‘Thrilled’ California Developers Cheer Rollback of State’s Environmental Law

‘Thrilled’ California Developers Cheer Rollback of State’s Environmental Law

California developers are celebrating the rollback of a landmark environmental law that they say will help clear the way for new housing in a state that has suffered a severe shortage for decades.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed two bills hollowing out the California Environmental Quality Act, which was enacted to protect the environment but puts developers through a lengthy environmental review.

“This is major, major reform,” said Sean Burton, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles-based multifamily developer Cityview. “We are thrilled.” 

In 2020, lawsuits using this environmental law tried to block about 48,000 approved housing units statewide. That was nearly half of the state’s total housing production for that year, according to a study by a California land-use attorney, Jennifer Hernandez. 

Burton is one of many developers who have been paring back projects in California over the past few years. Instead, he said, he is expanding in Dallas and Denver, where lighter regulation makes it easier to secure financing. Some of his peers gave up on building new housing in California altogether.

“A lot of investors have redlined California,” he said, referring to developers who crossed it off their lists of possibilities. “Now, you’re going to see a lot of people give California a fresh look.”

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Burton, the multifamily developer, budgets between $2 million and $5 million on a project just to cover the cost of the state’s environmental reviews. While those costs are burdensome, he said the bigger deterrence is the unpredictable legal threats.

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Read more about the impact of CEQA’s rollback and why it may cause some investors to give California a fresh look in The Wall Street Journal: bit.ly/4kpPo9Y

Christoph Donner

Principal and Global Head of Capital Development and Strategy

Based in New York City, Donner pursues new global strategic opportunities, builds and maintains relationships with investors and partners and leads the firm’s fund development and capital strategy.

Previously, Donner was CEO of America PIMCO Prime Real Estate LLC (formerly Allianz Real Estate of America LLC), where he provided strategic leadership over the commercial mortgage loan business and equity investments of Allianz’s global subsidiaries in North America. During his time as CEO, the firm’s real estate investments grew from $7 billion to $22 billion.

Prior to that, he was a Senior Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer at Aareal Capital Corporation, where he managed a portfolio of $5 billion. He has also served as Managing Director at Hypo Real Estate in New York, London and Munich, Head of Project Finance at Vivico Real Estate in Frankfurt, Germany and as a Vice President at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.

Donner is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable and the Urban Land Institute’s Global Exchange Council. Previously, he was a board member for the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE). He holds a graduate degree in business from the Technische Universität in Berlin.

Quinn Konitshek

Director, Acquisitions
Based in Dallas, Quinn Konitshek manages stabilized and ground-up acquisition opportunities for Cityview across the Southwestern U.S., with a focus on Texas, Arizona and Colorado.
 
Previously, Konitshek worked in acquisitions at Kushner, where he sourced multifamily deals across Texas and the Southwestern U.S. Prior to that, he worked in acquisitions for Barvin, a Texas-based multifamily investment and development firm, and worked on the development team for ROY Asset Holding, a Texas-based international family office. 
 
Konitshek earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from San Diego State University, and is an active member of Urban Land Institute.

Sarah Hunt

Senior Associate, Business Development & Capital Relations

Ms. Hunt joined Cityview in 2021 and is a Senior Associate on the Business Development & Capital Relations team.  She is primarily responsible for relationship management, investor communications, and marketing collateral.  Additionally, she works closely with internal functional teams on due diligence efforts and supports investor reporting and special projects.  She is also a member of Cityview’s Sustainability Committee focused on communication of ESG initiatives to investors.

Ms. Hunt has over six years of real estate investment, capital formation, and investor relations experience.  Prior to joining Cityview, she was an Associate with Chicago-based Magnolia Capital.  During her tenure, she worked on equity capital raises for numerous real estate investment vehicles.  Prior to Magnolia, Ms. Hunt was a Financial Analyst with LaSalle Investment Management where she oversaw the financial performance of assets with over $1 billion in value.

