Seifel Consulting is known for creative
solutions to complex problems. We pride ourselves on excellent
client responsiveness, reliable analyses, coherent public presentations,
and a substantial track record of solid performance.
Diligent in helping clients reach their goals, we support our
clients with an integrated approach to strategic planning, economic
analyses and project management. Our professional team has extensive
public and private sector experience in real estate; urban planning;
housing; economics; public finance and policy; and business, governmental
and community relations.
For each assignment, Seifel Consulting builds
an interdisciplinary professional team. In addition to our firm capability,
we may draw upon the expertise of other specialists in design, engineering,
environmental science, law, and investment banking.
President, Elizabeth
(Libby) Seifel
Libby Seifel is a highly-respected urban land economist and certified city planner with over 25 years of experience in applying the principles of real estate economics to property development, redevelopment and affordable housing. She teaches professional
courses, addresses conferences, and writes topical real estate and housing articles. Ms. Seifel received a Master in City Planning and a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Elizabeth (Libby) Seifel, President of Seifel Consulting, is a certified planner who has been applying the principles of real estate economics and planning to property development and urban revitalization efforts for more than 25 years. Since founding her firm in 1990, Ms. Seifel has managed more than 500 consulting assignments. She has advised private developers, investors and governments in the western and southern United States on projects ranging in size from small infill housing developments to large master planned communities such as San Francisco's Mission Bay. She has consulted on more than 100 redevelopment project areas in California and guided the development of thousands of market-rate and affordable housing units. She has also performed economic and fiscal impact analyses and recommended public financing strategies for numerous revitalization efforts. She has also served as an expert witness on cases involving redevelopment, public finance, housing, and real estate.
Ms. Seifel is an instructor at U.C. Berkeley Extension teaching courses on redevelopment, affordable housing and public/private partnerships. She is a frequent speaker at professional conferences, having presented to the American Planning Association, Florida's Broward Alliance, the California Association of Local Economic Development, the California Redevelopment Association, Housing California, the League of California Cities, the MIT Alumni Association, and the Urban Land Institute.
Ms. Seifel writes on real estate, redevelopment and affordable housing subjects. She is the editor of the California Affordable Housing Handbook and principal author of the Community Guide to Redevelopment published by the California Redevelopment Association. She has also written extensively on mixed income housing, contributing to publications by Solano Press and Urban Land.
Ms. Seifel previously managed the Bay Area consulting practice of Williams-Kuebelbeck & Associates, a real estate economic and management consulting firm. Ms. Seifel was the founding executive director of a nonprofit development corporation that built 270 units of mixed income housing in downtown Boston. She staffed President Carter's Task Force on Housing Costs and evaluated regulatory revisions to federal Indian housing programs while an urban intern with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Seifel has a Master of City Planning and a Bachelor of Science in Urban Studies and Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Marie Munson is a Senior Managing Consultant providing advisory services on a wide variety of assignments including redevelopment feasibility studies, redevelopment plan adoptions and amendments, implementation plans, and affordable housing studies. Ms. Munson brings an academic and professional background in local government, urban planning and studies, communications, and project management.
Ms. Munson has extensive experience in the redevelopment process. She has prepared major documents for redevelopment plan adoptions, amendments and mergers including Feasibility Reports, Preliminary Reports, Reports to Legislative Bodies, and Implementation Plans. She has advised on proposed redevelopment project areas, analyzing economic and physical blight and the financial feasibility and fiscal impacts of redevelopment. She has reviewed blight analyses and analyzed the adequacy of proposed redevelopment projects as they relate to statutory and other legal criteria. In addition to redevelopment services, Ms. Munson has performed assignments including grant writing, housing needs assessments and strategic plans.
Ms. Munson's academic and professional background is in communications, urban studies and local government. She has extensive experience with local governments, providing them with advocacy, policy development and analysis, information, and research services. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Munson worked for two state municipal leagues, providing advocacy, policy development, legislative analysis, research, and affiliate group services to mayors, city managers, selectmen, city councilors, and department heads. She staffed policy and legislative committees on economic development, labor relations, health care, and electric industry restructuring.
Marie Munson has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of Connecticut.
Kohki Shiga is a Senior Managing Consultant providing advisory services on a wide variety of assignments related to real estate, urban economics, housing, and redevelopment. Mr. Shiga's professional expertise includes real estate economics, financial feasibility analysis, economic development strategy, fiscal and economic impact analysis, cost benefit analysis, due diligence, and land use advisory services. Mr. Shiga brings more than 15 years of professional experience in real estate finance, transportation, financial and business consulting, and project management.
Mr. Shiga has evaluated numerous real estate projects, performing a variety of financial and economic analyses including pro forma cash flow projections and market analyses. He has also provided redevelopment consulting services including tax increment projections, pass-through calculations, housing development finance, and economic/physical blight analyses. Mr. Shiga has analyzed economic development projects and their feasibility for clients in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to working at Seifel, Mr. Shiga worked as an independent consultant, providing economic and financial consulting to private business and government. He has prepared corporate site evaluation analysis, cost benefit analysis and joint public/private financing strategies. He has completed market research and neighborhood/regional impact analysis for various projects including a high-speed railway project in Japan. He has advised on transportation demand management (TDM) projects in Japan, preparing strategies to promote TDM programs for local governments and assisting the Japanese central government in producing public participation guidelines for transportation planning. He has analyzed market trends and developed market strategies with business consulting firms for a variety of industries.
