Board of Directors
Ratner is responsible for Forest City’s commercial and residential businesses on the West Coast. In addition to the development of market rate, affordable, and high-density urban housing, both new and through the adaptive re-use of preexisting structures, Ratner and his team are currently involved with several mixed-use, developments focusing on technology and today’s innovation economy. Ratner has worked in Forest City’s Los Angeles office since 1998 and has been extensively involved in the development of more than 1,500 multi-housing units, including several high-profile redevelopment projects in Southern California.
Ratner has significant expertise in revitalizing urban neighborhoods through public/private partnerships. He is dedicated to the communities in which Forest City works and has participated in many public policy forums.
Ratner is continuing the family tradition of real estate development following his grandfather and father into the family business. Max Ratner founded Forest City in 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio, which is still the company’s corporate headquarters. Today, Forest City has established a national reputation as a master developer and property owner of some of America's largest, and most prestigious, urban and suburban real estate projects.
Ratner graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BA degree and holds a Masters in Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. Ratner is on the Board of Directors for the American Jewish University, the Central City Association of Los Angeles. He is also on the Board of Directors for SCI-Arc and Center for Creative Land Recycling, an Advisory Board Member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and UC Berkeley’s Fisher Center for Real Estate and Economics. He is also a member of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Leadership Council.
Prior to her tenure at Mercy, she served as Senior Vice President for Seattle-Northwest Securities, a public finance firm, where she oversaw affordable housing, commercial and public facility real estate financing in five Northwest states.
Previously, Ms. Parker worked for the City of Seattle, where she established the new Office of Housing, doubled the agency’s housing production and managed a $61 million biannual budget. Earlier, she served as the Executive Director of Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services and General Manager of Portland Student Services.
A former President of the National Neighborhood Housing Network and a former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, she has chaired the Sound Families Initiative for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She currently serves as a director of the National Affordable Housing Trust, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, Housing Partnership Network, Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, and the OneCalifornia Foundation.
Ms. Parker is a graduate of Portland State University.
Previously, Mr. Falaschi was the President of Falaschi Improvements where he focused on developing industrial parks and residential housing projects in Northern California and was a Master Developer of Downtown San Leandro, California. His other professional credits include being the Co-Managing Partner at Bay View Construction and Development Company that built 2,500 homes in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.
Named “Trustee of the Year” in 1994 by the Hospital Council of California Excellence in Governance Award, Mr. Falaschi’s extensive list of accomplishments also include the “Living the Example” award granted by the Bay Area Tumor Institute in 1997, the “Citizen of the Year” award from the Oakland Tribune and New Oakland Committee in 1998 and the Excellence in Leadership Award given by Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Asian Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Black Chamber of Commerce and Korean Chamber of Commerce of Oakland in 1999.
Mr. Falaschi remains very involved in the community as the current President of the San Francisco Bar Pilots Commission Board, Chairman of the Alameda County Office of Education Foundation and Vice Chairman of the Alameda County Economic Development Alliance for Business. He also serves as a Board Member of the Summit Bank Foundation and is a Trustee for Holy Names University.
The Hunters Point Shipyard-Candlestick Point revitalization project is possibly the largest urban redevelopment project in the country with over 800 acres, 12,000 homes, 3,000,000 square feet of Business and Industrial space, and 800,000 sq. ft. of retail. This project has received numerous awards, including the Grand Award from the Pacific Coast Building Council, the Best Land Plan 20 I0, San Francisco, and recently has been named a finalist for the World Architecture Festival Award.
Located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, the Treasure Island development includes 8000 homes, 200,000 sq. ft. of retail and commercial space and 300 acres of parkland. The sustainable aspects of the development plan have been widely acclaimed and have received the Clinton Global Initiative Sustainable Development Award. The Development received approval from the City of San Francisco in June 20 2011.
Born in Ghana, Bonner began his career as an affordable housing developer for Oakland Community Housing Inc., and then in 1989 served as head of redevelopment in Emeryville. In this capacity, he played a crucial role in planning and developing the public financing and infrastructure, and attracting key businesses that led to the successful transformation of Emeryville from an aging industrial city to a mixed use mecca for technology companies and high end retail and housing.
