|
Power List: Bricks + Mortar
Here's our take on influence in SF. Agree with us or argue with us—just keep reading.
|
posted on November 21, 2007
|
 email page
|
print page 
|
|
|
|
|
David Gottfried
47, sustainability consultant; founder, US Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council
|
Why: The US Green Building Council—which former real-estate developer Gottfried started 14 years ago out of a friend’s Battery Street office—formulated the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building-rating system.
“I have trouble with the doors slamming in our faces before we can explain ourselves. So many people think that sustainability adds cost and delays the building schedule. They think it’s a tack-on to the existing process—a green caboose chasing a train that has already left. Well, if you [ignore it], then it does add cost because you didn’t let the daylight in, you forgot about natural ventilation and you didn’t harness any efficiencies to downsize the system. As individuals, there’s so much we can do to cut our consumption. We can turn off the faucet while brushing teeth. We can get rid of grassy lawns. We can use Muni or ride bicycles. We’ll get skinnier and stay healthier too. The heart of sustainability isn’t just life-sustaining; it’s life-enhancing. You’ll save your soul.”
|
|
|
Chris Breining
43, founder, Home Stagers Inc.
|
Why: After 11 years in the biz, Breining’s company has staged more than 5,000 homes in the Bay Area, a service that has added, he claims, as much as $1,000,000 to a home’s asking price.
“Here in the Bay Area, and especially in San Francisco, real-estate prices are so high—there is a lot of money on the line. As stagers, we’re trying to ensure that the seller gets the maximum return on their investment and hasn’t left any money on the table. I’ve been accused of driving up housing prices, but I’ve never heard anyone say that the staging wasn’t worth doing.”
Web Exclusive: Read more of this Q+A below
|
|
|
Dwight Alexander
early 40s, president of the Planning Department, City and County of San Francisco
|
Why: Alexander was appointed by Mayor Newsom to be head of the department that oversees everything from building permits to zoning regulations to noise and safety issues to the city parks’ access to sunlight; you’ll need to get the approval of his department if you want to build a room over your garage or obtain an alcohol permit for your restaurant. And that’s true power.
|
|
|
Alexis Wong
35, founder, president and CEO, AGI Capital
|
Why: If you were a developer and your current pipeline of residential projects—ones that bring a sophisticated gloss to otherwise-gritty areas of Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, including the new 246-unit Soma Grand on Mission—was worth more than $750 million (and if you had roped in the investing clout of CalPERs and TMG), you’d be on this list too.
|
|
|
David Meckel
53, director of research and planning, California College of the Arts; chairman, SFMOMA Architecture & Design Accessions Committee
|
Why: Were it not for Meckel, SF’s pool of talented architects might be much shallower—he founded the city’s first college-level architecture program at CCA in 1986. Often drafted to run design competitions for nonprofits, Meckel also serves as the board VP of Public Architecture, an organization that provides pro-bono architecture services.
|
|
|
Laurence Kornfield
l61, chief building inspector, City and County of San Francisco
|
Why: If another big earthquake hits in our lifetime, we’ll need Kornfield at the helm—he managed the response efforts for the Loma Prieta quake in 1989. Also an avid conservationist, Kornfield hosts a brown-bag lunch series for the public in which he discusses issues related to the built environment, including green-building activities, historic-building preservation and earthquake safety.
|
|
|
Maria Ayerdi
42, executive director, Transbay Joint Powers Authority
|
Why: You know that multi-billion-dollar Pelli Clarke Pelli/Hines–designed 40-acre complex that’s set to replace the dilapidated Transbay Terminal by 2014? On the board of the organization that chose the development team, Ayerdi is also responsible for the construction and eventual operation of the proposed 80-story tower, the 1,000,000-square-foot glass-and-steel transit center and the rooftop 5.4-acre city park.
|
Additional Q&A with Chris Breining
How does what you do affect the city’s real-estate market?
I own and manage a home-staging business that partners with real-estate agents and people selling their homes to help them fully prepare the property to be sold. As my company is structured as a full-service, “one-stop shopping” business, this can mean doing everything (and anything!) to help the clients get their properties ready for the big open house: painting, floor refinishing, changing out that hideous light fixture that Aunt Polly gave you and, of course, the fun part—making the house look beautiful by creating a distinctive style with installation of top-of-the-line furnishings and accessories. Yes, sometimes we ask the sellers to move all of their furniture out and into our storage, and then ask them to check into a hotel! It’s an incredible production—thus the name “staging”—and my staff and I manage this entire process from start to finish.
