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Rich Peterson, Founder email Rich

Rich Peterson is a respected Bay Area regulatory strategist and problem-solver, with a unique breadth of experience that spans business, government, nonprofit, philanthropic and political endeavors.

Over the last two decades, Rich has cultivated an expansive roster of meaningful relationships with local, state and federal elected leaders, appointed commissioners, senior staff, as well as business, community and nonprofit leaders. He has served in important public oversight and fiduciary roles for the City and County of San Francisco, and on behalf of numerous private nonprofits and philanthropies. His counsel is routinely sought by industry leading companiesincluding such clients as AT&T, CH2M/Jacobs, Genentech, Grocery Outlet, Hearst, LaSalle, Oceanwide Holdings, Prologis, Republic Services, Uniqlo, and Veritas Investmentswho trust his expert guidance to navigate successfully through the Bay Areas political and regulatory landscape.

Richs efforts in 2010 and 2011 on behalf of his firms client, bond insurer MBIA, Inc., were instrumental in brokering a successful financial compromise with the City and the Asian Art Museum. His guidance helped to identify and ultimately achieve a win-win scenario that few initially thought possible, restructuring Museum finances to save it from bankruptcy, while avoiding the needless costs and PR headaches of a possible legal dispute.

In 2012, Rich facilitated key government approvals that ensured the successful, on-schedule opening of global retailer Uniqlos first West Coast storewhich would be the largest store opening in San Franciscos history. He similarly worked in 2012 to guide the new owners of Market Street Place through a variety of regulatory and political challenges facing their project. Today, the 250,000-square-foot retail complex is poised to figure as a key cornerstone in the revitalization of the Citys Mid-Market area.

In 2013, Rich helped secure key approvals at San Franciscos Planning Commission on behalf of value grocer, Grocery Outlet, as it opened its first San Francisco store in the Citys Richmond district. In addition, Rich helped facilitate approvals at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Board of Supervisors on behalf of engineering leader CH2M/Jacobs related to engineering and design aspects of the Citys newest wastewater treatment facility. He provided ongoing regional political strategy to biotech leader, Genentechan original firm clientmost recently in connection with its private transportation system.

In 2014, Rich assisted Veritas InvestmentsSan Franciscos largest residential property ownerthrough a multitude of permit processes as well as community-engagement opportunities that reflect the fast-growing companys values. He also worked on behalf of several neighborhood organizations to facilitate a series of successful votes (all unanimous) before the Recreation & Park Commission, SFPUC, and the Board of Supervisors to convert a long abandoned reservoir into a spectacular new five acre park on Russian Hill, overlooking the Bay. He continued to assist Grocery Outlet through its San Francisco expansion, with the opening of its newest location in Visitacion Valley. Rich also advised CPMC (Sutter Health) on political strategy and community development efforts as it considers the redevelopment of its 5-acre California Campus.

In 2015, Rich helped LaSalle Hotel Propertiesone of the nations largest hotel companiesto maintain critical private automobile access to its Hotel Villa Florence on Powell Street. The move successfully carved out an exception for guests of the popular Union Square hotel within SFMTAs planned closure of the street to private vehicles. Rich also began his engagement with Beijing-based developer Oceanwide Holdings, LTD in its highly complex entitlement process for its proposed 2.25 million square foot, twin-tower, mixed-use project. The Oceanwide Center development is the largest single project within San Franciscos ambitious new Transbay Development District. Rich further continued to assist longtime firm client, the Hearst Corporation, on a variety of important regulatory and community matters. He served at the Mayors request as Chairman of the City Hall Centennial celebration, personally raising the funds necessary to support a series of events and improvement projects for the Citys most important building. The free public celebration of San Francisco City Halls 100-year milestone was attended by an estimated 30,000 residents and visitors.

In 2016, Rich continued to manage the firms entitlement work on behalf of the massive $1.5 billion Oceanwide Center project, securing successful and on-time approvals at the Recreation and Park Commission, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors. The focus has now turned to facilitating its timely and on-budget construction. Additionally, Rich is leading the public affairs efforts for San Francisco-based Prologis, the worlds leading developer and operator of industrial and logistics space, on its proposed 1M+ million square foot, four-building, multi-story manufacturing and distribution facility, the San Francisco Gateway. He also facilitated the opening of two more Grocery Outlets, most recently in the Citys politically complicated Mission District.

In 2017, Rich helped longtime client CH2M/Jacobs in a fiercely competitive bid process, winning the contract to serve as the prime design and engineering contractor for the Port of San Francisco to rebuild three miles of the City's seawall. Ultimately, San Franciscos seawall rebuild will cost upwards of $5 to $10 billion over the next 20 years, making it perhaps the most expensive single municipal project in Bay Area history. Rich further assisted Hines, a leading international developer, together with Hines partner Urban Pacific Development, in their ongoing efforts to secure the necessary entitlements for their 61-story condo, office and hotel project at 542-550 Howard Street, which will also include an accompanying 500-unit housing project located just three blocks east. Together, these projects are the largest remaining elements in the massive, transformative Transbay District. Rich also continued his ongoing work as lead local adviser to Prologis on political strategy and community engagement in relation to is its proposed state-of-the-art San Francisco Gateway distribution and logistics center that the San Francisco Chronicle praised as a potential blue collar salvation for jobs that have long been disappearing from the City.

From December 2007 to May 2010, Rich served as an appointed Trustee to the San Francisco Employees Retirement System, also known as SFERS. Acting as the elected Board President in his final year, Richs leadership of SFERS oversaw the approximately $20 billion public pension fund for some 55,000 current and retired employees of the City and County of San Francisco.

From January 2004 through October 2007, Rich served as an appointed commissioner to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, or SFRA. He was elected to three consecutive terms as president by his fellow commissioners. From 1948 through 2011, the SFRA was the primary driver of economic renewal in the City, with its main function being the direct promotion of economic vitality through the removal of urban blight in certain, dedicated, redevelopment Plan areas. Key projects completed or significantly advanced during his term include: Mission Bay, Yerba Buena Center, the St. Regis Hotel, and the Hunters Point Shipyard.

Personally, Rich is also recognized as among the most active and productive political organizers in the Bay Area, having assisted a multitude of local, state and federal candidates, and local and state ballot measures over the last 15 years. Rich served as a Finance Committee Chair for both of former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsoms mayoral campaigns, and he also served as president of Mayor Newsoms Inaugural Committee following his reelection in 2007. More recently, he has been acknowledged as one of the late Mayor Ed Lees largest fundraisers.

Rich has been an active volunteer over the last 20 years on behalf of an array of non-profit causes. Of particular note are his efforts on behalf of Town School for Boys, where he serves as a trustee; SPUR, San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, which he serves as a director; The Guardsmen, which he formerly served as a director; At the Crossroads, where he sits on the capital campaign Advisory Board and assists with fundraising; and UCSFs Pediatric Epilepsy Center.

For the two decades Rich has also been an active investor in Silicon Valley multi-family real estate, and holds a current California real estate Broker license. He is married to Tanya Peterson, the President and Executive Director of the San Francisco Zoological Society (SF Zoo). They reside in The Presidio with their twin children.

A native San Franciscan, Rich has spent his entire life actively involved in the business, civic, philanthropic and social affairs of the Bay Area. Rich received his Bachelor of Sciences in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990.