2021 Summit Program

See our 2021 Housing the Bay Summit Booklet!

Housing the Bay Virtual Summit 2021
June 2 – 4, 2021

Wednesday, June 2: Keynote + Happy Hour

 4:00 to 4:10 pm    Opening Remarks 

  • Drew Hudacek, Chief Investment Officer, Sares Regis Group of Northern California

4:10 to 4:40 pm    Keynote: Upside Down Urbanism – Gabriel Metcalf talks about what we can learn from Sydney

After 20 years at the helm of SPUR, Gabriel Metcalf moved to Australia to become the CEO of the Committee for Sydney, which aims to enhance the conditions that make Sydney a competitive global city. Situated on a coast and with a harbor of stunning beauty, and facing challenges from climate change, high job growth, and the high cost of housing, there are a lot of parallels between our two regions. Gabriel will share what Sydney is getting right and what it would mean (and if it’s possible) to build our way out of our housing crisis.

4:40 to 5:30 pm    Networking

Following Gabriel’s presentation, join us for small, informal group networking to reconnect with your old ULI SF friends and peers and meet new ones!

Happy Hour attendees will automatically be entered in a raffle, with three lucky winners taking home prizes including $50 in ULI SF event credits, a copy of Heather McGhee’s, The Sum of Us, and a La Cocina Gift box!

Thursday, June 3 

9:00 to 9:10 am    Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:10 to 9:25 am    Keynote: Denise Pinkston

Four years ago, Denise kicked off the first Housing the Bay Summit by laying out the myriad reasons why the Bay Area had a housing shortage, why it was so expensive to build housing here, and what it would take to change this trajectory. With over 30 years of experience in planning, real estate and development, and a personal devotion to improving housing and transportation policy in the Bay Area, Denise has no shortage of knowledge and practical expertise in our industry. This year, she brings us up to date on what we have – and have not – accomplished in housing since 2017 and what lies on the road ahead.

9:30 to 10:20 am    Looking Back and Looking Forward: Increasing Affordability through Finance Innovation

In recent years, a number of corporations, including several Bay Area tech giants, have joined the public sector in addressing the housing affordability crisis by setting up funds and moving forward investments strategies to increase the impact of public resources. Many of these funds are aimed at expanding the impact of the Bay Area’s established affordable housing sector by providing access to new kinds of financing. At the same time, new nonprofit and for-profit organizations have established innovative housing finance and delivery methods to address the needs of households who fall into the “missing middle” — those who typically make too much for traditional affordable housing, but not enough to pay market rents.

This panel will take a look back at finance strategies profiled in previous Housing the Bay Summits and survey their successes and challenges since then, as well as explore new and emerging affordable housing delivery methods that represent the cutting edge in affordable housing finance.

10:20 to 10:45 am    Break

10:45 to 11:40 am    The Most Important Housing Policy You Haven’t Heard of (and Why it Might Change Everything)

Every eight years, the State and then regions assign every California city and county their RHNA numbers, or “fair share” of new housing units to build to meet the needs the housing needs of their residents across the income scale. But the 2022 – 2030 cycle is different: housing allocations more than doubled from the prior goals and includes new enforcement levers. The intent is to unlock solutions to the housing crisis – however, actually meeting these goals are currently out of reach at all income levels if cities continue doing business as usual.

Join this conversation with a broad array of players to discuss how we can take action to meet the goals through equitable zoning, planning for fair housing and anti-displacement, missing-middle housing, conversion of commercial lands, and other strategies. Find out what local jurisdictions, developers, advocates, and the state are going to do to help fulfill the obligations through housing elements and what it means for your work.

  • Carol Galante, Professor and Faculty Director, UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation (Moderator)
  • Jesse Arreguin, President of ABAG and Mayor of the City of Berkeley
  • Meea Kang, Senior Vice President, Related
  • Tawny Macedo, Senior Policy Analyst, California Department of Housing & Community Development

11:40 to 11:45 am    Closing Remarks

  • Natalie Sandoval, Senior Director, ULI San Francisco

11:45 to 12:15 pm    Networking 

Table 1: Continue the Conversation
The Future of Bay Area Affordable Housing

Moderated by Michael Lane, SPUR and Libby Seifel, Seifel Consulting.

Table 2: Continue the Conversation
Innovative Finance and Missing-middle Housing

Moderated by Jordan Moss, Catalyst Housing Group

Table 3: Continue the Conversation
RHNA, Housing Elements, and All Things Policy

Moderated by Xiomara Cisneros, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Anne Torney, Mithun

Table 4: Networking
Connect with your peers

Friday, June 4 

9:00 to 9:10 am    Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:10 to 9:40 am  Keynote: Heather McGhee in conversation with Saul Gonzalez

Heather McGhee is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Sum of Us. Through her book and her TED talk with over 2 million views, McGhee shows how systemic racism has created social and economic costs for people across every part of society. Her research shows the interplay of race, society, and economics, and illuminates the possibilities for a world we might have if we work together.

In this session, McGhee will be in conversation with Saul Gonzalez of KQED’s The California Report and podcast host of There Goes the Neighborhood LA. They will focus on how our discriminatory housing policies and practices – from historic redlining and mortgage exclusion to today’s zoning and home valuation disparities – continue to impact all of us and how a more equitable approach to housing can create benefits and prosperity that we all enjoy.

9:45 to 10:35 am    A More Equitable Path Forward: Wealth Generation through Homeownership 

Homeownership has long served as one of the primary ways Americans have built stability and intergenerational wealth. Yet, for many Black Americans, access to homeownership, and the wealth-building opportunities ownership provides, has remained out of reach. This panel will focus on actionable and replicable policies, programs, and case studies that enable homeownership and wealth-generation at every stage of the development process, all while maintaining the affordability of the housing supply.

  • Carolina Reid, Associate Professor and Faculty Research Advisor, UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation (Moderator)
  • Nikki Beasley, Executive Director, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc
  • Maria Hardy Benjamin, Deputy Director, San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development
  • Victor MacFarlane, Chairman and CEO, MacFarlane Partners

10:35 to 10:45 am    Break

10:45 to 11:45 am    Housing Leadership Forum with US Mayors

Across the western and southern United States, population growth is putting additional strain on housing systems already under pressure. Cities and their leadership are at the forefront of these challenges, addressing the issues of housing supply and affordability at the nexus of other systemic challenges such transportation, equity, and climate – all in a world reshaped by a pandemic.

This session brings together four US mayors demonstrating bold leadership and bringing forth new solutions to meet the housing needs of their citizens and in a rapidly changing environment.

11:45 to 11:55 pm    Closing Remarks with Housing the Bay Co-Chairs 

  • Libby Seifel, President and CEO, Seifel Consulting
  • Eric Tao, Managing Partner, L37 Partners|Avant Group

12:00 to 12:30 pm    Networking 

Table 1: Continue the Conversation
Equity and Black Homeownership

Moderated by Nikki Beasley, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. and Robert Ogilvie, Ogilvie Labs

Table 2: Continue the Conversation
Housing leadership with US Mayors

Moderated by Eric Tao. L37 Partners | Avant Group, Inc.

Table 3: Continue the conversation
The cost of racism and impacts of DEI

Moderated by Swathi Bonda, Brookfield Properties

Table 4: Networking
Connect with your peers