I hope and think that we’ve affected the real estate market in a very positive, productive way. I sincerely hope that we help people! First, preparing a house for the market can be a daunting task for sellers and agents who don’t have the resources and time to get the job done. Here in the Bay Area, and especially in San Francisco, real-estate prices are so high that this is a substantial investment for the seller and there is a lot of money on the line. We’re trying to insure that the sellers get the maximum return on their investment and haven’t left any money on the table. On the agent side, I think we free them up to do what they do best—market and get the house sold!
What are the signs that people are paying attention to what your company is doing?
Just watch TV any night of the week! There are dozens of shows on many channels that showcase and glamorize the staging industry, albeit very unrealistically at times. It’s even become reality television. Every day, I hear of someone’s friend, relative or dog who has hung out a shingle to start a staging business. Whenever I tell someone what I do, they always say, “Wow—that sounds like a really neat, fun job!” How many people say that about work or a job?
Where do you feel the most frustration when it comes to your job?
The industry has changed so dramatically in the past five years, and I see a lot of people getting into the industry who don’t necessarily have the background or expertise to run a staging company. I see a lot of shoddy staging and shops opening that think they can stage with all rental furniture. Another issue is creative freedom. I’d say one of my biggest frustrations comes from people expecting us to redecorate their home or insisting that we stage their property in a style that they think is best. If they knew what was best, they really wouldn’t need us in the first place. I think that people forget that we are actually not trying to redecorate a house, but trying to merchandise and market a property to the broadest range of buyers possible. The property becomes a product and needs to be presented in that way. Too many times, people want to get involved in minute decisions of design and style or try to micro-manage the project, when all we really want them to do is go back to the hotel! We really don’t care that they aren’t in love with the blue pillow in the bedroom. In the end, though, this just delays getting the property ready for the market and ultimately sold.
How is SF behind or, for that matter, ahead, of the game when it comes to real estate?
I always say that as far as staging goes, San Francisco is at the epicenter of the industry. This is where staging started because of our unique, microcosm real-estate market. When I started 11 years ago, no one knew what staging was, and even my own father kept asking me “What type of business…What is this for? I don’t get it.” Now, I get three to five calls per week from people all over the country asking how to get started in the staging industry and looking to the professionals here in SF for advice. Being from Texas, I travel back and forth all the time and there is staging happening there in the major metropolitan areas—just not to the level of what we do here.
|
|
David Gottfried
47, sustainability consultant; founder, US Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council
|
Why: The US Green Building Council—which former real-estate developer Gottfried started 14 years ago out of a friend’s Battery Street office—formulated the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building-rating system.
“I have trouble with the doors slamming in our faces before we can explain ourselves. So many people think that sustainability adds cost and delays the building schedule. They think it’s a tack-on to the existing process—a green caboose chasing a train that has already left. Well, if you [ignore it], then it does add cost because you didn’t let the daylight in, you forgot about natural ventilation and you didn’t harness any efficiencies to downsize the system. As individuals, there’s so much we can do to cut our consumption. We can turn off the faucet while brushing teeth. We can get rid of grassy lawns. We can use Muni or ride bicycles. We’ll get skinnier and stay healthier too. The heart of sustainability isn’t just life-sustaining; it’s life-enhancing. You’ll save your soul.”
|
|
|
Chris Breining
43, founder, Home Stagers Inc.
|
Why: After 11 years in the biz, Breining’s company has staged more than 5,000 homes in the Bay Area, a service that has added, he claims, as much as $1,000,000 to a home’s asking price.
“Here in the Bay Area, and especially in San Francisco, real-estate prices are so high—there is a lot of money on the line. As stagers, we’re trying to ensure that the seller gets the maximum return on their investment and hasn’t left any money on the table. I’ve been accused of driving up housing prices, but I’ve never heard anyone say that the staging wasn’t worth doing.”
Web Exclusive: Read more of this Q+A below
|
|
|
Dwight Alexander
early 40s, president of the Planning Department, City and County of San Francisco
|
Why: Alexander was appointed by Mayor Newsom to be head of the department that oversees everything from building permits to zoning regulations to noise and safety issues to the city parks’ access to sunlight; you’ll need to get the approval of his department if you want to build a room over your garage or obtain an alcohol permit for your restaurant. And that’s true power.
|
|
|
Alexis Wong
35, founder, president and CEO, AGI Capital
|
Why: If you were a developer and your current pipeline of residential projects—ones that bring a sophisticated gloss to otherwise-gritty areas of Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, including the new 246-unit Soma Grand on Mission—was worth more than $750 million (and if you had roped in the investing clout of CalPERs and TMG), you’d be on this list too.
