VALLEY NEWSMAKERS

Union Bank, N.A. announced that Annette Billingsley will head its Community Development Finance (CDF) division. She is based in Walnut Creek, but oversees all of the bank’s CDF dealings in the greater San Fernando Valley area. Billingsley is responsible for the bank’s debt and equity investments in affordable housing across the U.S., and for the past 14 years has overseen Union’s national real estate lending. She began her career at Union in 1984 as a trainee, worked at other financial institutions including Security Pacific Bank and Credit Agricole, and rejoined Union in 1995. What is Union Bank’s stake in the greater San Fernando Valley region? Because of Union Bank’s deposit base, Southern California is a big focus, and it’s an area we’re looking to expand going forward. All of that spells good news for the San Fernando Valley area. And traditionally the CDF group has had a long involvement in the Valley. It helped with rebuilding the area’s affordable housing stock after the Northridge earthquake in 1994. What are some of Union Bank CDF’s projects in the Valley? With Union Bank loans, Preservation Partners Development renovated the 64-unit Columbus Square Apartments in North Hills to serve low-income seniors. We provided a $4.4 million construction loan to A Community of Friends, developer of affordable housing for special needs individuals, so it could build Rayen Apartments in North Hills. Union Bank also closed in Fall 2008 with Abode Communities on an $8.3 million low income housing tax credit investment to finance the Ivy Terrace Apartments in Van Nuys. – Eric Billingsley Awards Stanley Goldenberg will be honored as Business Person of the Year by the Encino Chamber of Commerce at its Annual Installation Gala. Celebrating his 50th year of membership with the Encino Chamber, Goldenberg has been, and continues to be, a dynamic leader in the Encino community offering pharmacy and healthcare product services 365 days a year. He has served on the Chamber’s board of directors, including multiple stints as vice president. Additionally, for more than a decade Goldberg chaired the Chamber’s Health and Wellness Committee. In the past year alone, the committee provided the Encino Community with H1N1 flu shots for free, in conjunction with the city and county of Los Angeles, as well as CPR training courses and blood drives benefiting the Red Cross and Providence Tarzana Medical Center. Engineering Hunsaker & Associates-Los Angeles (H&A-LA), a Valencia-based civil engineering firm, added professional land surveyor Stephen Gregerson to its team. He has more than 30 years of experience in the application of surveying and project management principles, and will assist H&A-LA and its clients in the budgeting, preparation and management of land surveys. He will also work in all phases of planning, permitting and engineering design. He was previously with Psomas for 15 years, beginning as project manager and advancing to vice president. Gregerson is also an acknowledged expert in the preparation of ALTA Surveys, including providing management and coordination services on a national basis for REIT’s, portfolio managers and lenders. Financial Great American Group, Inc., provider of asset disposition, valuation and appraisal services, appointed Gavin George as managing director of GA Asset Advisors, LLC, a subsidiary that operates in partnership with retailers and their financial stakeholders across Europe. George has 25 years of experience in the retail sector, having worked as an operator, consultant and restructuring professional. Prior to joining GA Asset Advisors, he spent six months serving as chief restructuring officer for a distressed retailer. He was also a partner and head of retail for Ernst & Young, where he led a number of the firm’s major commercial relationships, including Tesco, Kingfisher and DSGi. Healthcare Maggie Kestly was selected as president of the board of directors for the Free Clinic of Simi Valley. Kestly has been with Mid Valley Properties for 23 years, managing a portfolio totaling one million square feet in Ventura County, and holds Certified Property Manager and Certified Commercial Investment Member designations. She currently serves on the Free Clinic Board as well as the governing boards for the Simi Valley Community Foundation and the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise. Previously Kestly served on boards for the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley and the Jewish Life Center, and served as Simi Valley City Councilwoman Michelle Foster’s appointee on the City of Simi Valley’s General Plan Advisory Committee. She succeeds Harry VanDyck, who served two years as the Free Clinic’s president. Landscape ValleyCrest Design Group, a division of Calabasas-based ValleyCrest Landscape Companies, announced Esther Margulies was named managing principal of Comstock Studio in Malibu. Prior to joining ValleyCrest Design Group’s Comstock Studio, Margulies led landscape project teams for numerous award winning projects including parks, civic/cultural facilities, housing, and educational projects, while serving as managing principal of Mia Lehrer + Associates -a Los Angeles-based landscape architecture firm. Market Research Stuart Greif was named vice president and general manager of the global travel and hospitality practice at J.D. Power and Associates in Westlake Village. Greif, who most recently led the company’s business development and strategic planning, will be responsible for driving global growth of the travel practice, which includes hotel, airport, airline, and rental car industries. The travel practice is part of the company’s global services and emerging industries division. Prior to joining J.D. Power and Associates in 2007, Greif was director of planning and business development for the Information & Media segment of The McGraw-Hill Companies. He began his career