Instructors

Diane Blake, RPA
Diane Blake has managed real estate in Silicon Valley since 1986, maintaining excellent business relationships with clients, tenants, and vendors, specializing in management of Class “A” High-rise, R&D, and Industrial properties.  Diane began her career in property management in 1986 working for Prometheus Real Estate Company as Property Manager for their commercial division.  She then moved to TMG Partners as Senior Property Manager for their Silicon Valley portfolio and on to Orchard Commercial as the Director of Property Management. 

Although she is currently at home raising her young daughter, she remains an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association, Silicon Valley (BOMA SV), currently holding the role as Immediate Past President (her term as President was from 2003-2005).  She has also held the role as Chairperson of the Building Awards Committee for three years and currently Chairperson of the Share Your Holiday Committee since 2006.

In 2001, Diane was the proud recipient of the BOMA Building Award for managing an R&D Property, and was the recipient of the BOMA Principle Member of the Year for 1999-2000.

MELISSA BOWMAN, Controller Orchard Commercial

Ms. Bowman's accounting career spans 25 years, with the last 20 focused entirely in Commercial Real Estate.

She is the Controller for Orchard Commercial and has been associated with the firm since 1993, having responsibility for all accounting, network administration and IT functions.  Ms. Bowman coordinates all tax compliance, oversees real property tax evaluations and appeals, and is responsible for Management Information Systems.

Prior to joining Orchard, Ms. Bowman was Assistant Controller for Renault and Handley, a privately owned brokerage and real estate management firm.  Her duties included tax and financial reporting for approximately 15 private placements, the brokerage business, a vineyard in addition to her duties as supervisor of Management Information Systems. 

From 1983 until 1991, Ms. Bowman was employed by the Landsing Corporation, a syndicator located in Menlo Park, which raised approximately $700 million invested in both private and public partnerships as well as REITS.  She was responsible for all SEC and tax compliance for more than a dozen private placements as well as multiple public partnerships and several REITS as well as being active in investor communications. 

In 2006 Ms. Bowman taught the BOMI Budgeting & Accounting RPA Designation class for BOMA Silicon Valley.

Having acquired a MBA degree, she has taught courses for (BOMA) Building Owners and Managers Association, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, UC Berkeley, Extension, Sonoma State University and several community colleges. Having earned a CPM designation, she also holds a California Real Estate Broker’s license.

As a graduate of Leadership San Francisco sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, ‘Zanne believes in community service. She has served on the Board of Directors of KQED (public television), The Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage and the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation.

LANCE GIDEL, President, Gidel & Kocal Construction, Inc.

In 26 years as owner/President of Gidel & Kocal Construction Co., Inc., a general contracting firm specializing in commercial construction, Mr. Gidel, in addition to his administrative and fiscal responsibilities to the company, has been and is currently involved in the estimation and oversight of construction projects that vary in size from small tenant improvement projects to ground-up, new construction of 20,000 to 45,000 sf retail/commercial buildings on multi-acre lots.

Mr. Gidel currently holds licenses as a general contractor in the states of California, Washington and Hawaii.

He is a member of the Building Owners and Managers Association Silicon Valley (BOMA SV) for whom he regularly teaches Design and Operation of Building Systems I and II classes.  In addition to the RPA classes, which are recognized and accepted by the State of California Department of Real Estate for continuing education credits, Mr. Gidel also serves on the BOMA SV Education Committee which develops new seminars and programs for the Silicon Valley organization.  Drawing on his eight years of experience as a teacher prior to forming Gidel & Kocal Construction, he has organized and presented several seminars over the last ten years for BOMA.  For example, he recently was a co-presenter of the BOMA SV Blueprint Reading Seminar which he co-developed with his partner John Kocal and several local architects.

Mr. Gidel holds a B.A. in Biological Science from San Jose State University and a M.A. in Education from University of San Francisco.

JERRY HURWITZ, J & J Air Conditioning

Jerry Hurwitz, owner of J & J Air Conditioning has been an educator with BOMA SV and area colleges for a number of years, in addition to developing seminars for HVAC technicians at his business.

An instructor at San Jose City College for many years, he has more recently brought his teaching expertise to various HVAC-related seminars to BOMA SV. He’s been an instructor since 1984 when be began teaching the HVAC section of the BOMI course, Design, Operations and Maintenance of Building Systems I.  In addition to the OPS I course, Jerry has taught BOMA’s “Advanced Blue Print Class” with John Kocal and Lance Gidel, of Gidel & Kocal Construction Company, Inc. Also, in the past he taught a BOMI class on Psychrometrics.

In 2000 Jerry was named one of the “Best Contractors to Work For” by the HVACR News, a national industry publication.

Along with partner Lance Gidel, Mr. Kocal in 1980 co-founded Gidel & Kocal Construction Co., Inc., a commercial general contracting firm.  Aside from general administration and fiscal management of the company, he is responsible for estimating and oversight of projects varying from tenant improvements to ground-up construction.

As an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association, Silicon Valley (BOMA SV), Mr. Kocal has, over the last 16 years, organized and taught RPA designation classes in the Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Building Systems.  This two part, 16 week course is part of the requirement for RPA (Real Property Administrator) designation for the property management industry.

Additionally, Mr. Kocal, along with Mr. Gidel, has presented seminars to the BOMA membership on topics such as Construction Management of the Tenant Improvement process, Blueprint Reading, and Tenant Improvement Components.

Mr. Kocal possesses a B.A. in Spanish from San Jose State University and a B.A. (equivalent) in Biochemistry from San Jose State University.

