Tishman Speyer Executive to Lead Economic Development in SF
A Tishman Speyer director is taking a desk at San Francisco City Hall to help lead a Downtown recovery.
Sarah Dennis-Phillips, a senior director with New York-based developer Tishman Speyer since January 2019, was named executive director of the city’s Office of Workforce and Economic Development, the San Francisco Business Times reported. She starts June 12.
She will replace Kate Sofis, who was appointed to the job in early 2021 and now seeks a job as managing director of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, home to the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Ballet.
Tishman Speyer is behind such projects as Visa’s new headquarters at Mission Rock, south of Oracle Park, and the 400-foot Mira condominium tower near the Embarcadero.
While at Tishman, Dennis-Phillips served as San Francisco director, leading projects through approval, permitting and construction, while injecting expertise in entitlements across Tishman Speyer’s California portfolio.
Dennis-Phillips, who prior to the pandemic served as deputy director of development under Mayor London Breed, spent 14 years serving the city and county.
Before serving in the Mayor’s Office between 2016 and 2019, she spent three years working as a project director for the workforce and development office, representing the city in major public-private projects such as Pier 70 along San Francisco’s waterfront.
She also spent eight years as the manager of plans and programs for the San Francisco Planning Department.
Dennis-Phillips serves on the board at the San Francisco-based think tank SPUR, as well as a local commercial advisory committee for the Urban Land Institute.
She is also a member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the Housing Action Coalition and Lambda Alpha’s Golden Gate chapter.
“While some of the changes San Francisco has seen post-pandemic are painful, they also present an opportunity to rebuild our local economy with intention and forethought, to repopulate our streets with arts and affordability and to broaden the benefits of economic growth to all of our residents,” Dennis-Phillips said in a statement.
The outgoing Sofis is credited with leading the Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future, a strategic plan that aims to revitalize the city after the pandemic. She also allegedly failed to properly disclose her economic interests before taking the job, which included a stake in multiple nonprofit entities, according to the San Francisco Standard.
— Dana Bartholomew