Ms. Hunt received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance, Investment, and Banking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jonathan Anderson

Controller

Jonathan Anderson is the Controller of Cityview and provides leadership and oversight over the finance, accounting, and shared services departments. Prior to joining the Cityview team, Jonathan worked at CIM Group where he held various finance and accounting roles during his tenure, most recently as head of private fund reporting and prior to that as director of SEC reporting for one of CIM Group’s publicly traded REITs. Jonathan began his career in Ernst & Young’s assurance practice where he served both public and private clients in the real estate and asset management industries. Jonathan graduated from the University of Southern California with both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate finance.

Tina O’ Brien

HR Director

Tina O’Brien, HR Director, is a senior national and state-certified HR Professional (SPHR, SHRM-SCP, PHRca), managing the HR team overseeing all aspects of Human Resources for both Cityview and its affiliate, Westhome. Her experience spans the spectrum of the HR field, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, benefits, compliance and employee development. She joined Cityview in summer 2021 from a telecom technology firm in Van Nuys, and previously worked for a private real estate investment and property management company in Beverly Hills. Tina is an LA native and she’s committed to helping grow our vibrant, healthy corporate culture here at Cityview.

Noah Watts-Russell

Director Asset Management
Noah Watts-Russell is Director, Asset Management of Cityview. As Director of Asset Management, he oversees Cityview’s value-add portfolio and is responsible for establishing and driving the portfolio business plans to maximize performance and value. Prior to joining Cityview, Noah was an Associate in the Real Estate division at The Blackstone Group where he oversaw over $15bn in multifamily real estate (>70,000 units, covering market rate, affordable and rent-controlled) and worked on over $2bn in total sales and $1bn in refinancing. Prior to Blackstone, Noah managed the FP&A team at LivCor, Blackstone’s multifamily asset management company. Noah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Denise Katz

Director Asset Management

Denise Katz manages Cityview’s core and development assets across multiple investment vehicles and is responsible for maximizing the operational and financial performance of the assets.  Denise has over twelve years of experience in real estate. Prior to joining Cityview, Denise was Regional Vice President at CIM Group of a $2.4 billion portfolio in the Western US and Latin American markets. During her time at CIM, she managed end-to-end transitions of development projects, acquisitions, and dispositions of office, multifamily, retail, parking, condominium, and mixed-use projects. She holds a double major Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Psychology from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Steve Roberts

Vice President, Development and Construction
Steve Roberts is responsible for the development of several of Cityview’s ground-up multi-family assets, including due diligence, design, entitlement, permitting, construction, and market delivery. Prior to joining Cityview, Steve managed several nationally award-winning projects as Vice President of Development for Community Dynamics, a Santa Monica based developer of residential and mixed-use communities. Steve has built his career on creating exceptional communities that deliver high-quality housing to residents, first-rate design for neighbors and municipalities, as well as strong financial returns to investors. Steve holds a BA in Urban Studies and Planning from UCSD and earned an MBA and Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California.

Anh Le

Vice President, Development and Construction

After 8 years in the construction industry managed complex multi-use development projects, Anh Le joined Cityview in 2018 as Director of Development. Le manages ground-up developments in Northern and Southern California and leads consultant teams through entitlement, design, permitting, budgeting, contracting, construction management and project turnover. She works closely with designers, neighborhood groups and Cityview’s in-house Asset Management team to deliver best-in-class multifamily projects. Prior to Cityview, Le worked as a project engineer and project manager at Cobalt Construction. Le holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

Kyle Naye

Senior Director, Acquisitions

Kyle Naye is Senior Director, Acquisitions of Cityview.  As Senior Director of Acquisitions, he is responsible for managing acquisitions, including sourcing, underwriting, closing and developing comprehensive business plans for investors.  Naye primarily focuses on non-California markets across the Western U.S., including Seattle, Portland, Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Dallas, and Austin.  In his role, Naye works closely with the Cityview team to manage and expand strategic acquisitions across the firm’s vertically integrated platform.

