Seth Hamalian

As a young man, Seth Hamalian acquired an affinity for architecture and design, as well as an acute sense of the relationship between place and community that ultimately spurred him to pursue a degree in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania.  Recognizing that ideals within urban planning and neighborhood development are answerable to the complexities of economics, he pursued a further degree in real estate and finance.  Over the next 27 years, Seth undertook a series of executive leadership roles in real estate acquisitions, development, planning, park open space design and activation, and finance that have uniquely positioned him to drive a revival of Fisherman’s Wharf.

Seth’s first half of his career in real estate was on the investment and financing side of the business, working for firms like Starwood Capital Group, iStar Financial and Farallon Capital Management.  The common theme at each of these firms was a specialization in high-risk, high-return lending and investments in real estate undergoing major repositioning and transition, creating an excellent foundation for Seth’s future shift to development. 

Seth’s second half of his career began when he started overseeing the conversion of the Mission Bay neighborhood in San Francisco from abandoned railyard to vibrant neighborhood.  For the last 18 years, Seth has overseen all aspects of the master development of the 303 acre neighborhood, founding and leading two organizations to facilitate this work: Mission Bay Development Group, a company with extensive experience in complex, multi-phased infill development and delivery of infrastructure in San Francisco, and Parklab, an organization specializing in all aspects of parks and open space design, construction, operations, programming and activation.  Seth’s deep understanding of both the capital markets and development, as well as the sheer duration of his involvement with a project of the scale of Mission Bay, uniquely positions him to find the often elusive balance in development projects between vision and financial viability.

While Seth’s career has revolved around the power of investment in transforming neighborhoods, investing in underserved youth at all stages of their development is the common theme in his work with non-profits.  Seth serves on the board of: Oakland Promise, an organization focused on providing cradle-to-career support of under resourced youth in Oakland with a focus on building financial education, savings accounts, college access, scholarships, mentoring support, and developing a college-going expectation and culture among all of Oakland’s students; YMCA of the East Bay, which focuses on healthy living, youth empowerment and providing early childhood education and services to under resourced communities, and; Wellspring Educational Services, a school founded to provide relationship-based educational support to children with autism and other special needs.