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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

Listen as NAIOP SFBA President, Dave Karol and NAIOP SV President Dick Scott speak up against SB 939, share how landlords are already working to support their tenants, and call on the legislature to instead pass legislation that balances the needs of both tenants and property owners.

NAIOP SFBA’s weekly ZOOM-IN webinar on May 21st focused on the state of Bay Area multifamily market and featured some of the region’s most prominent developers and investors. Moderated by Jason Parr, Managing Director, Multifamily Advisory Group, Cushman & Wakefield, the program included a market overview by David Bitner, Vice President America’s, Head of Capital Markets Research, Cushman & Wakefield. Panelists included: Pat Calihan, Senior Vice President of Investments, Prometheus; Mike Ruiz, Vice President, Investments, Northern California and Pacific Northwest, Carmel Partners;and  Zach Felson, Vice President, Investments, Prado Group.

NAIOP SFBA’s hosted its sixth weekly ZOOM-IN webinar on Thursday 5/14: A California Legislative Update featuring Rex Hime, President and CEO, California Business Properties Association (CBPA). The Chapter actively participates in the work of CBPA as NAIOP’s designated legislative advocate in California. Hime provided detailed updates and analysis of CBPA’s efforts to defeat the 2020 split-roll tax initiative as well as two COVID-19 bills currently before the California Legislature.

This Thursday would have been our big CREATE Gala, but our large gathering is not possible during current Shelter-In-Place restrictions.  However, the show must go on and our work purposefully continues, despite COVID. And COVID-19 is not all that we are tending to.  We have not paused on other critical work, and we will not rest. CREATE continues to make good progress tackling our talent drought! For six years, we've relied on the Gala to highlight the achievements of our workforce development initiative, showcase our student graduates, honor an Industry Partner for their support (this year, Tishman-Speyer), and importantly, to raise funds for the Commercial Real Estate Alliance for Tomorrow's Employees (CREATE).

Wayne Strom, PhD, the founder and visionary behind the Young Professionals Group Program (YPG) has recently passed away at the age of 85. Strom was instrumental in bringing the YPG program to the Bay Area from southern California, and he personally led the program here from 2013-2016.