Prior to joining Cityview, Naye was a vice president of originations at PGIM Real Estate, where he provided transactions and underwriting oversight for core-plus and high-yield debt vehicles. He also held a prior role at PGIM managing the underwriting, investment committee preparation and closing of $992 million in multifamily, retail and office assets across the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. At earlier stages of his career, Naye was a senior associate of acquisitions at Clarion Partners, senior real estate analyst at Northmarq and an officer in the United States Navy.

Zory Grigoryan

Vice President, Development and Construction

As Director of Development, Zory Grigoryan is responsible for the full cycle development of several of Cityview’s projects, which includes managing the due diligence, underwriting, entitlement, design engineering, construction processes and turnover to asset management. Prior to joining Cityview, Grigoryan worked for Oakmont Capital as a Project Manager overseeing the development and construction of several multifamily projects. Prior to that, he worked at Cobalt Construction as a Project Manager on the construction of numerous mixed use and multifamily projects. During his career, Grigoryan has been responsible for the development, preconstruction and construction of over 1,500 units.

Grigoryan holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Construction Management from the California State University of Northridge, where he was the top ranked graduate of his year. During his time at Cobalt Construction, Grigoryan was also selected as distinguished alumni by the CSUN department faculty and appointed as ambassador for alumni recruitment by CSUN construction management department’s board of governors committee.

Chris Brown

Director, Capital Relations

Chris Brown is responsible for capital raising and investor relations at Cityview. Chris has over seven years of real estate investment and capital raising experience. Prior to joining Cityview, he was a member of the Fund Advisory team at JLL working on equity capital raises for private real estate investment vehicles. Prior to JLL, Chris worked on the Portfolio Management team at Clarion Partners and the Asset Management team at LaSalle Investment Management. Chris graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s Degrees in Finance and Real Estate. He is a general securities representative.

Dana Gomez-Gayne

Vice President and Associate General Counsel

Dana Gomez-Gayne manages the legal aspects of all project-related matters, including acquisition, development, financing, management and disposition, and advises Cityview on corporate formation and maintenance, insurance, risk management, compliance and other legal matters. She was previously an Associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP where she represented a variety of clients in real estate, project development and finance transactions. Gomez-Gayne also has a background in fundraising development and worked at Teach For America raising philanthropic funds from regional and national corporations and foundations. She is a graduate of Pomona College and Pepperdine University School of Law.

Rob Lester

Managing Director, Business Development & Capital Relations
Rob Lester is responsible for business development and capital formation efforts for the Firm’s investment platforms, developing strategic growth initiatives, and creating long-term relationships with investors and partners. He has nearly 25 years of investment banking and private capital formation experience. Prior to joining Cityview, he was Managing Director with Macquarie Capital, and a Managing Principal with Blackstone. ​

Con Howe

Managing Director

Con Howe leads Cityview’s partnerships to finance, assemble and entitle land for development in the greater Los Angeles area. With over 40 years of experience in planning, entitlements and development, he assists all Cityview funds with acquisitions and development strategies. Prior to coming to Cityview, he was the Director of Planning for the City of Los Angeles responsible for the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance and zoning to encourage infill housing. Previously he was the Executive Director of the New York City Planning Department. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and his master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Shane Robinson

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF ASSET MANAGEMENT

Shane Robinson is responsible for managing all aspects of Cityview’s stabilized, value add and new development assets. With more than 23 years of experience managing multifamily assets, he is a seasoned real estate professional experienced in a range of investment strategies that drive growth and efficiency for investors.

Prior to this role, Shane held pivotal positions at various organizations in the real estate industry. As Vice President of Property Management at Westhome, Robinson played a vital role in implementing the operational infrastructure that facilitated market expansion.

During his tenure at Sunrise Management, his leadership established and solidified the company’s operational foothold in new markets, contributing to the growth and success of the firm. His early asset management career was at GHP Management, where he specialized in lease-ups and effectively managed a substantial core portfolio of over 5,000 units.

