By Gene Williams
January 14 -- Downtown Santa Monica's new board of directors is taking shape as the Property Based Assessment District prepares to usher in 2009 with more than $3 million a year to spruce up the Bayside and make it more inviting.
The property owners who approved the new district in July have picked six of the members who will serve on the new 13-member Bayside Board. City Manager Lamont Ewell has picked the City’s representative, and the City Council is preparing to round out the board with its six choices this month.
The Lookout News spoke to the new members, sifted through their resumes and put together a partial roster of the team that will help steer the future of the Downtown.
Randy Brant
Executive Vice President
of Real Estate for the
Macerich Corporation
"Upscale and entertainment-driven retail development" is how Randy Brant describes what he does, and he's been doing it for nearly 30 years.
As an Executive Vice President of Real Estate for the Macerich Corporation, Brant leases out some of the region's largest and most valuable commercial spaces.
Some recent projects he's worked on include the Landmark at Westside Pavilion, the expansion and redevelopment of The Oaks in Thousand Oaks – and, of course, the ongoing reconstruction of Santa Monica Place.
After serving one year on the Bayside board, Brant says he's ready to get to work with the new district, and sees enhanced funding as an opportunity to "elevate the experience in Downtown Santa Monica" for all who live, work or play here.
Allan Golad
Director of Property & Senior Vice President of Douglas Emmett Management Inc
A newcomer to the board and a member of one of Santa Monica's biggest real estate interests, Allan Golad is Director of Property and a Senior Vice President of Douglas Emmett Management Inc.
Golad says his business experience and "attention to detail" will serve the district well to make sure that the new district is run "efficiently and effectively" and its money well spent.
Everyone wants a "clean, friendly and attractive" Downtown, he says, but "the devil is in the details" when it comes to figuring out the best ways to do it.
But when you consider that his day job is overseeing the operations of nearly 14 million square feet of properties, Golad should be up to the task.
Golad's employer – Douglas Emmett Management Inc. — has been a fixture in the Santa Monica business community for more than 30 years, with apartment and office buildings, including the 21-story high rise at 100 Wilshire Boulevard.
Elaine Polacheck
Deputy City Manager for the City of Santa Monica
The City Manager’s pick to serve on the new board, Polacheck probably knows more than anyone about public space in the Bayside from her nine years in several high-level City positions.
Since joining the City in 2000, Polacheck has been director of the Community Maintenance Department, Open Space Manager, and recently she was tapped as Deputy City Manager.
"So I have a pretty good understanding of the components that go into maintaining the district," she says.
Polacheck says her goal is "to make sure there is a strong relationship” between the City and the new district and to keep up the high standard in Downtown and "take it to the next level."
Before joining the City, Polacheck was employed by the Pier Restoration Corporation from 1984 to 1995.
Carleen Robison
Manager, JSM Capital, LLC
Another new face, Carleen Robison will connect the new district with the latest residential boom going on Downtown.
With 1,300 residents in the district and that number expected to double in the next year, Robison, part of the Santa Monica Collection, manages 13 recently-built 50-unit apartment buildings with another eight under construction.
Before coming to Santa Monica five years ago, Robison managed apartment communities in other Southern California cities and in Texas and says she plays an active role in local affairs to ensure "the quality of the community environment for my residents" wherever she works.
JSM Construction – the Collection's developer and sister company – has built more than 700 Downtown apartment units since 1997, including 200 units set aside for low-income residents.
Barbara Tenzer
President, Tenzer
Commercial Brokerage
Joining the list of long-time business community members, Barbara Tenzer has been active in Downtown Santa Monica since 1984 and the leading commercial real estate broker on the Promenade for the past 19 years.
Years ago, Tenzer helped create the first property owners, retailers, and restaurant associations, an effort which "unified these three groups and gave them greater influence with the City Council," she says.
From her office on the Promenade, Tenzer sees what goes on in the district on a daily basis. She has worked to address the area's homeless issues, and pushed to get "no panhandling" and "no sleeping on the Promenade" ordinances passed.
Described as "well liked and respected," Tenzer talks to visitors, tenants, merchants and property owners to understand their needs.
Her goals for the new district include attention to marketing and improved safety as well as cleanliness in the district.
Bill Tucker
Owner of Tucker
Investment Group
Does anyone remember the Third Street Mall? Bill Tucker does. That's what the Third Street Promenade was called before Santa Monica Place was built. And that's how long Tucker has been serving Downtown Santa Monica.
A veteran of the Bayside District Corporation and its predecessor, the Third Street Development Corporation, Tucker is a real estate investor with a history of improving properties and working with government agencies.
His company, Tucker Investment Group, specializes in buying into pedestrian-friendly areas, with investments in California cities that include Sacramento, Burbank, Oxnard, Agoura Hills and Long Beach, as well as Santa Monica.
Tucker serves on community boards in several municipalities. He says he'll bring to the new board "a depth of knowledge" about what other cities have learned by experience.
In addition to investing, Tucker is a CPA with a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
John Warfel
Licensed real estate broker and general contractor, Metropolitan Pacific Capital
Another Downtown veteran, John Warfel has served on Bayside Board for the past 10 years and has been a developer in Santa Monica since 1990.
A licensed real estate broker and general contractor with four mixed-use buildings in the district, Warfel says he will bring a "unique outlook" to the new district that will help "balance competing interests of the retail, office, non-profit and residential sectors."
With 30 years experience in Southern California real estate, his company, Metropolitan Pacific Capital, has properties in eight cities including Encinitas, Pacific Palisades, Sherman Oaks and Pasadena.
In Santa Monica, Warfel's developments include the Anthropologie building on the Third Street Promenade and a building at 4th Street and Wilshire Boulevard that houses Reader's Fine Jewelers and other businesses.
