East Bay Residential Development

Brad Griggs is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blake|Griggs Properties which focuses on mixed-use development and investment in high density multifamily projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Opportunity Housing Group which focuses on acquiring existing assets and converting them to Workforce Housing for Essential Workers. Brad has developed more than $4 billion of real estate investment totaling over 8,500 apartment units, 40 Extended-Stay Hotels, and 2,000 for-sale residential homes. He also has acquired and sold for either his own account or that of companies he has work for more than $2 billion of existing apartment communities totaling over 7,700 apartments. Brad was the former Executive Vice President/Chief Investment Officer for publicly traded BRE Properties, Inc; Senior Vice President with Security Capital Group’s Homestead Village; Project Director for The Fieldstone Company; Director of Operations for M.J. Brock/Ryland Homes; and Apartment Division Manager for Pacific Scene Properties, Inc. Brad holds a degree in Architecture from California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo and is a licensed California State Architect. Brad is a full member of Urban Land Institute.

Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft was first elected to the Alameda City Council in 2012, and was elected Mayor in 2018. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft represents Alameda at a variety of statewide and regional organizations, including the League of California Cities (League), serves on the League's statewide Housing, Community and Economic Development Policy Committee which she formerly chaired, and is President of the East Bay Division of the League. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft is currently President of the Alameda County Mayors Conference and a member of the Mayors Conference Homeless Working Group. She represents Alameda at the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and is a member of ABAG’s Regional Planning Committee, and represents Alameda at the Alameda County Transportation Commission. Before being elected to the City Council, Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft served on the Planning Board, Economic Development Commission, and Alameda Hospital Board of Directors, and chaired successful campaigns to build a new Main Library in 2000 and kept Alameda Hospital open in 2002. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UC Davis, and a Juris Doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Linda Mandolini has served as the Chief Executive of Eden Housing since 2001. Eden Housing (www.edenhousing.org) is one of California's oldest and most successful non-profit housing developers and owners. Linda oversees affordable housing production, resident support services, and property management components of the organization, and a staff of more than 400 employees. She is guided in her work by Eden's active volunteer board of directors, and together they just completed an ambitious 5-year strategic plan to build or preserve 10,000 affordable homes in California over the next ten years. Under Linda’s leadership, Eden Housing has become one of the most productive and successful nonprofit affordable housing developers and owners in California and is nationally recognized for its work. To date, Eden has developed or acquired approximately 11,000 affordable rental apartments in communities throughout California, providing homes for more than 22,000 low-income residents from all cultures and backgrounds. Eden currently has an additional 4,000 units in its pipeline. The organization has received numerous awards including being named as one of the Best Places to Work 2015-2017, and one of the Healthiest Employers in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Journal for the past nine consecutive years (2012-2020). Annually since 2006, Affordable Housing Finance Magazine has named Eden Housing as one of the Top 50 owners or developers of affordable housing nationally. Linda joined Eden in 1996 as a Project Developer and was promoted to Associate Director of Real Estate Development. In 1999 and 2000, she worked with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group as Director of Transportation and Housing Policy. She then rejoined Eden to serve as Director of Real Estate Development and was named President in 2001. Linda has received a number of awards including being named the Housing Champion by the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley in 2020, inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame in 2017; named to the San Francisco Business Times' Forever Influential Honor Roll in 2016; Bay Area's Most Influential Women in Business in 2011, 2014, and 2015, Northern California's Real Estate Women of Influence in 2011; and awarded the Affordable Housing Management Association's (AHMA) Pioneer in Affordable Housing in 2011. She was also honored by the East Bay Business Times as a Woman of Distinction in 2008. Under Linda's leadership, Eden Housing has completed three portfolio mergers and acquisitions, and has launched a number of initiatives to increase affordable housing preservation and to promote sustainable practices. Eden was among the first of its peers to implement a portfolio-wide green retrofitting and resident conservation program. Linda is often called upon to share Eden's best practices at regional, statewide, and national forums. In 2018, Eden Housing celebrated its 50 year anniversary with a 50 Years/50 Stories Campaign with video, podcast and photo-stories; an ambitious effort spearheaded by Linda to demonstrate the positive impact affordable housing has on people and communities. Linda is known as a leader in housing policy on the local, state and national level. She serves or has served on and held leadership positions on the following boards: The California Housing Consortium (CHC), where she currently chairs the Policy Committee, the National Housing Conference, the Housing Partnership Network, the Housing Partnership Equity Trust, the ULI Terwilliger Center for Affordable Housing, the UC Berkeley Terner Center Advisory Board, The Factory OS and Catalyst, Advisory Boards, the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley, Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH), Enterprise Communities' Community Leadership Council, and the International Housing Partnership Exchange. Linda was one of the affordable housing leaders who worked tirelessly for the passage of Proposition 46, Proposition 1C, and Propositions 1 and 2, three California Housing bonds that collectively generated $10 billion for housing. She has also helped lead local housing initiatives, including most recently the Measures A and A1 Housing bonds in Santa Clara and Alameda Counties respectively, that generated $1.5 billion in local funding for affordable housing. In early 2020, she helped lead the passage of a local sales tax in San Jose to support affordable housing. Prior to relocating to California in 1996, Linda held various community development positions in Boston. Linda received her AB degree from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and earned an MBA from Boston University, with a concentration in public and non-profit management. She also completed the Harvard Kennedy School/NeighborhorWorks, Achieving Excellence in Community Development program. In her free time, Linda is an avid bicyclist and frequently rides for charitable causes including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training Program, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation in support of research for cures for Parkinson's disease.