Bonner later held the positions Deputy Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and Director of Community and Economic Development for the City of Oakland. In 1995, he became the Interim City Manager for the City of Oakland where he helped lead efforts to revitalize the city's downtown neighborhood.
During his term as Mayor, the Honorable Willie L. Brown appointed Bonner to serve as his Chief Economic Policy Advisor. Bonner was in charge of leading the major redevelopment projects and economic growth in San Francisco, including planning and implementing the redevelopment of the City's Mission Bay neighborhood.
From 1998 through 2004, Bonner was the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for the Cleveland Browns where he was responsible for the business affairs of the team.
Additionally, he directed the construction of the $400 million Cleveland Browns Stadium. Later, Bonner became the Regional Director and Executive Vice President of MBNA.
Bonner is a 20 I I UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design Distinguished Fellow and a Member of the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Leadership Council, a non-profit public Policy "think tank" organization based in Washington, DC. He is also a member of Lambda Alpha International, a Land Economics society where he recently received the "20 I 0 Member of the Year" Award. He serves on the boards of USC, the Bay Area Council, UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design Alumni Association, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce.
Bonner, 56, received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana. He holds Masters degrees in City planning and Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Bonner is married to Gladys and has three children.
Michael led the City’s efforts on a number of major redevelopment projects, including the development of Naval Station Treasure Island, and the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point, together over 1,200 acres of waterfront land in San Francisco recently approved for over 18,000 residential units, more than 4,000,0000 square feet of commercial space and over 600 acres of waterfront parks. Michael also helped to coordinate the City’s efforts on major area plans like the Rincon Hill and Market Octavia plans, supported the Port and the Redevelopment Agency on numerous projects, including the Exploratorium and the Mexican Museum, and created ChinaSF, San Francisco’s economic development platform focused on improving business ties with China.
Previously, Michael was head of the Real Estate and Finance group of the San Francisco City Attorney's Office. In that capacity, he served as lead transaction counsel on a number of complex public-–-private development deals in San Francisco, including the conveyance and development of the first phase of the Hunters Point Shipyard; the renovation of Union Square Park, the new de Young Museum and underground parking garage in Golden Gate Park; the development of the Hotel Vitale on formerly surplus MUNI property along the City's waterfront; and the renovation of Harding Park Golf Course into a PGA Championship course. He also helped create and served as General Counsel to the Treasure Island Development Authority. Prior to joining the City Attorney's Office, Michael was a real estate lawyer for the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster.
At CIM Group John helped grow a pioneering urban investment and development company, starting on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, the Gaslamp District in San Diego and Pasadena’s revival of Colorado Blvd. CIM now manages urban investment funds exceeding $9 billion with assets in Manhattan, throughout California, the DC Metro area, Miami, and other strong markets. CIM has pioneered investment and development across all asset classes in established urban districts. John has led investments in downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego Gas Lamp, Huntington Beach, San Pedro, Midtown Los Angeles, downtown Sacramento and San Jose.
John Given is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and a founding member of the California Infill Builders Federation. He also serves on the Boards of LINC Housing and the Central Hollywood Coalition (a BID). In years past John served as a founding board member of the Hollywood Entertainment District and chaired the City of Santa Monica Housing Commission. Mr. Given holds a BA in Urban Planning from the University of Washington and a Masters degree in Regional Planning from Harvard University.
Ms. Hernandez also chairs a conference on Climate Change Law in California and has written and spoken extensively on major California climate change laws (including AB 32, SB 375 and SB 97) and emerging climate change regulations and guidance documents. Her climate change practice currently includes integrating climate change requirements into the environmental analyses (relating to greenhouse gas emissions as well as water supply, flood and fire risk, and other topical areas) required by the California Environmental Quality Act for new and modified projects and plans, and advising clients on legislative and regulatory proceedings pending in Sacramento, in various regional air districts, and in Climate Action Plans and other land use policies being developed by cities and counties.
