease space and how they use it. Post COVID, that kind of thinking may be the approach that the industry needs.

Welcome to the podcast Christelle.

Today's episode provides a departure from our typical interview format and takes us to a commercial real estate event that The Registry hosted in San Francisco on February 16, 2023. At this event, we featured a commercial broker panel, followed by a developer and landlord panel that went into a comprehensive analysis of the state of the commercial real estate market in San Francisco during the first quarter of 2023.

The speakers on the first panel were Christina Clark, Managing Principal, Global Portfolio Solutions at CRESA, and Bill Cumbelich, Executive Vice President at CBRE. This panel was moderated by Manny Fishman, a partner in the San Francisco office of the law firm Buchalter.

The second panel included Ani Vartanian Boladian, Managing Partner at Rubicon Point Partners, David Eaton, Senior Vice President of Leasing at Paramount Group, Matt Field, President of TMG Partners, and Jeff Smith, President of Sack Properties. This panel was moderated by Vladimir Bosanac, Co-founder and Publisher of The Registry.

Today, I have an opportunity to interview Scott Gebicke, the CEO of Mighty Buildings, who is looking to transform how homes are designed and constructed across the world. His mission is to bring a 3-D printed process that is sustainable, fast and ready for the effects of climate change that we are likely to experience over the next few decades and beyond.

His company is also looking to bring this process to the masses through partnerships with other established home builders and developers, which makes his approach to adoption across the industry somewhat unique.

Here’s our conversation as it was recorded in late January of 2023.

Rochelle Mills is the President and CEO of Innovative Housing Opportunities, a high-quality affordable housing provider and developer that has been growing across Southern California with an approach to make their communities indistinguishable from market rate properties, where residents can thrive, develop healthy habits, and achieve success and stability.

IHO was formed in 1976 to help business and government address the lack of low to moderate-income housing in the City of Irvine.

High-quality, affordable housing can be a launch pad for residents to create or rebuild their lives. And our conversation with Rochelle will take us through the differentiating factors that help IHO create housing independence and also give back to their communities.

For the last 15 years, Michael Iino has been on the frontlines of a real estate market in Northern California that has undergone one of the most dramatic transformations of any market in the US and perhaps even globally. Starting his commercial real estate career in San Francisco’s famed The CAC Group, Michael honed his skills there alongside some of the best brokers in the industry. When CBRE purchased the firm, Michael continued there for another five years until landing a role as President of Raise Commercial Real Estate, a technology-powered brokerage firm helping companies re-imagine the workplace.

Our conversation takes us across a landscape looking to redefine itself following the global COVID pandemic and we tackle the question of what the future, or at least the near future, may hold for the San Francisco market.

Today’s podcast conversation takes us into Southern California, where we meet up with Birtcher Development’s Brandy Birtcher, who is the CEO of the development company, and his daughter, Brooke Birtcher Gustafson, a managing director at the firm and the next generation of the family expecting to take over the leadership at the company.

The family’s history in many ways is tied to the history of the industrial market across Inland Empire. But the company continues to evolve just as the industry does, too, and in today’s interview, we’ll explore ways in which the two are changing and what it means for industrial real estate in Southern California in the foreseeable future.

There are few people in California that understand affordable housing more intimately than our next guest. Noni Ramos is the Chief Executive Officer of Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a CDFI or Community Development Financial Institution, which helps fund affordable housing development across the greater Bay Area. 

Her organization has invested over half a billion dollars in affordable housing since its founding, which helped create more than 25,000 homes and has helped over 45,000 people find a place to live. 

She is a product of affordable housing and as such she has an intimate relationship with the industry and one that she tries to help shape every day.

We’re here today to speak with Justin Draplin, the founder the CEO of South Carolina-based Eclipse Cottages. This firm has brought to the market one of the most interesting prefabricated products, and Justin’s vision goes beyond ADUs and granny units that people can build on their lots.

Eclipse is making one of the most sustainable cottages in the industry, which includes solar roofing, wireless smart switches, SIP construction, water filtration, and, most importantly in a very high-quality envelope that can be delivered anywhere in the country. Most recently, the company also introduced The Comet, a complete cottage that you can buy for $99 a month.

Let’s dive in and talk to Justin and how Eclipse is looking to upend this world.

Adam Clark is the President of the newly formed Aegis Development. Based on a foundation of award-winning developments, Aegis Development was created to pursue future site development for Aegis Living operations and to leverage the company’s distinct strengths in this area more broadly in the industry. Adam leads the newest endeavor to push Aegis Living forward in innovation and sustainability with the company’s future communities while cementing its position as a thought leader in the industry with a new consulting arm. 

Adam started his career at Microsoft, working on MSN Advertising as an early pioneer in SEM, and leading MSN France and MSN Entertainment. He joined Aegis Living in September 2003, and has worn many hats since then, working in care at the Kirkland community before serving as General Manager at Northgate, Callahan House, Shoreline, and Redmond. He later moved to the Aegis Living Home Office as Director of Financial Analysis before returning to the field as General Manager of Bothell and then opening the Marymoor community. With his extensive experience in the communities and corporate operations, Adam was promoted to Vice President of Growth Strategies over Aegis Living technologies.

Adam and his wife stay busy with five children but manage to schedule time to enjoy their passion for travel, particularly to their favorite destination, France. He is also a huge Seattle sports fan and whether you’re at a Husky, Kraken, Mariners, Seahawks, Storm, or Sounders game you’ll often see him on the sidelines.