NorCal Student Housing & University Development

Rosemarie Rae brings more than 35 years of experience in finance and administration to her role as UC Berkeley’s Vice Chancellor of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. During the course of her work in the public and nonprofit sectors, she has developed a wide depth and breadth of knowledge in budget and financial management, strategic planning, and operations. The Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance includes Capital Strategies, the Controller’s Office, Finance & Capital Asset Strategies, Financial Planning & Analysis, University Business Partnerships & Services, and the Immediate Office. Together these teams oversee university financial services and controls, lead an integrated approach to planning and development, provide accurate and timely information and analyses to inform campus decision-making in service of UC Berkeley’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. Rosemarie takes great pride in how our institution shapes higher education and her focus on collaboration, accountability, and the greater harmonization of operating and capital planning continues to further the goal of financial sustainability. Prior to coming to Berkeley, she served as the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, she also served as an Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief Financial Officer at Volunteers of America; held senior leadership positions at Experience Works and LORAL Space and Communications; and was a principal and founder of Balrae Associates, an Information Technology services firm. Rosemarie holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Radford University and a masters degree in public administration from American University.

Since 1994, David Seward has served as the Chief Financial Officer of UC Hastings College of the Law where he is responsible for financial and business management functions and capital planning where he leads implementation of the school’s long range campus plan which will culminate in the development of a new graduate Academic Village. Active in the Tenderloin, Seward recently concluded his second four year term on the Board of Directors of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, an organization focused on sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal, and neighborhood improvement. He also serves on the board of the Tenderloin Museum. Mr. Seward grew up outside Detroit and graduated from the University of Michigan also attending the University of San Francisco, graduating with an MBA in Finance.

Charlie Faas, Vice President, serves as the University's Chief Financial Officer. The Vice President directs the financial and administrative affairs of the University. Division service groups are: Facilities Development and Operations, Finance, University Police Department, and Spartan Shops, Inc.

Ann M. Sherman became the Interim Vice President of Administration & Finance at San Francisco State University in January 2017. She is responsible for all facets of Administration and Finance, including Budget and Fiscal Affairs; Information Technologies; Facilities Operations; Risk & Data Analytics; Physical Planning & Development; Human Resources; Audit & Advisory Services; and Business Operations. She currently serves on the President’s Cabinet and provides wide-ranging direction and guidance for the campus according to strategic needs and CSU directives.

Mr. Vaz founded AMCAL in 1978 and has led the company’s dramatic growth, developing $750 million in residential and mixed-use projects throughout California. A highly regarded leader in the affordable housing field, Mr. Vaz has spearheaded the building of 7,000 affordable apartments, raising more than $700 million in tax credit financings. AMCAL housing has changed thousands of lives by providing quality apartments and partnering with local non-profit organizations to empower residents through education and supportive services. Seeing the massive need for affordable housing in fast-growing Texas, Mr. Vaz expanded AMCAL’s operations into that market in 2012. Mr. Vaz serves on the Board of Directors for the California Housing Consortium, an organization dedicated to advancing affordable housing and community development. He is also a member of the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing and the California Redevelopment Association. Entering the student housing field in 2012 to serve California universities that face a housing crisis, he quickly become a recognized expert and AMCAL a preferred builder. He is a frequent speak on affordable and student housing and urban redevelopment at major forums including Urban Land Institute, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, National Housing Conference, Building Industry Association, University of Southern California, Bisnow and numerous affordable housing groups.

Kim Patten is a passionate academic planner, process and sustainable strategy education leader in the Los Angeles office. Working with academic institutions across the country, Kim is a skilled designer helping clients navigate complex problems with strategic research and planning solutions to achieve direction and clarity. Her partnership approach creates an environment to collaborate, plan and discover paths unique to that client. Kim is also a member of SCUP’s Facilities Planning Academy.

