Management Team
 Michael Towbes
Chairman of the Board
Michael Towbes is a highly experienced developer, property manager, and general contractor. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Princeton University, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude honors, and he attended graduate school at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A registered civil engineer and licensed building contractor, he develops and manages through The Towbes Group an extensive portfolio of apartments as well as shopping centers, office buildings and business parks, primarily in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties.
He was a pioneer in mortgage revenue bond financing and has been the general contractor for several low-income housing projects for nonprofit sponsors. Mr. Towbes is also Chairman of the Board and owner of Montecito Bancorp, a bank holding company which owns Montecito Bank & Trust, a Santa Barbara based bank with assets of over $600 million and seven branches throughout the Santa Barbara and Ventura areas. As a community leader, Mr. Towbes has served on many local nonprofit organization boards too numerous to mention. His contributions to this community have been recognized by his selection as Santa Barbara's Man of the Year in 1994, as recipient of the initial New-Press Lifetime Achievement Award and the UCSB Chancellor's Medal. He is a Senior Life Director of the National Association of Home Builders and serves on the Board of the Cottage Health Care System.
A dedicated supporter of education, Mr. Towbes created and funds The Towbes Foundation, which provides support to many other local nonprofit organizations in the area of arts, education, medical research and private property rights.
 Craig Zimmerman
President
Craig Zimmerman joined The Towbes Group, Inc. ("TGI"), in January 1999 as Vice President of Commercial Property Management, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in June 2000 and was appointed President in June 2001. Currently Mr. Zimmerman oversees all of TGI's operating divisions including development, construction, commercial and residential property management, and maintenance services. TGI's management portfolio includes more than 1,800 residential units and more than 1.8 million square feet of commercial office, industrial, and retail projects. Notable new projects include the Sumida Gardens apartment community (200 units), Fairview Business Center (73,000 sf) and Westgate Ranch which includes more than 550 residential units and a new shopping center.
While at TGI Mr. Zimmerman has continued the company's focus on quality, customer service, and company culture. Some of his proudest accomplishments while President include implementation of the Employee Grant Program, employee mentoring programs, and achievement awards based on internal and external customer service.
Mr. Zimmerman is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in Entrepreneurial Services where he attended the nationally recognized Entrepreneur Program. Mr. Zimmerman began his real estate career at Barrister Executive Suites, Inc., in Los Angeles, where he was part of a management team that purchased the struggling executive suite operator out of bankruptcy and helped create a company that is considered a national leader in the industry. Mr. Zimmerman continues his association with Barrister as a member of its Board of Directors.
After 6 years with Barrister, Mr. Zimmerman joined the renowned real estate development firm MaguirePartners (formerly Maguire Thomas Partners) where as Senior Vice President he led teams that acquired and financed more than $1.2 billion of real estate transactions, including two of the acquisition deals that were listed under the Urban Land Institute's Ten Biggest Deals of the Year list.
Mr. Zimmerman is a licensed real estate broker and is the incoming chair of the Board of the UCSB Economic Forecast, member of the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation, the Coastal Housing Coalition, Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce, and a committee member at the Santa Barbara Foundation. He has worked with several nonprofit organizations and affordable housing advocate organizations where he has contributed his time and support.
He and his wife Amy live in Santa Barbara with their two children, Charlie (13), and Maisie (11).
 Robert Skinner
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Rob joined The Towbes Group in 1997. He was promoted to Executive Vice President in 1999 and is currently involved in all aspects of the company's business. Last year, with Mr. Skinner's leadership, The Towbes Group was involved in the largest leasing transaction in Santa Barbara County history. Mr. Skinner's legal expertise covers complex business litigation and construction and real estate law. Mr. Skinner is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1985 and a Juris Doctorate in 1990. Most recently, he was appointed to the USC Law School Board of Councilors.
 Michelle Konoske
Chief Financial Officer
Michelle holds a BA in Economics from Westmont College and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Prior to joining The Towbes Group in 1999, Ms. Konoske worked as a Tax Manager at a local public accounting firm, where she specialized in taxation of businesses and high net worth individuals. At The Towbes Group, Ms. Konoske is responsible for overseeing the work performed by the Accounting Department, which includes the preparation of monthly financial statements for over 50 projects managed by The Towbes Group as well as the annual preparation of income tax returns for over 30 entities. Ms. Konoske is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accounts.