She has taught land use and environmental law for the University of California and Stanford Law School and frequently speaks for client and lawyer professional associations and continuing education seminars.
She has written two books and more than 30 articles on environmental and land use law. She has received several professional awards, including an American Planning Association Award for her book, "A Practical Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act," the Greenlining Institute's "Big Brain Award" for developing a "New Paradigm that Intersects Environmental and Inner-City Economic and Health Goals," and the Yerba Buena Alliance's "Unsung Hero/Heroine Award" for work on Brownfields policies. Mayor Brown proclaimed October 9, 2002 as "Jennifer Hernandez Day in San Francisco" for her work on sustainable land use and for being a "warrior on the brownfield.
Meea’s career has contributed to the production of over 1,600 units of affordable and market-rate housing, valued at an estimated $400 million. Meea's expertise includes real estate finance, public/private partnerships, site acquisition, community outreach, oversight of design, construction and asset management.
Meea holds a Masters of Architecture from University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornell University.
David’s 30-plus year career in land development and commercial real estate began with the Trammell Crow Company in their Chicago office.
During his tenure with the Trammell Crow Company, David supervised the design and construction of the Chicago office’s commercial office space and industrial space, and acted as construction manager and licensed operator for the company’s land-application wastewater treatment plant in Illinois.
In the late 1980’s, David was recruited by the Walt Disney Company to manage the re-development of Disney’s studio lot in Burbank, California. He led a team that was responsible for the design and construction of such landmark buildings as the Michael Graves designed Disney World Headquarters, the Robert A.M. Stern Animation Building, the Robert Venturi designed Production Building, the Nadel/Felderman designed Sound Stages 6 and 7, and a reconstruction of the Kem Weber designed Commissary Building and studio entrance.
David migrated from Burbank to Playa Vista, located in Los Angeles’ Westside. A 1,000-plus acre urban infill, mixed-use project, Playa Vista received national recognition for its advancement of smart growth and sustainable building practices. David was responsible for the project’s strategic planning, entitlements, commercial development, environmental and regulatory affairs, and governmental and public affairs, and acted as the lead negotiator on the Dreamworks SKG studio campus transaction.
Immediately prior to joining A.G. Spanos Companies, David worked for Vulcan, Inc in Seattle where he helped Vulcan refine and advance its sustainable development practices, and was instrumental in establishing a life-skills and construction training program targeting at risk adults. And as director for commercial development, David was involved in negotiating an agreement to develop a 1.5 million square feet campus for Amazon.com and a new satellite campus for the School of Medicine, University of Washington.
David is a volunteer alpine patroller and instructor with the National Ski Patrol, is an avid mountaineer, and a regular platelet donor.
Career Overview Susan has 33 years of real estate investment and development experience, during which she has entitled and developed more than 1,500 multifamily housing units and over one million square feet of office and industrial space.
Past Experience Prior to joining MacFarlane Partners, Susan was senior vice president of Forest City Residential West, a division of Forest City Enterprises, a publicly held real estate operating and development company that owns more than $10 billion in real estate assets nationwide. She oversaw the firm’s development activities in the San Francisco Bay Area, which included two large public/private partnerships: The Uptown, a 1,000-unit, mixed-income residential community in downtown Oakland; and the Presidio Landmark, a rehabilitation project that has transformed the six-story, former Public Health Services Hospital on the Presidio of San Francisco into a residential community with 161 rental apartments.
Earlier, Susan has been division president for Watt Industries (now Watt Companies), a real estate operating and development company based in Los Angeles. While there, she established and ran the firm’s Northern California office and helped develop more than one million square feet of office and industrial space, including Great Western Bank’s 130,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Northridge, Calif.; a multi-tenant office park in Culver City, Calif., that consisted of 160,000 square feet in eight two-story buildings; and Lake Merritt Tower, a 10-story office building in Oakland totaling 200,000 square feet.