Melissa B. Delgado

VP, Asset Management
Melissa Delgado is responsible for overseeing Cityview’s asset management and portfolio operations. Prior to joining Cityview, Melissa was a Senior Director at TruAmerica Multifamily LLC where she was responsible for achieving the investment objectives of an $800 million portfolio. Earlier in her career, Melissa was an asset manager for Kennedy Wilson’s Southern California portfolio. Prior to that, she was a Vice President and Head of Marketing at Kepler Capital Markets, an investment bank in New York. ​

Devang Shah

Managing Director, Acquisitions

Devang Shah is co-head of Cityview’s acquisitions activities. He has 27 years of experience in real estate investment, development, design, construction and asset management. Previously, Devang was the principal of Marketcents Inc., an independent project management firm, serving as an owner’s representative to investment firms, builders and developers. Prior to that, he worked was Vice-President at RCLCo, LLC, a national independent real estate consulting firm.

Adam Perry

Senior Vice President, Development and Construction

Adam Perry oversees all aspects of the commercial real estate development process from acquisition due diligence and entitlement processing through design budgeting, contracting, construction management, closeout and turnover. Prior to joining Cityview, Adam worked at CIM group as an Associate Vice President of Development overseeing ground up retail, office and mixed-use developments. ​

Adam holds a BA Degree in Political Science and History from UCLA and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Matthew Falley

General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
Matt Falley oversees and directs the company’s legal affairs and is the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. Matt was previously a partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP, where he represented numerous clients in the real estate industry, including Cityview. Matt holds a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he was a member of “California Law Review” and Order of the Coif.​

Tony Cardoza

Managing Director, Acquisitions
Tony Cardoza is responsible for Cityview’s acquisition activities throughout the West Coast. He has 21 years of experience in real estate investment and management. Previously, Tony ran the investment group for Real Estate Capital Partners in the Western U.S., which developed and acquired over 5,000 multifamily units. Prior to that, he worked for Prometheus Real Estate Group in a land and multifamily acquisitions role on the West Coast. Tony holds a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.​

Jennifer Halvas

Managing Director, Investor Relations

Jennifer Halvas is a member of the firm’s investor relations team, where she is responsible for maintaining relationships with the investor community and helping to develop investment strategies and initiatives. Over the years, she has been instrumental in securing capital needs for several Cityview funds across a broad base of institutional investors, foundations and endowments, family offices and high-net-worth investors. A 14-year veteran of the firm, Jennifer is also a partner at Cityview and a member of its investment committee.

She was previously at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where she represented a variety of clients in real estate, project development and finance transactions. Jennifer holds a B.A. with honors from the University of Southern California and a JD from Vanderbilt Law School.

Damian Gancman

Chief Investment Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Damian Gancman oversees Cityview’s acquisition, asset management and joint venture strategy while managing the operations of Cityview and its investments. A 19-year veteran of the firm, Damian is also a partner at Cityview and a member of its investment committee. 
 
As Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Gancman oversaw asset management, property management and accounting. He also helped create a multitude of strategic initiatives to support Cityview’s rapid growth, including the launch of Cityview’s property management division, the creation of its opportunity zone fund platform and the build out of its finance and capital markets teams.
 
In addition to his role at Cityview, Damian serves on the University of Southern California (USC) Lusk Center for Real Estate Executive Committee and is a guest lecturer for the USC Master of Real Estate Development program.

Sean Burton

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Sean Burton co-founded Cityview in 2003. Prior to joining Cityview, Sean was vice president of corporate business development and strategy at Warner Bros. Before that, he was an attorney in the real estate and corporate groups at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP and also served in the White House during the Clinton Administration. In 2022, Burton was appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the federal nominee on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors, which oversees Washington Dulles and Reagan National airports.

From 2013 to 2021, Sean oversaw the $20B modernization of LAX as President of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners. He also served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, as the co-chair of the Los Angeles Coalition, a coalition of business leaders for the economy and jobs in LA, and will chair the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in 2027. Sean holds a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine and a JD from New York University School of Law.