Mr. Shiga has a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, a Certificate in History and Philosophy of Science/Technology from the Research Center of Advanced Science & Technology at the University of Tokyo, and a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from ICU. He was awarded the Lewis Mumford Scholarship based on his outstanding professional experience.
Jessica Zenk, Managing Consultant with Seifel Consulting Inc., is a certified urban planner (AICP) with expertise in economic development, redevelopment, affordable housing, and the arts. Since joining Seifel Consulting Inc., Ms. Zenk has managed redevelopment, housing and economic projects for clients throughout California. She has advised on public sector participation in public private partnerships, public benefits zoning, funding strategies and impact fees for infill projects and zoning intensification, and affordable and workforce housing programs. She has analyzed the fiscal impact and financial feasibility of projects that range from large scale land use planning efforts to site-specific developments. Ms. Zenk's redevelopment experience includes revitalization strategies, implementation plans, tax increment financing and projections, fiscal consultant reports, and redevelopment plan adoptions.
Prior to joining the team at Seifel Consulting, Ms. Zenk worked in redevelopment, housing, development and public policy for public and non-profit agencies. These include the City of Oakland Community and Economic Development Agency, Redevelopment Division; the Emergency Housing Consortium, a homeless services and affordable housing provider in Santa Clara County; the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara, Development Division; and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, Downtown Management Division. Ms. Zenk specialized in the arts and urban and economic development while in graduate school, authoring and consulting on reports written with the City of San Jose Office of Economic Development and Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley.
Ms. Zenk has a Master in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Brown University. She is certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Helen Oliver brings to Seifel a diverse background in economic and policy analysis in the fields of redevelopment, housing, childcare, and international development. Since joining the firm, Ms. Oliver has worked on redevelopment plan adoptions and advisory services, fiscal impact studies, impact fee analyses, financial advisory services, and economic development studies.
Prior to joining Seifel, Ms. Oliver worked with a number of public and nonprofit agencies on projects related to public policy and urban development. At the City of Emeryville Redevelopment Agency, she provided technical assistance on redevelopment projects, helped promote the City's homebuyer programs and managed the selection of several public art installations. As an intern with Oakland Community Housing, Inc. she assisted with all aspects of the development process for affordable housing. She also completed short-term consulting projects for the World Bank in Lima, Peru, the Alameda County Housing Authority and the City of El Cerrito, where she and her colleagues advised staff on redevelopment strategies for a commercial corridor.
Ms. Oliver has a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Swarthmore College.
Jackie Tsou, Senior Consultant at Seifel Consulting Inc., is a planner with a background in community development, economic development, land use planning, and affordable housing, Since joining Seifel Consulting Inc., Ms. Tsou has managed redevelopment, affordable housing, and economic analysis projects for clients throughout California. Ms. Tsou advised and conducted impact fee nexus studies for multiple Bay Area cities. Her experience includes updating existing impact fee programs, performing nexus studies, and advising local agencies on implementing resolutions and ordinances. Ms. Tsou has also advised on numerous redevelopment projects throughout the state, providing technical and strategic analyses to clients throughout the redevelopment process. Her redevelopment experience includes agency administration, tax increment modeling and projections, fiscal consultant reports, redevelopment feasibility studies, implementation plan adoptions, midterm reviews, and redevelopment plan adoptions and plan amendments.
Prior to joining Seifel Consulting, Ms. Tsou was a US Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Department Fellow. Ms. Tsou worked on a number of community planning and policy projects with Bay Area non-profit organizations and local government agencies, including Urban Ecology and Urban Habitat, the City of Richmond Community Redevelopment Agency and the Richmond Planning Department. With Urban Ecology, Ms. Tsou led community-planning efforts in the San Antonio District of Oakland, CA. Ms. Tsou researched the social implications of green economic development policy while at Urban Habitat. With the Community Redevelopment and Planning Departments in Richmond, Ms. Tsou provided technical assistance on a variety of redevelopment projects and policy documents.
Ms. Tsou has a Master in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelors of Science, cum laude, in Natural Resources, from Cornell University.
Pedro Peterson is a planner with a background in regional economic development, urban sustainability and urban land markets. Since joining Seifel Consulting Inc., Mr. Peterson has produced development impact fee nexus studies, managed five-year implementation plans for redevelopment agencies in the Bay Area and Southern California, advised on affordable housing policy, and conducted pro forma due diligence analysis for residential, commercial and industrial developments. His redevelopment work includes physical and economic blight documentation for plan adoptions and amendments, calculation of pass-through payments, implementation plans, and tax increment modeling.
