Blake Baird Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Terreno Realty Corp Prior to co-founding Terreno Realty Corporation, Blake was President and a Director of AMB Property Corporation and Chairman of its Investment Committee. AMB, (now Prologis, NYSE:PLD), was a leading global developer, owner and operator of industrial real estate with more than 1100 buildings containing over 125 msf and an equity market capitalization of over $5 billion. Blake led a significant transformation of AMB, exiting the shopping center business to focus on industrial properties near major airports and seaports, internalizing property operations, expanding into 12 countries and building an in-house development function. Blake joined AMB in January 1999 as Chief Investment Officer, was named President in January 2000 and was elected to the Board in 2001. Prior to joining AMB, Blake was a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley & Co., most recently as head of Real Estate Investment Banking for the western United States. Blake spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter, the last 11 focusing on real estate. Blake holds a BS in Economics (magna cum laude) from the Wharton School and a BA in History (magna cum laude) from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an MBA from New York University. Blake is a Director of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX), an ocean transportation and logistics company and Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO), a lodging REIT.
Michael Covarrubias Chairman and Chief Executive Officer TMG Partners Michael Covarrubias joined TMG in 1988; he oversees all of the company s operations and has directed the company since 1995. Prior to TMG: Mr. Covarrubias professional background includes 17 years with Union Bank, including commercial and real estate lending as well as administrative management. In his last position, he served as Senior Vice President and Manager of Union Bank s Silicon Valley Regional Real Estate Center. Mr. Covarrubias is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor s degree in business administration. Affiliations Bay Area Council, Chairman of the Board Bay Area Council Economic Institute, Board Trustee Urban Land Institute, Governor-ULI Foundation, Member-Americas Executive Committee, San Francisco District Council Governance Committee Member The Committee on Jobs, Director, Executive Committee Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Policy Advisory Board Member and Executive Committee Member The Real Estate Roundtable, Roundtable Member Lambda Alpha, Member Center for Creative Land Recycling, Board Member Presidio Bank, Founder Philanthropy American Heart Association, American Red Cross, City of Hope, UCSF, United Way of the Bay Area
Robert Gray, Jr. Partner Founder of Rockwood Capital, LLC Mr. Gray, based in San Francisco, is a Partner and one of the founders of Rockwood. Mr. Gray has 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. Mr. Gray serves on various portfolio management and investment committees as well as on Rockwood s Human Capital Committee. As chairman of Rockwood s Investment Strategy and Research Committee, Mr. Gray plays in key role in the development of the firm s real estate investment strategy. Mr. Gray has overall responsibility for managing Rockwood s acquisition activities, including personnel located in the firm s three offices. Mr. Gray s specific responsibilities include overseeing the selection of markets, projects and partners, and the negotiation and structuring of transactions. Mr. Gray received a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California in Berkeley, CA. Mr. Gray is a member of the Urban Land Institute, Pension Real Estate Association, the International Council of Shopping Centers, Fisher Center at U.C. Berkeley, Lambda Alpha International, as well as various other industry organizations.
Eric Newberg Acquisition Director STRS Ohio Responsible for direct acquisitions, programmatic/single joint ventures in Southern and Northern California. Additionally, responsible for new and existing Fund investments. Member of investment committee. Additional duties involve assisting with asset management and initiator and project leader for Greening (LEED-EBOM) of STRS 15 million SF office portfolio. STRS Ohio is a $75 billion pension fund and its real estate portfolio is valued at approximately $7 billion. It is one of the only US pension funds that invests nearly all of its assets directly instead of through advisors.
Randy Pedersoli Executive Director, Tax Ernst & Young LLP San Francisco, California +1 415 894 8182 randy.pedersoli@ey.com Randy is a tax Executive Director in Ernst & Young s National Financial Services Office focusing on state and local tax issues. Based in San Francisco, he has over 15 years of experience serving various clients including vast experience serving Asset Management organizations. Randy has worked extensively across the private equity and hedge fund industries. Randy has assisted clients with structuring deals, nonresident withholding issues, composite tax return and audit issues. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Randy helped Deloitte build their India Tax Practice as the lead for the West Region Tax Function as an expatriate. In addition, Randy has worked and served clients in Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco.
