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The Real Estate Challenge, NAIOP SFBA’s version of the Big Game, is a real estate development competition between legendary rivals Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley (Cal). The unique program is designed to give graduate students hands-on experience in real estate development. Teams are charged with devising and successfully pitching a solution to a complex real-world real estate problem. Participants embark on an intensive ten-week journey in which they engage with a large number of project sponsor representatives and city officials as well as real estate industry professionals for guidance and mentoring along the way. The COVID-19 pandemic raised the bar even higher on this year’s competition necessitating all presentations be conducted online.

NAIOP SFBA hosted an extremely important Zoom-In Webinar: How Will Prop 15 Impact California Commercial Real Estate, on Thursday, September 17th. The program featured Rex Hime, President and CEO of the California Business Properties Association (CBPA) which provides legislative advocacy for NAIOP in Sacramento. Hime explained the impact of Prop 15 which, if passed, will remove Prop 13’s property tax protection and will result in the largest property tax increase in history. He also provided an update on the work of the No On Prop 15 Campaign, a diverse bi-partisan coalition, and urged NAIOP members to get involved, NoOnProp15.org.

The NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Challenge was established in 1990 by Steve Chamberlin, a local developer and emeritus adjunct professor in real estate at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, to give graduate students hands-on experience in real estate development. Every year teams from University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University Graduate School of Business are assigned a project site and given just 60 days to come up with a development proposal. A select panel of jurors reviews both proposals in detail and chooses a winner after the final team presentations are presented at the annual NAIOP SFBA Real Estate Challenge event.

NAIOP SFBA hosted another timely and relevant Zoom-In webinar on Thursday, August 13th titled: Save SF Jobs, a special program with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce about the work of their new Save SF Jobs Coalition, which the Chapter recently signed on to support. Chapter Government Affairs Committee Co-Chairs, Tess Brandwein, Associate, Shartsis Freise and Justin Shapiro, Principal, Long Market Property Partners produced and moderated the eye-opening program and featured members of the SF Chamber’s leadership team, including Rodney Fong, President & CEO, Jay Cheng, Public Policy Director & Media Relations, and Amelia Linde, Manager, Small Business Initiatives and Engagement. 

Briana Harney, Vice President, Debt & Equity, Northmarq Capital, receives national NAIOP 2020 Developing Leaders Award. The annual award honors up-and-coming professionals under the age of 35 for their remarkable professional accomplishments, strong leadership and significant community involvement.

Welcome to our first edition of the Diversity Column. This month's topic, written by Alexandra Stoelzle and the I.D.EA., addresses the Black Lives Matter movement - what is it, why does it matter for the Commercial Real Estate industry, and what can we do about it?

NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area joins other organizations and companies in condemning the recent racial violence and discrimination that this country has witnessed.  We are proud that so many Americans have come together to protest this violence and to lay witness to desired change. 

Our collective condemnation is the easiest step for us to take; the fact that it feels profound is incredibly sad and telling of how distant we are – individually and as a group – from the reality that our fellow citizens, neighbors, colleagues and friends confront in their lives. We have consistently failed to live up to this country’s stated ideals, and we need to do better.

NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area Chapter is pleased to deliver another outstanding podcast: Inside NAIOP’s YPG and NED Programs.  This episode provides the inside scoop on the unique scientific approach behind the chapter’s renowned Young Professionals Group and its innovative new NAIOP Executive Development program.  

NAIOP SFBA’s hosted an exceptional weekly Zoom-I webinar on May 28th. The program, A View From a Retailer, featured a candid discussion about the massive challenges retail tenants are facing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and how they are working with landlords to find creative solutions. Laura Sagues Barr, Senior Vice President, CBRE, moderated a panel which consisted of some the best retailer minds in the Bay Area including:

James Nicholas, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Big Night Restaurant Group

Dana Bloom, CEO, Proper Food

Adam Shane, Chief Development Officer, Barry’s Bootcamp