Prior to joining Seifel Consulting, Mr. Peterson worked in projects for the public and non-profit sector, as well as academia. As a Summer Program Associate at ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Mr. Peterson performed research on the impact of land use policies adopted by local governments on greenhouse gas emissions. As a Graduate Student Researcher with the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) at UC Berkeley, Mr. Peterson performed research on urban land and housing markets in Brazilian cities, and the effects of land regularization schemes on housing informality. At IURD, he also participated in an economic development workshop that developed the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development in Krabi Provice, Thailand. In addition, he worked on the San Francisco Economic Development Strategy developed by ICF International.
Mr. Peterson has a Master of City Planning and a Master of Arts in International and Area Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Emory University.
Evan Sarna is a planner with a background in affordable housing, redevelopment, and urban and regional economic development. Mr. Sarna consults on projects including redevelopment plan amendments and implementation plans, economic development analysis, real estate economics and affordable housing programs. In addition, Mr. Sarna conducts pro forma due diligence analysis for residential, commercial and mixed-use developments.
Prior to joining Seifel Consulting, Mr. Sarna worked for a variety of public and nonprofit projects. As a project manager with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, he led development activities for two affordable housing projects for seniors and formerly homeless residents in San Francisco, CA. While a researcher with the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, Mr. Sarna contributed to reports detailing economic and community development issues in Oakland, CA and other cities in the region. As a Center for Community Innovation Fellow at UC Berkeley, Mr. Sarna worked extensively on a report analyzing industrial, occupational, and socio-economic indicators in Richmond, CA. While a research assistant with the MUNI Health and Safety, Mr. Sarna worked on an ongoing epidemiological study of urban transit operators in San Francisco, CA. Mr. Sarna also has experience working with the City of Berkeley Housing Department on affordable housing and homeless policy.
Mr. Sarna has a Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and Art from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Helen Lee is a planner with a background in economics, affordable housing development, land use policy and planning, and the arts and urban development. Since joining Seifel Consulting Inc., Ms. Lee has worked on redevelopment, housing and economic analysis projects for clients throughout California. She has produced financial feasibility, due diligence, and market demand analyses for site-specific development projects and large scale planning efforts. She also advises cities on affordable housing strategies, policies and programs. Ms. Lee's redevelopment experiences include redevelopment plan adoption, amendment and implementation, as well as tax increment modeling and funding strategies.
Prior to joining Seifel Consulting, Ms. Lee prepared feasibility analyses and funding proposals for two non-profit affordable housing development corporations in Cambridge and Boston, MA. As a planner for the City of Lowell, Ms. Lee led various neighborhood and city-wide planning efforts. At the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Ms. Lee contributed to the Fed's role in monetary policy-making by analyzing regional economic data as well as financial data provided by major banks in New England.
Ms. Lee has a Master of City Planning and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from M.I.T. in Cambridge, MA.
Deric Licko, Analyst at Seifel Consulting Inc., is a planner and policy analyst with a background in community development, economics, housing, and land use planning. Mr. Licko recently completed his Master's degree Advanced Policy Analysis (APA) project with Seifel Consulting, which was an in-depth analysis of housing markets in areas with high rates of foreclosure. This analysis was used to help inform local government decisions regarding where to spend federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds. Mr. Licko joined Seifel Consulting in July 2009, and is currently working on foreclosure analysis and redevelopment plan amendment projects.
Prior to joining Seifel Consulting, Mr. Licko was an Assistant Planner for the City of Larkspur and a Contract Planner for the County of Alameda, where he worked on discretionary permit applications, CEQA compliance, and community planning projects. Mr. Licko wrote Larkspur's first Green Building Ordinance. Prior to this, Mr. Licko spent several years as an Information Technology consultant and network administrator.
Mr. Licko has a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Joshua Zade, Analyst at Seifel Consulting Inc., is a real estate and planning professional with a background in real estate finance and development, mixed-income housing, land use planning, and economic development. As an intern with Seifel Consulting, in 2008, Mr. Zade advised the government of a Bay Area county on the planning and economic impacts of a proposed ballot initiative regulating residential growth in the County's unincorporated areas.
Prior to joining Seifel Consulting, Mr. Zade was a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, Mr. Zade served as Teaching Assistant for a graduate level Real Estate Finance course with Professor David Geltner in both 2007 and 2008. He also served as Teaching Assistant for a real estate development studio focused on large urban mixed-use projects with Professors Dennis Frenchman and Peter Roth in 2009. As a Summer Associate with ConsultEcon, Inc. of Cambridge, MA, Mr. Zade helped to advise clients in Alabama, Arizona, California, and Iowa on issues of real estate strategy, economic development, and visitor attraction planning. Mr. Zade was a student coordinator of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston Affordable Housing Development Competition in 2008, and placed third in the 2007 competition. Before returning to school, Mr. Zade spent four years working with Keen Development Corporation, an award-winning developer of mixed-income housing specializing in historic preservation and adaptive reuse. At Keen, Mr. Zade designed and developed marketing strategies and materials for both the firm and related enterprises, as well as providing research and administrative support to the firm's professional staff.
Mr. Zade has a Master in City Planning and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelors of Arts, magna cum laude, from Williams College.
