3rd Annual Los Angeles Hospitality Development Boom!

Sonnet currently serves as Vice President and General Manager for Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA), a national real estate advisory firm specializing in Development Management, Project Management, Investor Representation and Program Management services. She has spent the bulk of her 30-plus year career as an architect, developer, business strategist and planner working for both national and international firms. As general manager, Sonnet oversees projects across multiple sectors, including high-rise and multifamily residential, entertainment, healthcare, educational, and commercial. Prior to joining PMA, Sonnet was Vice President, Design and Construction at NBC Universal, where she was responsible for developing and leading design, construction and related capital planning services for NBCUniversal and DreamWork’s West Coast Studio Operations. In this role, she managed the planning and execution of construction projects at the iconic 400 + acre Universal Lot in Studio City. She was honored in 2016 and 2017 by Bisnow as one of “Los Angeles’ Power Women.” In the past year, Sonnet has been recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as part of their Women’s Leadership Series, the 2020 class of Thriving in Their 40s, and as a Women of Influence in Construction and Design. Sonnet Hui is a Trustee of the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU).

Tiffany Cooper is the Senior Vice President, Development for the Americas for The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group. Tiffany is responsible for delivering growth to The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group by expanding the development pipeline and footprint for the Americas via quality hotel projects to include conversions, adaptive reuse and new build opportunities. Tiffany is a hospitality professional with over 20 years of experience, having begun her career working in sales & marketing/hotel operations for The Kimpton Group in early 1995. Tiffany joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 1999 and continued working in operations, leading sales teams for various Starwood properties until 2005 when she transitioned to the Real Estate Development Group for Starwood. During this time, Tiffany extensively grew Starwood’s portfolio, more than doubling the footprint throughout the Western Region. In September, 2016, following the Marriott acquisition of Starwood, Tiffany joined the Marriott International development team, focused on full service and luxury hotel development until moving to Kimpton in April 2018.

Tom launched Gensler’s Hospitality Practice in the late 1990s, when he led the celebrated renovation of the Beverly Hills Hotel. He has since expanded the practice to an international scale, leading numerous complex mixed-use, entertainment, master planning and hotel projects across the U.S. and worldwide. His expertise was integral to the leadership of the 18-million-square-foot CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip, and his team recently completed the architecture, interior design and branding for the award-winning Shore Hotel, a LEED®-certified luxury oceanfront resort in Santa Monica. Currently under construction is the Westin Hotel, part of the South Terminal Redevelopment Program at the Denver International Airport, which includes a conference center and train station. Tom is a Registered Architect and earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University of Southern California.

Rich Brand is the firm’s San Francisco Managing Partner and head of the Sports practice group. He focuses on sports law, real estate and corporate transactions, e-commerce, hospitality and leisure, and partnership and corporate law. Rich is recognized as a leading sports attorney by Chambers USA and Legal 500 and as a leading real estate attorney by Best Lawyers. As noted by Chambers USA, “he is highly regarded for his expertise in representing both sellers and purchasers of sports teams” and “he brings tons of experience, and good business sense to the deal table.” Rich speaks extensively on many aspects of sports, real estate and hospitality law at major industry conferences. He is frequently featured on the Yes Network’s Forbes SportsMoney sports talk show and has appeared on CNN, Fox Sports and other national video/television/radio programs. Rich is also an adjunct professor at Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley School of Law, where he leads seminars on sports law transactions. Rich regularly guest lectures at prominent undergraduate and graduate Sports Administration programs.

Jay Newman joined The Athens Group in 2000 as Chief Operating Officer where he focuses on the company’s financial affairs and development opportunities. He has more than 32 years of experience in commercial real estate including development along with entitlements and design, acquisitions, joint ventures, finance and dispositions. Jay is primarily responsible for managing the acquisition and financing of many of The Athens Group's projects including the raising of equity capital. In addition, Jay was primarily responsible for the development and financing of the mixed-use Montage Beverly Hills in California and the acquisition, re-entitlement and redesign of the West Hollywood mixed-use Edition project and is currently engaged in the planning and entitlement for the re-development of the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. In 1993, Jay was one of the founding members of the national real estate law firm of Pircher, Nichols & Meeks based in Los Angeles where he was a managing partner and a real estate transactional attorney. In 1995, he joined Highridge Partners in Los Angeles as Senior Vice President of the Summit Commercial Properties Division, where he focused on the purchasing, repositioning, leasing, management and sale of shopping centers and office buildings on both a one-off and portfolio basis. Jay was one of the founders of Lend Lease Development (US) in 1996, where he focused on the development of resorts (including The Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California), shopping centers and office buildings. As Senior Vice President of Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc., and a member of the Lend Lease Lodging Group, he focused on the development of new hotels and resorts throughout the United States and was primarily responsible for the creation of the Resort Development Program. Jay received his undergraduate degree in applied economics (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of California at Berkeley in 1978, and his MBA and Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford University in 1982. He is a guest lecturer at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Planning and a frequent speaker at ULI, Meet the Money, Bisnow, the Southern California Development Forum and CLE International. Jay sits on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors of the Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau, and the Board of Directors of Beverly Hills Rotary. Jay is also actively involved in Imagine LA. Jay and his family reside in Los Angeles, California.