Mark Penrod CFA, Managing Director Eastdil Secured, LLC Mark Penrod is a Managing Director at Eastdil Secured, LLC. He joined the firm in 2003 as an Associate and was quickly recognized as one of the national s most sought after Net Lease professional. He is now spearheading Global Single Tenant and Structured Products Group with the firm along with managing the West Coast Office Equity Team. He graduated from Weslyan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He is a Board Member of NAIOP and IOPC Council Member of Urban Land Institute. Since 2010, Mr. Penrod has been involved with in excess of $58 billion in financing, sale, corporate and tax advisory, and joint venture transactions. Notable transactions completed include: i) San Francisco: Pacific Place, 555 California, 888 Brannan, 333 Market; ii) Oakland: 555 City Center, 1999 Harrison, 1100 Broadway, Kaiser Center, 1111 Broadway iii) Silicon Valley/Peninsula: Netflix Headquarters, Apple Campus III, Clorox Center, Campus @ 3333 ; iv) Pacific Northwest:202 Westlake, Stone 33, Elliot West, Polyclinic Madison Center v) Atlantic Northeast: Vertex HQ.
Josh Scala Principal, National Tax Ernst & Young LLP San Francisco, California +1 415.984.7448 josh.scala@ey.com Profile Josh Scala is a principal in Ernst & Young LLP s National Tax group. Josh s practice is primarily focused on the ownership, development and disposition of commercial real estate and related federal income tax issues. He has advised clients on a wide range of tax aspects of complex real estate transactions, including negotiating complex joint venture agreements and property acquisitions, structuring ownership vehicles and transactions in a tax efficient manner, and structuring debt and equity financing. Josh also has in-depth experience in representing real estate investment trusts (REITs). He has advised both publicly traded and privately held REITs with respect to debt and equity capital raising activities, mergers and acquisitions, qualification requirements under the REIT tax law, and structuring transactions with developers, property owners and institutional investors. Relevant experience Prior to joining Ernst & Young LLP in 2017, Josh practiced law at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, D.C. as a member of the firm s real estate and transactional tax practice groups. Over the last decade, Josh has focused in particular in the health care and seniors housing real estate sector, representing publicly traded REITs and institutional investors in transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $35 billion. Some of Josh s significant public REIT clients over his career. Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Josh served as managing member of a real estate development company with a focus on the development of planned residential communities. Education and memberships Josh received his JD, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his BA from Amherst College. He is a licensed member of the bar in California, Virginia and Washington D.C.
Bob Schachat EY, Retired Principal and Consultant Ernst & Young LLP Washington, DC +1 202 327 8010 robert.schachat@ey.com Profile Bob, former National Director of Real Estate Technical Services, led the Real Estate Group in the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young LLP in Washington, DC. He consulted with clients on all federal income tax aspects of real estate, including REIT, partnership, limited liability company and S corporation formations, acquisitions, like-kind exchanges, development, leases, financings, workouts, dispositions and liquidations. Bob s experience includes extensive involvement in the negotiation and drafting of all types of partnership agreements, LLC operating agreements and corporate shareholder agreements. He also regularly advised clients in monitoring federal legislative and regulatory activity in the real estate area. Relevant experience Bob joined EY in 1996 and retired June 2017. From 1984 until 1996, he was a partner in a Manhattan law firm, practicing in the taxation of real estate. Bob has published many articles, and he lectures frequently at many real estate industry and tax conferences. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Passthrough Entities, the Board of Contributing Editors and Advisors of Real Estate Taxation and the Tax Management Advisory Board for Corporate Tax and Business Planning. Bob is coauthor with Jim Lowy of the CCH treatise Taxation of REITs and UPREITs. He has served as Chair of the Real Estate Committee of the ABA (American Bar Association) Section of Taxation, Vice Chair of the Tax Policy Advisory Committee of the Real Estate Roundtable and Co-Chair of the Cost Recovery Committee, as well as a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association s Tax Section. Bob continues to serve as a member of the Government Relations and Real Estate committees of the ABA Section of Taxation. Education and memberships Bob has an BS, Phi Beta Kappa, in Mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a JD from Columbia University Law School and an LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law.