Board of Directors & Advisors
James Suhr
Past President
jim@suhrandassociates.com
Jim founded James Suhr & Associates, LLC in 2002 to focus on urban infill commercial and multifamily developments in Southern California. His twenty-plus years in the real estate industry encompass experience in acquisitions, entitlements, development, and asset management of a wide range of land uses. Jim has been involved in the development of a number of transit-oriented mixed-use infill projects in association with Urban Partners LLC, including the Expo Light Rail site in Culver City, CA; Wilshire Vermont Station in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles, a joint development with MTA of 450 apartments and ground-level retail; and Burien Town Square in Burien, WA, redeveloping a 10.5 acre site with public, retail and residential uses surrounding a new civic park. Prior to forming his company, Jim served as Director of Land Acquisitions for BRE Properties in Southern California, and also held positions with Newhall Land & Farming, Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., and with The Ratkovich Company. Jim received an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and a MA Urban Planning from UCLA's School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Jeff Averill, AIA
UCLA Capital Programs
javerill@capnet.ucla.edu
Since 2003, Jeffrey Averill has served as the UCLA Campus Architect and Director of Design Services working as part of UCLA's Capital Programs. The Campus Architect has responsibility for the overall aesthetic development of the campus including the integration of new buildings, additions, renovation projects, hardscape, landscape, and signage into a coherent urban fabric. He is responsible for developing and maintaining architectural guidelines for the campus and ensuring that new projects develop in a manner that is consistent and compatible with the overall campus vision. The role involves balancing the aesthetic goals with the ongoing and changing needs of the campus of a major research institution. The Campus Architect is also responsible for shepherding the process of the selection of design professionals for all new capital projects on the campus. As Director of the Capital Programs Design Services, he leads internal UCLA efforts in conceptual master planning, feasibility studies of possible future buildings, and other preliminary design proposals.
Mr. Averill has been practicing architecture for over 26 years as a member of numerous offices. Prior to joining UCLA in 2001, he was a Principal at Johnson Fain Partners in Los Angeles, responsible for managing a variety of large scale office and institutional projects. Other design offices where he has worked include: Lomax/Rock Associates in Venice, CA, Bohlin Powell Larkin Cywinski in Philadelphia, Fee + Munson in San Francisco, James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Associates in London, Harry Seidler in Sydney, Australia, and Taft Architects in Houston. Mr. Averill obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Rice University. He also received a Master of Architecture degree at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Westwood resident and serves as vice-chair of the City of Los Angeles Westwood Design Review Board.
David Ewing
Seriousbus@aol.com
Maricela Gomez
Playa Vista
mgomez@playavista.com
As Director of Government Relations, Maricela Gomez is responsible for managing Playa Vista's day-to-day relationships with government entities at the local and state levels, as we all as participating in the company's community relations and philanthropic programs. Previously, Ms. Gomez served as Los Angeles Councilmember Wendy Greuel's Legislative Deputy, handling district wide issues, such as public works and infrastructure issues, transportation and mobility, and served as a liaison for the District's Neighborhood Councils. She started her career with the City of Los Angeles as a Field Deputy for Councilmember Ruth Galanter, serving the communities of Arleta, Panorama City, and Van Nuys. Ms. Gomez has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Matthew A Haas
Low Income Investment Fund
mhaas@liifund.org
Matthew A Haas is an experienced urban development professional employed by the Low Income Investment Fund as the Deputy Director for California Lending. He was most recently a Senior Multifamily Manager at Fannie Mae in Pasadena, CA. While there, he oversaw multifamily acquisitions and LIHTC funds for Community Investments. Prior to his work at Fannie Mae, Matthew worked for Bank of America Community Development Banking as a Vice President and Client Manager for three years. Matthew has over 18 years of affordable housing and community development experience having worked in New York City, Chicago and now Southern California.
Matthew Haas has been employed by the National Equity Fund as a Senior Acquisitions Officer and as a Senior Program Manager for Illinois Housing Development Authority, both in Chicago, IL. In addition, he was an Assistant Director of Senior Housing and Healthcare Development at St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation in Brooklyn, NY and as an Assistant Architect and Project Development Manager for the New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Matthew Haas has a M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University and a B.A. in Architecture / Environmental Design from UC Berkeley.
Rebecca Martinez
Cuningham Group
rmartinez@cuningham.com
www.cuningham.com
As an Associate Principal with Cuningham Group Architecture and serving as the firm's Director of Marketing, Rebecca is responsible for maintaining the the firm's long-term client relationships, developing new business opportunities and establishing teaming strategies with consultants, owner's representatives and other related firms. She uses her extensive experience to provide overall leadership for the marketing efforts of the firm and works closely with the principals of each of Cuningham Group"s studios to implement the company's marketing goals. Rebecca helps to establish corporate strategy in developing the urban, entertainment, retail, and mixed-use market sectors, focusing on work with developers, public agencies, and private corporations to design and build successful projects. Rebecca also serves as Chair for the ULI LA Urban Plan Program.
