The Swinerton family of companies traces its roots back to 1888, when a young Swedish immigrant established the company in Los Angeles. Since Swinerton’s earliest days, the company has prided itself on exceptional craftsmanship to create celebrated landmark projects on the West Coast and beyond. Today Swinerton is active throughout the United States with 18 office locations and 4,000 employees across 20 business units.

Swinerton established the management and consulting unit in 1994 to ensure earlier integration into the project development process. This business unit has a very long and close relationship with the San Mateo County Community College District, having been chosen to work on its very first bond program in 2002.

“We are so proud of having been part of the SMCCCD family for nearly 18 years,” says Jeff Gee, vice president of Management and Consulting. “Today we’re working on all three campuses on the third bond program with the District and it’s always exciting to collaborate in transforming centers of learning.”

A strong foundation of philanthropy and community involvement has always been a core value of the Swinerton family of companies. The corporation sponsors The Swinerton Foundation, which partners with community-focused nonprofit organizations and Swinerton Cares, a workplace giving program. Swinerton also actively supports employee volunteerism and community outreach to local small and historically disadvantaged businesses, and is dedicated to the protection of human rights wherever possible in its sphere of influence.

Every year almost since the beginning of the event’s inception, Swinerton Management and Consulting has supported student success at the District by sponsoring the Foundation’s fundraising Golf Tournament. “It’s part of our philosophy of giving back. A lot of our giving as a company centers on scholarships and providing a future for young people, and over the years we’ve sponsored a variety of events that support initiatives such as the Promise Scholars Program at the SMCCCD.” According to Jeff, the Golf Tournament provides an ideal way of giving back to the District community. “The foundation of our work depends upon strong relationships that are enduring and lasting – spending the day together is a great way of building and nurturing those connections.”

When asked about the future of Swinerton Management and Consulting’s relationship with the District, Jeff expressed, “we hope to keep it going for a long time. We have developed long-lasting relationships with a lot of people at the district. What is special about working together for a long time is that we get to know each other and each other’s families — we’ve seen each other’s children grow up. Work is work but people make the difference.”

Click here to read the original San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation article.

Two real estate companies are readying shovels to bring 240 micro-units to San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Forge Development Partners and Bridge Investment Group will begin construction this month on two ground-up buildings in the area, with 146 units coming to 361 Turk St. and 94 coming to 145 Leavenworth St., according to the companies. The 240 units will be for renters of various incomes. The developers will reserve 12% for renters earning about $32K per year, and 39% of units will be targeted at renters earning at least $75K per year. Forge and Bridge anticipate the remaining 49% of units being affordable for renters making $82K annually.  The project cost will be $100M.  Affordable housing developer Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. owns a property adjacent to 145 Leavenworth St. and had been advising Forge on their project for the last few years, TNDC Planning and Policy Manager Alexandra Goldman said. The developers tout the project, called TL 361, as the first newly constructed privately funded workforce housing development in San Francisco. Permanent financing will be provided by a Freddie Mac Multifamily unfunded forward commitment. Construction financing is provided by East West Bank and Washington Federal Bank.  “It’s sort of a new model,” Goldman said. “Having private resources funding a project with an income cap, but that’s a good thing.” The group originally planned to break ground on the project in 2017 and planned for the buildings to be prefabricated in Sacramento with all-union labor. Neither Forge Development Partners nor Bridge Investment Group responded to requests for comment.  Goldman said the TNDC does have a concern of current residents being displaced by future projects that are similar to Forge and Bridge’s but aimed more at higher-income people. “If there’s a demonstrated market for SRO-style housing but for higher-income people, it puts pressure on the existing low-income SRO housing stock,” she said.  The Tenderloin has hundreds of other units under construction, including Shorenstein’s 12-story, 303-unit building coming to 1066 Market St. Forge also has eyes on other micro-unit projects in the gritty San Francisco neighborhood. The developer is working on approval for 138 units at 819 Ellis St., according to the San Francisco Business Times.

To read the full article, click here.