 Derek Hansen
Vice President - Development Construction
In May of 2003, Derek Hansen joined The Towbes Group, Inc. as Director of Construction. He brings with him over 18 years experience in commercial, civil and residential construction. Derek's responsibilities for TGI include the over site of all construction staff and department activities. As part of the Development team, he manages the building and systems implemented on all new property developments. His responsibilities also include tenant improvements for both private parties as well as tenants of Towbes Group managed properties. In September of 2005, he was promoted to Vice President of Development Construction and in August of 2007 was asked to serve as a member of the Senior Management team.
Before his employment with The Towbes Group, Inc., he served as Director of Construction for Western Consolidated Construction. Prior to that, JM Development employed him for project management of residential developments in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. His professional resume includes a wide variety of single-family, multi-family, and custom estate homes. He attended University of Nebraska at Omaha towards a BA in International Relations, Marketing and Finance and is a Licensed General Contractor in the state of California. Derek has represeneted The Towbes Group as a member of the Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Valley Contractors Associations as well as being Vice Chair of the Housing Advisory Committee to the Santa Barbara county Board of Supervisors. He currently serves as the 1st Vice President of The Central Coast Homebuilder's Association.
 Courtney Seeple
Vice President - Project Management
Courtney Seeple, Vice President, Project Management is responsible for the development projects for the Towbes Group. Prior to joining The Towbes Group, Mr. Seeple held senior positions with a number of multi-national companies engaged in property development, finance and management. Before starting his own company, Courtland Properties, Inc., Mr. Seeple was President and director of Leighton Pacific Developments, Inc., a subsidiary of Australia's largest building, construction, and property development firm with major investments in California.
Before that, he was Senior Vice President with Daon Corporation, where he sold and closed more homes than any other Northern California developer and earned the honor of "Marketing Manager of the Year" by the Building Industry Association. During his career of over 30 years in real estate development, Mr. Seeple has achieved a number of significant accomplishments, including the acquisition of $150 million of multi-family projects, generating $12 million in one year pre-tax profit for a large publicly held real estate developer, monitoring joint ventures of commercial and residential properties in excess of $550 million and negotiating and selling real estate assets in excess of $200 million in a corporate liquidation program.
Mr. Seeple received his BA in Business Administration at California State University, Northridge and his Masters in Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a California Real Estate Sales License and is a member of the Urban Land Institute. He is also a board member of Santa Barbara Beautiful, a non-profit organization dedicated to stimulate community action for Santa Barbara's beauty as a complement to government and private activity.
 Jim Carrillo
Portfolio Director - Residential Properties
email
Jim Carrillo joined The Towbes Group in April 2005. Jim brings over seventeen years of multi-family property management experience to The Towbes Group. Jim began his career in Los Angeles with R & B Realty Group where he spent six years. The first three years involved managing four consecutive lease-ups from construction for one of the largest private developers in Southern California. Jim then joined Lincoln Property Company/Legacy Partners where for the next ten years he managed a diverse portfolio of residential properties throughout Central and Southern California. His portfolio included conventional and affordable housing with ownership ranging from private investors, larger institutional entities and pension funds.
Jim is a Certified Property Manager, CPM, as designated by the Institute of Real Estate Management. He is also on the Executive Board of IREM Central Coast Chapter 102.
Traci Taitt
 Vice President - Commercial Properties
email
Traci Taitt
joined The Towbes Group in May 2007 as Vice President, Commercial Properties. Ms. Taitt is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics. Ms. Taitt began her real estate career in 1986 and she has worked for several national shopping center developers. In 1990 Traci was a member of the development team overseeing the construction and opening of Paseo Nuevo shopping center, an award-winning redevelopment project located in downtown Santa Barbara. Her professional resume also includes overseeing the management and operations of four other regional shopping centers and mixed use developments located throughout
California
.
At The Towbes Group, Traci is responsible for overseeing the work performed by the commercial properties department, including the leasing and management of over 26 retail and commercial properties totaling 1.8 million square feet.
Ms. Taitt recently served as a board member for several local civic organizations including the Downtown Organization and the Conference and Visitor's Bureau and she is currently a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Beth Sparkes
 Vice President - Human Resources
Beth joined The Towbes Group in 2003, and was promoted to Vice President in 2004. She brings with her over 18 years of local HR experience. Ms. Sparkes has assumed overall responsibility for direction of all benefit, compensation, recruitment, payroll, polices and procedures, worker's compensation, employee relations and training programs in support of TGI's team members. Ms. Sparkes' portfolio consists of approximately ninety team members in fourteen locations from Ventura to Santa Maria.
|