RICHARD KRENTZ (CIH, REA), President, Sterling & Associates
As founder of the company in 1989, Mr. Krentz has served as Principal and Senior Project Manager of Sterling & Associates, Inc. since its inception. 

In the capacity of Senior Project Engineer, Mr. Krentz is responsible for project design and implementation of industrial hygiene monitoring, indoor air quality surveys, fungi/mold investigations (including testing, remediation protocol development, and project oversight), OSHA and environmental compliance surveys, health and safety training, ventilation survey and design. 

Mr. Krentz has developed numerous safety compliance programs such as Injury and Illness Prevention, Hearing Conservation, Respiratory Protection, Fungal Remediation Protocol/Workplans, Confined Space Entry, and Lockout/Tagout.

Mr. Krentz has extensive experience in providing hazardous waste site safety support and has prepared over 1000 site-specific health and safety plans and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist with over 20 years professional experience in Industrial Hygiene, Environmental, and Safety Engineering.

DONALD B. LONSINGER, First Vice President, CB Richard Ellis

Donald Lonsinger represents clients in the local market for lease and sale transactions. Don’s background includes investment sales and office & apartment building management. Don has over thirteen years of real estate experience and has provided strategic real estate services to property owners and tenants throughout the Silicon Valley.

Don has completed approximately 2,500,000 square feet of transaction assignments with an aggregate value in excess of $300 million.

Prior to joining CB Richard Ellis, Don was the Division Controller for the largest division of a medical equipment company that in 1996 won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

JOE MORIARTY, Senior Vice President/Principal, CPS

EXPERTISE
Corporate Advisory, Investments

EXPERIENCE
2002-Present Senior Vice President/Principal, CPS
1997-2002 Partner, BT Commercial Real Estate
1995-1997 Executive Vice President, South Bay Development
1994-1995 Vice President Portfolio Asset Management, MacFarlane Partners
1991-1994 Asset Manager, Aetna Realty Investors
1990-1991 Asset Manager, Metropolitan Life Real Estate Investments
1986-1988 Real Estate and Construction Lender, Barnett Bank

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science, Finance, 1986
Southern Methodist University

Master of Business Administration, 1990
The Wharton School of Business

RECOGNITION & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1998 Association of Silicon Valley Brokers (ASVB) Rookie of the Year
2001, 2002, 2003 ASVB Investment Broker of the Year Nominee
2003, 2004, 2005 SJ Business Journal's Top 25 Commercial Brokers
1998 BT Commercial Real Estate Rookie of the Year
2004 Selected People to Watch “40 under 40” by the San Jose Business Journal
2004, 2005 CPS Top Five
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 President’s Club

SCOTT M. PRITCHETT, CPM, RPA
Senior Vice President, Woodmont Real Estate Services

Scott joined Woodmont in 1997 following three and one half years as President of Orchard Management Services, a subsidiary of Orchard Properties, where he was in charge of all daily operations for property management, leasing, construction, accounting and facilities.  Scott has over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry.  Prior to Orchard Properties, he served as Senior Vice President of O’Donnell Property Services, in charge of the management of 23 million square feet of R&D, office, mixed-use, retail, and industrial property.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College, a CPM designation from IREM and an RPA designation from BOMI.  

Scott has taught real estate management courses at the College of San Mateo and business ethics courses for BOMA Silicon Valley.  He is an active member of both IREM and BOMA, and is Past President of BOMA Silicon Valley.

ROBERT M. ROUSE, CPM
President, Woodmont Real Estate Services

Bob merged his firm, Rouse Real Estate Associates, with Woodmont in 1990.  He has over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry.  For twelve years, Bob held various senior level positions at SSR, which included Executive Vice President/Chief Operations Officer for Metric's Property Management and Asset Management Divisions.  Prior to starting his own firm in 1986, Bob was President of Brichard Management, Inc., a real estate investment company.  He holds both a BA and MBA from Golden Gate University, and holds a Certified Property Manager (CPM) designation.  He has held positions on the Board of Directors of  major REITs, taught Real Estate Management at the College of San Mateo and the BOMI Asset Management class for BOMA Silicon Valley.  He is a member of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

CYNTHIA RUBY, President,
Cynthia Ruby and Associates, Facility Consulting

Over 10 years of experience in interior design, facilities planning and project management for large and small clients. Experienced with strategic and tactical planning, project management and operational process improvement. Has developed corporate standards, space projections, density studies, master stacking plans, and real estate policy. Has managed construction of corporate headquarters, lab space, data centers, cafeterias, call centers, corporate briefing centers, and domestic and international field offices. Facilities management experience includes Nvidia and Symantec. Previous consulting clients include Altera, Nvidia, Adobe Systems and others.

BS in Business from San Francisco State University and First Professional Certificate in Interior Design and Interior Architecture from University of California Berkeley Extension. Certified with Building Owners Management Institute (BOMI) as Facilities Management Administrator (FMA) and Real Property Administrator Professional (RPA). Certified by National Council of Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ).

Active member of International Facilities Managers Association (IFMA), Building Owners Management Association (BOMA), Corenet Global, and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW).

SARAHANN SHAPIRO, Attorney at Law, Phal & McCay
Sarahann Shapiro is special counsel to the firm and specializes in real property litigation and transactions along with business and employment litigation. She received her bachelors degree in biology and political science from the University of California at Riverside in 1988 and her Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University in 1991. Ms. Shapiro is active in the local courts and bar association as an arbitrator by judicial appointment. She served as Chair of the Business Litigation Committee in 1997.

Ms. Shapiro is also an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA Silicon Valley) and serves as chair of the Government Affairs Committee. In addition to her professional activities, Ms. Shapiro is active in her community as a Past Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star.