Mr. Kelly is a founder of the firm and serves as President. He is the Managing Principal of the San Francisco office. For more than 30 years, Mr. Kelly has provided his clients with real estate and financial expertise on urban development.

Key Role

Mr. Kelly has been an advisor on a wide range of commercial and residential developments. Many have been pioneering, ranging from Horton Plaza in San Diego to the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose to Bay Street Shopping Center in Emeryville. The depth of his experience provides him with exceptional skills to work with both private developers and the public sector. He is frequently asked to play a key role in developer selections, disposition negotiations, and presentations to public officials.

Specific Areas of Expertise

Public Financing in Public/Private Partnerships

Mr. Kelly has played a major role in structuring creative public private financing agreements. He has advised clients on structuring business agreements with Catellus, Forest City, CIM Group, Related Companies, Wolff Sesnon, Madison Marquette, MacFarlane Partners, and The Olson Company. Projects have included: Bay Street Shopping Center in Emeryville, Plaza de San Jose, On Broadway in Redwood City, San Jose Marriott, and San Jose Fairmont.

Development Agreements and Entitlement Strategies

Mr. Kelly advises his clients on development agreements and entitlement strategies for surplus properties, underutilized industrial and commercial sites, and base closures. He specializes in developing strategies that balance development interests with requirements for public benefits, affordable housing and mixed use development. Assignments have included the Broadway Pointe in Walnut Creek, Chiron Campus in Emeryville, the former Santa Rita jail property in Dublin, and the Naval Fleet Industrial Supply Center in Alameda.

Disposition Strategies and Developer Selections

Mr. Kelly assists his clients in evaluating and structuring land sales, ground leases and the sale of air rights. Assignments have included the hi-tech campus in Mountain View, Century Theatres in San Mateo, multiple residential sites throughout the Bay Area and in Reno.

Professional Credentials

A member of the prestigious American Society of Real Estate Counselors (CRE), Mr. Kelly is the past Chairman of the Northern California Chapter. Mr. Kelly is a member of the ULI and ICSC. He has been a speaker at conferences for: ICSC, Community Redevelopment Association, ULI, and UC. An alumnus of UCLA, Mr. Kelly earned his undergraduate degree in economics there and continued at the Graduate School of Management where he earned his MBA.
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