ULI San Francisco is proud to announce the completion of the first virtual Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) with the City of Morgan Hill, California. TAPs provide strategic advice on complex land use and real estate development issues for local clients, such as municipalities, public agencies, and non-profit developers.

The City of Morgan Hill engaged ULI SF to virtually convene a panel of multidisciplinary experts from around the Bay Area. The panel was tasked with analyzing the City’s industrial and retail land uses in order to guide policies for the future, concerning both improved and vacant land. Public finance implications of the TAP’s insights and recommendations also were important to the City’s current and future economic health due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.

What made this TAP different was how it was delivered. This was always planned to be a compressed version of a TAP, known as a ‘one-day TAP’, where panelists would come to Morgan Hill, tour the relevant sites, analyze information and provide recommendations in a one-day process.  Due to COVID-19 and sheltering in place, the City, ULI SF, and the panel needed to quickly adjust and find a way to deliver the same results remotely. The team transitioned to a briefing from the City over a virtual dinner followed by two half-days of virtual meetings and workshopping. The TAP wrapped up with a concluding presentation to the City Council and the public over Zoom.

As with all TAPs, ULI SF drew from our seasoned professional membership base to create the advisory panel. The panel was composed of professionals from a wide variety of disciplines reflecting diverse perspectives, including development and design of industrial and retail land uses, finance and development strategies, architecture, industrial and retail brokerage, and governance and policy. Panelists for the City of Morgan Hill TAP included:

• Lynn Sedway, Principal & President, Sedway Consulting (TAP Chair)
• David Baum, Principal, Municipal Financial Services
• Steve Chamberlin, Founder, Chamberlin Associates
• Greg Matter, Managing Director, JLL
• Josh Shumsky, Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank
• Pam White, Partner, Guild Retail Partners

Thank you to our panelists, the City of Morgan Hill staff, and TAP subcommittee members for their work in ensuring the success of ULI San Francisco’s first virtual TAP!