|
|
|
David Meckel
53, director of research and planning, California College of the Arts; chairman, SFMOMA Architecture & Design Accessions Committee
|
Why: Were it not for Meckel, SF’s pool of talented architects might be much shallower—he founded the city’s first college-level architecture program at CCA in 1986. Often drafted to run design competitions for nonprofits, Meckel also serves as the board VP of Public Architecture, an organization that provides pro-bono architecture services.
|
|
|
Laurence Kornfield
l61, chief building inspector, City and County of San Francisco
|
Why: If another big earthquake hits in our lifetime, we’ll need Kornfield at the helm—he managed the response efforts for the Loma Prieta quake in 1989. Also an avid conservationist, Kornfield hosts a brown-bag lunch series for the public in which he discusses issues related to the built environment, including green-building activities, historic-building preservation and earthquake safety.
|
|
|
Maria Ayerdi
42, executive director, Transbay Joint Powers Authority
|
Why: You know that multi-billion-dollar Pelli Clarke Pelli/Hines–designed 40-acre complex that’s set to replace the dilapidated Transbay Terminal by 2014? On the board of the organization that chose the development team, Ayerdi is also responsible for the construction and eventual operation of the proposed 80-story tower, the 1,000,000-square-foot glass-and-steel transit center and the rooftop 5.4-acre city park.
|
Additional Q&A with Chris Breining
How does what you do affect the city’s real-estate market?
I own and manage a home-staging business that partners with real-estate agents and people selling their homes to help them fully prepare the property to be sold. As my company is structured as a full-service, “one-stop shopping” business, this can mean doing everything (and anything!) to help the clients get their properties ready for the big open house: painting, floor refinishing, changing out that hideous light fixture that Aunt Polly gave you and, of course, the fun part—making the house look beautiful by creating a distinctive style with installation of top-of-the-line furnishings and accessories. Yes, sometimes we ask the sellers to move all of their furniture out and into our storage, and then ask them to check into a hotel! It’s an incredible production—thus the name “staging”—and my staff and I manage this entire process from start to finish.
I hope and think that we’ve affected the real estate market in a very positive, productive way. I sincerely hope that we help people! First, preparing a house for the market can be a daunting task for sellers and agents who don’t have the resources and time to get the job done. Here in the Bay Area, and especially in San Francisco, real-estate prices are so high that this is a substantial investment for the seller and there is a lot of money on the line. We’re trying to insure that the sellers get the maximum return on their investment and haven’t left any money on the table. On the agent side, I think we free them up to do what they do best—market and get the house sold!
What are the signs that people are paying attention to what your company is doing?
Just watch TV any night of the week! There are dozens of shows on many channels that showcase and glamorize the staging industry, albeit very unrealistically at times. It’s even become reality television. Every day, I hear of someone’s friend, relative or dog who has hung out a shingle to start a staging business. Whenever I tell someone what I do, they always say, “Wow—that sounds like a really neat, fun job!” How many people say that about work or a job?
Where do you feel the most frustration when it comes to your job?
The industry has changed so dramatically in the past five years, and I see a lot of people getting into the industry who don’t necessarily have the background or expertise to run a staging company. I see a lot of shoddy staging and shops opening that think they can stage with all rental furniture. Another issue is creative freedom. I’d say one of my biggest frustrations comes from people expecting us to redecorate their home or insisting that we stage their property in a style that they think is best. If they knew what was best, they really wouldn’t need us in the first place. I think that people forget that we are actually not trying to redecorate a house, but trying to merchandise and market a property to the broadest range of buyers possible. The property becomes a product and needs to be presented in that way. Too many times, people want to get involved in minute decisions of design and style or try to micro-manage the project, when all we really want them to do is go back to the hotel! We really don’t care that they aren’t in love with the blue pillow in the bedroom. In the end, though, this just delays getting the property ready for the market and ultimately sold.
How is SF behind or, for that matter, ahead, of the game when it comes to real estate?
I always say that as far as staging goes, San Francisco is at the epicenter of the industry. This is where staging started because of our unique, microcosm real-estate market. When I started 11 years ago, no one knew what staging was, and even my own father kept asking me “What type of business…What is this for? I don’t get it.” Now, I get three to five calls per week from people all over the country asking how to get started in the staging industry and looking to the professionals here in SF for advice. Being from Texas, I travel back and forth all the time and there is staging happening there in the major metropolitan areas—just not to the level of what we do here.
email page
|
print page
|
|
|
