2024 Summit Program

See our Summit Program Here

Summit Agenda
May 8, 2024

12:30-1:00 PM: Registration + Networking

  • Coffee, tea, and snacks provided

1:00-1:10: Opening Remarks

  • Natalie Sandoval, ULI San Francisco

1:10-1:50 PM: Housing Directors: San Francisco, San José, and Oakland

San Francisco, Oakland, and San José have each experienced a leadership transition in their housing departments over the last nine months. We begin our 2024 Summit by bringing together these housing leaders to discuss their priorities as Housing Directors of the three largest Bay Area cities. This engaging and insightful conversation will be moderated by public policy expert, Matt Regan.

  • Daniel Adams, City and County of San Francisco
  • Erik Louis Soliván, City of San José
  • Emily Weinstein, City of Oakland
  • Matt Regan, Bay Area Council

1:50-2:40 PM: Ground Game: Local Partnership for Regional Solutions

Regional collaboration and investment are critical in addressing the housing crisis and catalyzing future infill development. Organizations are promoting regionalism through the establishment of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA), the regional housing bond, and other coordinated, intersectional efforts. How are local communities and counties embracing regionalism to achieve housing goals?

  • David Chiu, City Attorney, City of San Francisco
  • Jonathan Fearn, Signature Development Group
  • Aaron Tiedemann, City of Albany
  • Ann Silverberg, Related California (moderator)

2:40-3:10 PM: Coffee + Networking Break

  • Refreshments and snacks provided

3:10-3:55 PM: Getting Creative: Alternative Financing for Challenging Times

Interest rates have nearly doubled. Equity sources are scarce and highly competitive. With today’s capital markets, how can projects pencil and get built? The answer is creativity and tenacity. Our panelists will share how they’ve used their relationships, expertise, and intuition to finance housing in the Bay by leveraging funding sources as wide-ranging as EB-5 financing and US Treasury programs.

  • Colin Behring, Behring Companies
  • Kathy Chao Rothberg, Lao Family Community Development
  • Cindy Wu, LISC Bay Area
  • Robert Ogilvie, Lighthouse Public Affairs (moderator)

3:55-4:40 PM: Reimagining the Repurposing of Sites

In the aftermath of the pandemic, high office vacancy rates have prompted developers and city planners to rethink how we use not only our downtown cores, but also how other underutilized sites can be improved, all the while eyeing diverse housing options and affordability. In this panel, we’ll get a deep dive into current efforts to revitalize San Francisco’s central business district through policies and incentives to encourage residential development. We will broaden our perspective beyond office-to-residential conversions to consider how the repurposing of larger urban sites, and the recasting of market rate residential to affordable housing, can point the way to a thriving and diverse urban future.

  • Annie Koo, Catalyst Impact Fund
  • Allie Stein, Prado Group
  • Jack Sylvan, Sylvan Development Group
  • Swathi Bonda, Lendlease (moderator)

4:40-4:55 PM: Closing Keynote

  • Mayor London Breed, City and County of San Francisco

4:50-5:00 PM: Closing Remarks, Housing the Bay Co-Chairs

  • Daniel Adams, City and County of San Francisco
  • Swathi Bonda, Lendlease
  • Xiomara Cisneros, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

5:00-6:00 PM: Hosted Reception

  • With refreshments and light bites