Connie Pallini-Tipton
City of Los Angeles
conni.pallini-tipton@lacity.org
Conni Pallini-Tipton is an Associate Planner for the City of Los Angeles. She is the community planner for San Pedro, currently updating the general plan for the San Pedro Community. In addition to her advance planning responsibilities she has worked on special projects such as developing design guidelines, updates to industrial zoning regulations and a study of industrial land use in Los Angeles. Prior to joining the City of Los Angeles, Conni worked at EIP Associates, updating general plans for Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, Newport Beach, Corona, Oxnard and specific plans for San Gabriel and El Segundo. She began her planning career in Culver City. Conni has been a member of Westside Urban Forum for several years and has been an active board member of the Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association (APA). She is currently the University Liaison for the California State Chapter of APA. She received her BA in Geography/Environmental Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Paul Rohrer
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
PRohrer@manatt.com
Paul is a land use and transactional real estate lawyer representing governmental entities, nonprofit educational institutions, developers, and property owners in land use and entitlement matters, the acquisition, sale, optioning, and ground leasing of real property and in the making of various agreements including joint development agreements and construction related agreements. He has worked extensively with public/private transactions, air-rights or "TFAR" transfers and in the creation of special use districts for signage. Paul has appeared in front of city councils, planning and architectural commissions and community redevelopment agency boards in support of his clients' projects. He works with governmental officials, private parties and nonprofit entities to create development solutions that are economically and socially viable. In addition, Paul actively participates in the consideration, drafting and passage of state and local laws and special use districts to facilitate smart growth, transit-related density and the provision of affordable housing. He was a member of the task force that drafted the air rights or "TFAR" transfer ordinance for the City of Los Angeles
Paul served as a law clerk to the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcón, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2002-2003. He received a J.D. from the Yale Law School in 2002. While attending the Yale Law School he was a Coker Fellow, a Tercentennial DeVane Fellow and Book Review Editor for the Yale Journal of International Law. He also worked with faculty, administrators and students to create an ongoing Linkage Program between Yale Law School and the Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco at the University of São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil. Paul received a B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999. He graduated from UCLA, summa cum laude and with College Honors and University Honors. Prior to attending law school, Paul worked for fifteen years in nearly every area of the real estate industry, including sales and acquisitions, leasing, development, and property management.
Tibby Rothman
VenicePaper
tibbyrothman@venicepaper.net
Tibby Rothman writes for LA Weekly and The Architect's Newspaper. From 2001 – 2007 she founded and edited VenicePaper which brought quality coverage of urban planning, development and architecture to the Venice community. The publication's innovative pieces included printing separate interviews with Thom Mayne and Mark Lee in a side-by-side format to reflect the similarities and contradictions each architect had experienced in designing different homes for the same Venice walk street 2-4-6-8 House and Sale House. Her first story about architecture, which chronicled a day in the firm Pugh + Scarpa, was touted by Taschen in the publishing house's volume "1000 Favorite Websites." Investigate her current collaboration with the firm, an interactive web feature that explores Pugh + Scarpa's design philosophy at:
www.pugh-scarpa.com/investigations/beyondform/
Maria Rychlicki
City of Beverly Hills
Maria Rychlicki is currently a free-lance consultant following 27 years with the City of Beverly Hills where she served in numerous capacities including Planning Associate/Advanced Planner, Management Analyst, Transportation Planning Manager, Director of Transportation, Director of Community Relations/Ombudsperson and Director of Human Services. She provided primary professional support to the City's Transportation and Human Relations Commission. A problem-solver by nature and Certified City Planner, Ms Rychlicki has also provided key staff support to the Westside Summit and Westside Council of Governments facilitating community strategic planning, neighborhood improvement and general plan update processes, as well as inter-jurisdictional transportation planning/engineering processes to improve regional mobility and regional homeless services planning within Los Angeles County. Ms Rychlicki received her Masters in Communication from the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Bachelor degree in Communication from Hunter College.
Francie Stefan
City of West Hollywood
fstefan@weho.org
Board of Advisors
James Favaro
MDA, Johnson Favaro
Director, Past President
Jim Favaro is a principal with MDA Johnson Favaro, a diversified full service general practice based in Culver City, CA and Boston MA, offering design and consulting in the areas of architecture, urban design and interiors. Jim established the West Coast office with his partner Steve Johnson in l989. Since that time the firm has completed projects for both private sector and public sector clients. Most recent projects include the Pasadena Museum of California Art in Pasadena, CA, the Shops on Lake Avenue also in Pasadena, CA, the Los Angeles Trade Technical Campus Plan, and the Los Angeles Harbor College Campus Plan. Other recent projects include the University Park Campus Plan for the University of Southern California and the Storke Area Plan for the University of California at Santa Barbara. The firm's current projects include the West Hollywood Park Plan for the City of West Hollywood, CA and the San Pasqual Courts Residential Complex in Pasadena, CA. Jim is a graduate with honors from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Stanford University. Jim is a past president of the Westside Urban Forum, CA , Chair of the Environmental Committee of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and currently sits on the board of the Southern California Land Use and Transportation Coalition.
Doug Holte
Hines
Doug Holte is a partner at Hines, the largest private (and most international) commercial development firm. Responsible for property acquisition, development and management activities on projects throughout California, including Santa Monica's Lantana media tenant campus, office/biotech campuses in the Bay Area and the new San Diego Padres Ballpark. Doug received his undergraduate degree from USC and graduate business degree from Harvard. Active Board member of Covenant House and Santa Monica Film Festival, and former Board member of USC Architectural Guild and National Conference for Community Justice.
James Watt McCormick
James McCormick & Company
WUF Founding President
James Watt McCormick has more than 30 years of experience in developing, managing and constructing real estate. His firm, JAMES McCORMICK & COMPANY, A PUBLIC TRUST COMMONWEALTH DEVELOPER SM engages in diverse projects. Mr. McCormick has been honored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects with their coveted Hon. AIA award and as "Citizen Planner" by the UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning's Alumni. He was elected to membership in Lamda Alpha International, An Honorary Land Economics Society. He is also the founding president of the Westside Urban Forum. Mr. McCormick is an urbanist and has written extensively on these broader issues of urban development. For further information please visit www.common-wealth.net.
Administration
Christyne Buteyn
Association Manager
Westside Association Management
214 Main Street, #336
El Segundo, CA 90245
310-322-1520 Phone
310-615-4581 Fax