Over the course of his legal career, Mr. Smith has represented both individual land development and conservation companies as well as the industry at large in a broad array of land use, entitlement and regulatory contexts. Mr. Smith’s particular areas of legal expertise include land use and entitlement laws, especially climate change (e.g., SB 375 and AB 32), water supply (SB 211 and SB 610), the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the California Environmental Quality Act, and California’s Planning and Zoning law.
In addition to his job responsibilities, Mr. Smith has published many articles on issues of concern for development and conservation interests, including Endangered Species Act compliance and policy, water supply, stormwater quality and regulation, and anti-growth litigation. Mr. Smith has also lectured throughout the nation, including the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt Hall, UCLA, the University of Southern California, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center.
Mr. Smith received his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his J.D. (magna cum laude) from Pepperdine University. Additionally, Mr. Smith served as a judicial extern for the California Supreme Court. Mr. Smith resides in Southern California with his wife and three children.
At CE, all projects are founded on a deep commitment to releasing the untapped potential of great communities and a belief that successful real estate projects must be solid economic investments as well as anchors for community revitalization. CE’s recently-completed Maltman Bungalows applied L.A.’s new “Small Lot” ordinance to restore a 1927 bungalow court and offer the 700-sq. ft. units for sale at moderate-income prices. The project was published in the Urban Land Institutes 2009 international “Awards for Excellence” book, received an Architectural Record magazine “Record Houses” prize and was honored by the Los Angeles Conservancy.
Mott is Co-Director of the Dean’s Initiative for Policy, Planning & Development at the University of Southern California, where he teaches Urban Infill Development in the Master of Real Estate Development program.
Mott received a Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Linguistics from UCLA.
Prior to joining Related in 2010, Ms. Tan was Executive Vice President at BRIDGE Housing Corporation, where she oversaw real estate development and finance operations that resulted in the addition of 7,900 homes and $2.4 billion to BRIDGE’s asset base over a 13 year period. While at BRIDGE, she also co-led an investment partnership with CalPERS, California’s public employee pension fund, through which the company invested $113 million in equity to leverage into a $500 million real estate portfolio. Prior to joining BRIDGE, Ms. Tan was a development consultant at Tsen & Associates, providing a range of real estate advisory and project management services. Her early professional career is as an Architect, including principal of her own firm, Fleming + Tan Architects in Oakland.
Ms. Tan holds a Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University, and a BA Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. A registered architect, she served on the Santa Clara County Planning Commission for 8 years. Ms. Tan currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the S.H. Cowell Foundation, and the Northern California Community Loan Fund. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Governors of the California Housing Consortium and a member of its Housing Policy Committee. Ms. Tan also sits on the Board of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research), where she co-chairs the Housing Policy Committee and SPUR San Jose; and the Dean’s Advisory Council for UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. Additional service includes advisory and board roles for Build-It-Green, ZETA Communities, Grand Boulevard Initiative, JTM Communities and the UC Berkeley Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics.
The Sacramento County Bar Association named Tina “Distinguished Attorney” in 2005. Along with her former partners, Tina co-authored the “Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act” which is in its 11th edition (2006).
Tina’s clients include governmental agencies and developers and her practice focuses on the environmental and entitlement process in both administrative and judicial forums. Tina serves on a number of nonprofit boards – including John Burton Foundation For Children Without Homes, The California Museum, Faith in Families, Hemispheres, Sacramento Food Bank Services, Valley Vision and Works in New Directions (WIND Center for Homeless Teens) – and provides pro-bono representation to social-service organizations such as Francis House and Loaves & Fishes.
Tina received her BA from Stephens College and her law degree from the University of San Diego.
Tina and her husband Bill Abbott have three grown children, Libby (28), Mary Claire (23) and Sam (21).
His accomplishments include Prop 1C, which allocated $2.8 Billion general obligation bonds to fund affordable housing, transit-oriented developments and farm worker housing. Don also authored, won bi-partisan legislative support, and led a statewide ballot measure campaign to pass $38 Billion in infrastructure construction bonds.
Don continues to advise businesses, charities, and lawmakers on how to navigate the state's bureaucratic machine, and how to make government work for them.