Maki Nakamura Bara, President & Co-Founder of The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC and Chairman of the Board for affiliated management company, Sightline Hospitality, is a leading expert in investing in and repositioning urban hotels and resorts. Since the formation of Chartres Lodging in 2002, she has acquired and repositioned approximately $5 billion of lodging assets in the U.S. and Japan and completed more than $1 billion in the redevelopment of these assets. In recognition of her extensive experience in the lodging sector, particularly in acquisitions, asset management, development management and her role in the growth of the two companies, Ms. Nakamura Bara was recognized as the top "40 Under 40" by M&A Advisor, received the ''Best Executive" Stevie Award for Women in Business, was named a "Woman of Influence” in commercial real estate by Real Estate Southern California magazine, was a three-time honoree of Bisnow’s Power Women LA and recently honored as one of Hotel Management’s 2021 Influential Women in Hospitality. She is also a frequent speaker at various industry conferences. Ms. Nakamura Bara’s previous experience includes participating in the formation and growth of the lodging activities of Lend Lease Real Estate and Strategic Hotel Capital. She has also worked at Oxford Capital Partners, Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers in the hospitality consulting division. Ms. Nakamura Bara is a graduate of UCLA and is fluent in spoken Japanese.

Mr. Robert Sonnenblick, Principal of Sonnenblick, LLC, is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania with more than 30 years of experience in various aspects of real estate and real estate finance. From 1981 to 1991 Mr. Sonnenblick was the driving force and power behind Sonnenblick-Goldman Corporation of California. Mr. Sonnenblick completed over $1.5 Billion of commercial real estate transactions on the West Coast and as a result is regarded as one of the West Coast’s leaders in the field of commercial real estate. Among the more notable projects for which Mr. Sonnenblick personally structured the financing for are The Beaudry Center, Los Angeles, California ($197 million), the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Pasadena, California ($97 million), One Waterfront Plaza, Honolulu, Hawaii ($100 million), and the Los Angeles World Trade Center, Los Angeles, California ($55 million). In 1991 Mr. Sonnenblick was appointed Director of Development for the New Jersey and L.A. MetroMalls, with the responsibility for oversight and direction of the design, financing and leasing programs for two proposed $250 million enclosed regional malls totaling 1.2 million Sq. Ft. each. Mr. Sonnenblick personally oversaw more than 1 million Sq. Ft. of leases in connection with this position as well as arranging the necessary debt and equity financing. The New Jersey project opened to one of the strongest starts in the history of the United States mall industry. In addition, Mr. Sonnenblick was an original development partner of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. This 360-room, $90 million hotel was recently sold for $125 million. Prior to forming Sonnenblick Development, LLC, Mr. Sonnenblick was the senior partner in a Los Angeles-based real estate development firm (Sonnenblick Del Rio Development) which specialized in public-private partnerships, specifically the development of four major government-leased office buildings throughout the Los Angeles basin. During this tenure, Mr. Sonnenblick successfully developed nearly 1 million square feet of government leased buildings, occupied by such tenants as U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services and Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Mr. Sonnenblick is a frequent speaker at various real estate-related functions, such as those hosted by Deloitte Touche, ICSC, Value Retail News, Crittenden, USC, UCLA Real Estate Program, IMN Real Estate Conferences and the Institute for International Research, The Opal Group, iGlobal Forum Group, Globe Street/Realshare Conferences and Bloomberg Conferences. Mr. Sonnenblick is a member of the Advisory Board of the Golf Development Institute, a member of the Board of Real Estate Council of the Century City Chamber of Commerce and is a published author on subjects ranging from architecture to general real estate market conditions. In addition to Mr. Sonnenblick’s expertise in development, finance, joint ventures and equity structuring, Mr. Sonnenblick has also been certified as an expert in the area of real estate bankruptcy/foreclosure. Mr. Sonnenblick is a qualified expert witness in the area of Commercial Real Estate Finance and Interest Rates for the United States Federal Court System in numerous jurisdictions.

Simon Ziff serves as president of Ackman-Ziff, a position he assumed in 1995. Since joining the firm as an Analyst in 1989, Simon has overseen the arrangement of 100+ billion of debt, mezzanine, and equity financings for some of the nation’s foremost real estate developers and owners while simultaneously solidifying the firm’s relationships with key capital sources. He engineered the firm’s unique, collaborative culture and directed AZ’s evolution as an industry thought leader with over 50 professionals.   Simon received a B.S. in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.S. in Real Estate Finance from NYU. He has been recognized on multiple occasions by Penn State and NYU, as well as being awarded REBNY’s first “Most Promising Commercial Salesperson” award, the “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year” award six times and winning the prestigious Louis Smadbeck award.   Simon has also been active in many leadership roles for universities and not-for-profit organizations. Simon has also been involved in teaching at University of Miami and NYU on families in Real Estate.   Most recently, Simon has been lecturing at many undergraduate and graduate programs including a course on Family Real Estate Business Management at NYU Schack.

As the Downtown Los Angeles Alliance's Executive Director, Nicholas ‘Nick’ Griffin spearheads the organization’s efforts to attract new businesses, retailers, investors and residents to what has grown to become one of the nation’s most dynamic urban centers. Hailed the “next great American City,” by GQ Magazine, Downtown LA has experienced unprecedented growth over the past 16-years, in large part due to the efforts of the DTLA Alliance's economic development team. Prior to the DTLA Alliance, Nick spent more than 25 years in business development in the real estate, media/entertainment and technology industries. For the previous 10 years, Nick was a leading commercial leasing and sales broker in New York City, where he was responsible for more than $100M in transactions. Prior to his rise in real estate, Nick spent a decade as a marketing and sales executive in the creative media and technology industries. Nick is a graduate of UCLA and holds an MBA from Ohio State University.

Michael E. Scheinberg joined the firm in 1989 and is a partner in the firm’s real estate department. Mr. Scheinberg’s practice focuses on commercial real estate transactions, including private equity, restructurings, development, loan origination and workouts, joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions as well as leasing.