Patrick Kennedy is the owner of Panoramic Interests, a development firm that has been building housing, live-work space, and commercial property in the Bay Area since 1990. The firm has focused on dense, mixed-use, mixed-income, infill developments, typically financed with private funds. All of the multi-family housing projects include below market rate units. The firm’s projects incorporate the Smart Growth principles designed to discourage auto use, mitigate sprawl, encourage local business, and enhance the pedestrian streetscape. Mr. Kennedy grew up in the East Bay, and attended Claremont McKenna College, majoring in Economics and English. He is a former member of the Carpenters Union and Steelworkers Union, and the California Bar. After college, he worked as a contractor, and then attended Harvard Law School and MIT, graduating with a J.D. and a Masters in Real Estate Development. Early development work included building his own house, and renovating several small commercial properties. His hobbies include open water swimming and ultra-light backpacking, both of which have furnished surprising insights into his work in development.

Mr. Grenfell has over 17 years of experience in the environmental and transactional due diligence consulting industry and has worked in various disciplines, including regulatory compliance, EH&S, asbestos abatement and air monitoring, Tier II reporting, in addition to his core competency in environmental and physical due diligence practices, including Phase I ESAs, Phase II ESAs, Property Condition Assessments (PCAs), and Seismic Risk Assessments (SRAs). Mr. Grenfell’s primary area of expertise is in the environmental due diligence field, where he has performed and/or managed thousands of Phase I ESAs and physical diligence projects, including multiple large multi-site due diligence portfolios. Mr. Grenfell currently works as a relationship manager providing consulting services and transactional due diligence solutions to a variety of client types, including banks, insurance lenders, brokers, developers, individual investors, and equity/institutional investors. Mr. Grenfell’s experience allows him to provide risk-based solutions with a keen understanding of environmental and physical due diligence risk as it relates to specific stakeholders within a particular transaction. Mr. Grenfell enjoys assisting his clients in meeting their goals by providing well documented reports and risk-based solutions that allow his clients to make sound risk management decisions and close deals.

Meckel has a long association with the college. In 1985, he was hired to develop CCA's architecture program and served as founding chair for two years. From 1987 to 1992, he was campus architect, responsible for developing facilities to support the college's growing enrollment. He was appointed dean of the School of Architectural Studies in 1992 and served in that capacity until 2000. Following an academic restructuring in 2000, Meckel became special assistant to the president, advising on facilities and strategic planning.

Mr. Blessing, with RATCLIFF for over thirty years, has consistently demonstrated the ability to design buildings sensitive to their context and in alignment with the client goals and objectives. As project designer, Bill assumes the overall responsibility for the design approach, creativity, quality, contextual strategy, and the overall design conformance to the program. He is also adept in the requirements of historical renovations and additions and the mandates these put on building systems. In addition, Bill is a LEED Accredited Professional and an active member of the firms Committee for Environmental Design Resources (CEDR) group. He keeps abreast of the latest advances in this field and consistently incorporates green building strategies into his projects.

Roy Griffith is Director of Corporate Development at Clark Pacific where he focuses on strategic planning, market and product development, enterprise technology solutions, and sales organizational support. Before Corporate Development, Roy led Clark Pacific’s Virtual Design and Technology practice, where he developed and implemented Industrialized Construction technologies and practices that are leading to increased efficiencies in the construction industry. Prior to joining Clark Pacific, Mr. Griffith was Director of Corporate Development at Gehry Technologies, where he led the Parametric Design and Risk Mitigation Practices that provided construction professionals with financial Building Information Models. Mr. Griffith was a project designer using CATIA at Gehry Partners after studying with Frank Gehry. While under Gehry’s guidance, Mr. Griffith worked as Architectural Designer and 3D Coordinator for complex building projects such as the Grand Avenue Project, The Brooklyn Arena, and the Louis Vuitton Museum in Paris. Mr. Griffith worked as an investment banker prior to entering the construction industry. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his M. Arch from Yale University.

Gary Moriarty is Swinerton’s California Regional Business Development Manager & Manager of Public Private Partnership Services. Gary has over 30 years of experience providing development, planning, design, and construction insight for private and public sector clients, as well as capital improvement projects and programs. Gary has built his career on finding creative ways to improve how major public sector capital improvement projects and programs are planned, designed, financed and maintained, and he deeply believes that P3’s are a viable alternative to the traditional ways of financing, delivering, and maintaining public infrastructure.