San Francisco State of the Market

Oz Erickson founded Emerald Fund in 1979 and has been actively developing projects in the Bay Area since that time. Oz identifies new projects and is involved with the entitlements, financing, project design and sales and marketing. Oz has been recognized with many industry honors including the San Francisco Business Times’ Lifetime Achievement Award for Most Admired CEO in 2013. Oz received a BA degree from Harvard University and a MBA from Stanford University

Jack Sylvan is founder and principal of SDG, LLC, a San Francisco-based investment, development and advisory company delivering exceptional value to investors, partners and clients on complex and innovative mixed-use development opportunities. Jack has 25+ years of real estate investment and development experience on transformational, multi-phase, extremely complex mixed-use real estate projects in the San Francisco Bay Area leading acquisition, entitlement, negotiation of complex transactional and public-private partnership agreements and development activities. The projects represent more than 16 million square feet of mixed-use, commercial office, life science/biotech, multifamily, retail, historic rehabilitation, arts and community space, and hundreds of acres of parks, streets and infrastructure. Prior to forming SDG, Jack served as Senior Vice President of Development for Forest City Realty Trust and Brookfield Properties where he built and led the local development team responsible for all aspects of entitlement and development of three of San Francisco’s largest redevelopment projects -- Pier 70, 5M and Stonestown Galleria -- representing 8 million square feet of residential and commercial space. Prior to this, Jack spent 8 years in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office overseeing large public-private real estate development projects including leading the planning and negotiation process for the approximately 8 million-square-foot Treasure Island redevelopment project, where he successfully negotiated agreements with the private development partner, an affordable housing consortium, and the historic agreement with the U.S. Navy for the transfer of the property. Early in his career, he spent time with CB Richard Ellis/Sedway Group providing real estate consulting and financial analysis to private and public clients.

Caroline Guibert Chase practices real estate, development, and land use law, with an emphasis on representing real estate developers in the entitlement of residential, commercial, and institutional development projects. Caroline has a unique multidisciplinary background including architecture, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) consulting, urban planning, and zoning enforcement. She has excelled at helping clients navigate the complex local and state entitlement processes throughout the Bay Area. Caroline has extensive experience with CEQA and has been involved in every step of the preparation of various CEQA documents, including the review of technical studies and the preparation of Environmental Impact Report (EIR)-required project objectives and alternatives. She is particularly well-versed in local and state historic resource issues, which often complicate the CEQA review process by triggering the need for an EIR. Caroline’s involvement and passion for her practice are also evident outside of the firm. Caroline is on the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition (SFHAC) Board and Chair of the SFHAC Legislative Committee. Caroline is also a member of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) Housing Policy Committee and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Real estate professional with more than 15 years of experience in development, land planning, and project management. Experience includes planning and implementing the Transbay Redevelopment Project in Downtown San Francisco, which involved serving as the lead negotiator on a variety of complex real estate and public/private development transactions, including more than $400 million in land dispositions.