Grosvenor Ramping Up Bay Area Development

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SAN FRANCISCO-On the heels of appointing a new general manager and a new investment manager for the Bay Area, the private, international property group Grosvenor has hired a new development manager. Don Capobres, most recently a development manager with SheaHomes Northern California, Capobres is charged with ramping up the locally based company’s development activity in and around San Francisco.

“We are specifically interested in retail and mixed-use projects in downtown environments,” says Capobres.

Prior to SheaHomes, he was a senior project manager with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. While there, Capobres says he played a key role in the mixed-use redevelopment of the 500-acre former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

One of Capobres initial tasks will be overseeing Grosvenor’s 100,000-sf Hamilton Marketplace development in Novato. Grosvenor acquired the nine-acre site fronting onto Highway 101 at Nave Drive in May 2005.

In August, Alan Chamorro, a 19-year veteran of the firm who most recently was an SVP of acquisitions, was promoted to GM of the San Francisco office, overseeing day-to-day operations and staff at the company’s North American headquarters.

Earlier that month, Tina Colacino, previously a senior investment analyst with Grosvenor, was promoted to Investment Manager and charged with sourcing retail and multi-family acquisitions in the San Francisco Bay Area and value-added retail opportunities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Grosvenor has since invested approximately $100 million in retail and residential on the West Coast. Active Bay Area projects include the redevelopment of Prada’s former home at 185 Post St. in San Francisco and the retail development in Novato.

Recent Bay Area acquisitions include the 235,766-sf Westgate West Shopping Center in San Jose, which is slated for renovation and possible expansion, and 1944 Union St. in San Francisco, a 4,442-sf building anchored by Perry’s restaurant.

Grosvenor represents the interests of the Grosvenor family headed by the Duke of Westminster. It undertakes real estate development and investment on its own behalf and on behalf of partners and investors through its regional operating companies and fund management business. The company manages or has interests in approximately $17.3 billion of real estate.