with The McGraw-Hill Companies in 2002. Non-Profit Molly Forrest, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Jewish Home in Reseda, has been selected by Aging Services of California to serve as its delegate to the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. Under Forrest’s leadership, the Jewish Home has expanded independent-living Neighborhood Home accommodations from 17 residents to 50; opened an award-winning 96-bed skilled nursing Alzheimer’s special-care facility; and opened the Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Medical Center with a 10-bed acute psychiatric hospital and 239 skilled nursing beds. The Home was set to open Fountainview at Eisenberg Village, the fastest selling Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in California history on January 31st. The ALS Association in Calabasas Hills, the nation’s leader in the fight against amyotrophic laterals sclerosis, announced the appointment of Gordon S. LaVigne as chief development and communications officer. He will work out of the association’s new headquarters in Washington, D.C. Prior, LaVigne was vice president of business development for the Autism Society of America, and senior director of development and director of planned giving for the Alzheimer’s Association national office. He is now responsible for managing all revenue producing activities and external relations that promote awareness about ALS and support the mission of the association. Public Utilities California American Water appointed Edward Simon II to vice president of operations. Simon brings more than 20 years of customer service, operations support and operations experience to the position. He will oversee all operations within California American Water’s service districts. Responsibilities will include managing operations at the company’s entire well, tank, and treatment facilities as well as most of its field staff. Simon previously worked as an operations manager for Missouri American Water and has experience in operations and operations support management within the water industry, including eight years with American Water. During his tenure in Missouri, Simon managed the field customer service activities in the company’s St. Louis County operations, one of its largest service districts. Real Estate Jones Lang LaSalle hired John Ghiselli as managing director of its West Los Angeles office’s leasing and tenant representation group. The 22-year veteran will help expand the group and focus on tenant representation and corporate services in the Westside market. Ghiselli is the former executive vice president of brokerage for Lincoln Property Co.’s Southern California region. Prior to Lincoln, he was vice president of acquisitions at Barker Pacific Group and started Wilshire Property Co., which purchased property in California and Arizona. Ghiselli spent about 13 years at Studley, most recently as senior vice president, where he closed more than 2.5 million square feet of local office leasing transactions worth more than $1 billion. Colliers International recruited Scott Heaton to its downtown Los Angeles office. Specializing in investment sales, redevelopment opportunities and consultative brokerage assignments throughout the Greater Los Angeles basin, Heaton will serve as senior vice president. Prior to joining Colliers, Heaton led the Los Angeles-Central Private Client Group for CB Richard Ellis. Prior to joining CB Richard Ellis in 2003, he was a principal at Colliers-Seeley International, where he ranked among the top 10 producers every year from 1987 to 2002. Heaton’s business partners, Patrick Barnes and Joseph Williams, have also joined Colliers’ downtown Los Angeles office. Barnes will serve as senior associate and Williams will serve as associate. Grubb & Ellis Company announced that Chuck Hunt has been promoted to oversee the company’s newly created Southern California region. A 31-year commercial real estate veteran, Hunt has served as executive managing director of the company’s Los Angeles operations since 2008. In addition to having responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Los Angeles area, he will oversee the company’s Ontario, Anaheim and Newport Beach offices. Prior to returning to Grubb & Ellis in 2008, Hunt worked as managing director of Eastdil Secured. And prior to joining Eastdil in 2005, he was with Grubb & Ellis as executive vice president and area manager, Los Angeles. He began his career in 1979 and worked for more than 20 years with Cushman & Wakefield. Restaurants Sagebrush Cantina announced that Salvador Morales is the restaurant’s new head chef. Morales’ specialty is traditional and gourmet Mexican cuisine. He will also be adding new dishes to the cantina’s award-winning menu. His culinary background includes working in the kitchens of Rosa Mexicana in the Staples Center, El Santo Coyote in the Melrose district, and El Toro Cantina in mid-Wilshire where he created a menu with 40 different tacos, some which will be added to the cantina’s menu. Morales has an established reputation for his open-flame grilled meats and marinades, fresh and varied salsas, and creating new flavor sensations by introducing traditional sauces and ingredients on different foods. Technology Arecont Vision, an IP-based megapixel camera technology business, announced the addition of Duncan Cooke and Martin Cowley to further expand its sales growth in Europe. Cooke, director of strategic accounts, Europe, has more than 20 years of security industry experience, specifically in sales and strategic relations. Most recently, he directed a multi-million dollar regional business for a division of Assa Abloy Global Technologies (HID Global). Cowley is regional sales manager in the UK. He has worked for companies such as Arrow Surveillance, Norbain, Silent Witness and Grandeye, and was former director of sales covering EMEA and the Asia Pacific Region.