Ken Lowney is the Founder and President of Lowney Architecture, a multidisciplinary practice offering architectural, interior, and master planning services. With locations in Oakland and Honolulu, the firm focuses its practice on residential, mixed-use, hospitality and retail projects. In his hometown of Oakland, Ken leads discussions about community development, affordable housing and off-site construction design methods while serving in leadership roles for the Modular Building Institute, SPUR, the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and the Oakland Land Use Committee. Lowney Architecture first made its mark with expertise in urban retail, specifically grocery store design. The firm is now also synonymous with the design and delivery of innovative, prefabricated projects, having designed over 6,000 modular units.

An Associate Principal at brick, Mattison Ly is committed to sustainable buildings and livable housing for all. She creates value from architecture that considers people, place, mission, and the impact on our environment. Mattison’s past projects include affordable housing, higher education, libraries, and other civic buildings as well as commercial urban infill.

Over the course of 25 years, Eric has lead numerous capable teams in a series of financially successful residential, boutique resort, and hospitality developments. He is an authority in multi-family mixed-use developments. Consistently applying his leadership, innovative solutions and efficient construction methodology to capture maximum revenue. Previously Eric has held positions as Vice President of Vertical Development and Construction for Lennar Urban; Vice President of Development and Construction for CAMcorp; Director of Development and Construction ClubLink Corporation; and President of Towne and Country Homes. Over the years Eric has successfully delivered to market award-winning projects in over 15,000 residential units including urban high-rise condominiums, multi-family rentals, and 21,000 units in master planned communities. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Design Technology from Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Canada. Later received his equivalency as a Bachelor of Science with a dual Major from Tulane University. Additionally, he is accredited with a Specialized Degree in Construction Project Management.

Steve Buster is Senior Vice President, Development for Grosvenor Americas with overall responsibility for the development activities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Steve has fifteen years of real estate investment and development experience, most recently directing development activities for large master planned, mixed use projects in the Bay Area. He earned his MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business in 2007 and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), Finance from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2000. Steve is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) & the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Todd represents clients in the broad spectrum of land use, real estate and environmental issues in both litigation and administrative proceedings. He works with private clients and public entities, including landowners and developers of residential, infill, commercial and industrial property, as well as local agencies, providing property entitlement processing and local government land use approvals; CEQA compliance and litigation; planning and zoning law advice; and real property litigation. He also has experience with infill project streamlining, density bonus and housing laws, affordable housing and historic preservation regulations, as well as advising clients on public-private partnerships, the Subdivision Map Act, the Williamson Act, and cannabis land use regulations, along with easement and boundary dispute matters. A contributing editor on the 2010 – 2011 edition of State and Local Government Land Use Liability, and a reviewer of the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Municipal Law Handbook, Todd also has spoken throughout the state on land use law, with particular emphasis on CEQA.