Brad Blake

Brad Blake is a veteran Bay Area commercial real estate developer and investor with more than 35 years in the industry, during which he has been involved in the development of over $1 billion of multi-family, mixed-use and retail projects. He earned a B.A. from Stanford University (1980) and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (1985). Before entering real estate, he worked at IBM and at management consultancy McKinsey & Co.

Blake began his real estate career at Spieker Partners and its successor Spieker Properties, where he rose to Senior Vice President. He went on to serve as Chairman and CEO of Western Properties Trust, a publicly traded real estate company. After Western Properties Trust merged with Pan Pacific Retail Properties (NYSE: PNP), Blake and Jerry Hunt — both former Western Properties executives — co-founded Blake Hunt Ventures in 2000. As CEO of Blake Hunt Ventures, Blake helped build a retail and mixed-use development platform whose team has developed, acquired, leased or managed more than 10 million square feet across 100-plus projects in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, typically carrying $250M–$500M of projects under development.

Today Blake's primary vehicle is Blake Griggs Properties, the Danville-based firm he co-founded and leads as Managing Partner alongside Brad Griggs. Blake Griggs develops, acquires, leases and manages residential, mixed-use and retail projects, concentrating on in-fill California markets with typical project sizes of $50M–$350M. He is also a co-founder, partner and investment committee member of Opportunity Housing Group, which converts market-rate apartments into workforce/"essential" housing using Essential Housing (governmental) bond structures.

Beyond his development firms, Blake serves on the board of directors of the Bailard Real Estate Fund and is the founder and president of College is Real, a nonprofit educational organization based in Richmond, California. He was formerly active in the Young Presidents Organization (Nor-Cal chapter).

• Invests in and develops multi-family, mixed-use and retail real estate, not operating/startup companies — the "investor" role here is that of a real estate principal and fund co-investor.
• Concentrates on supply-constrained, transit-oriented "in-fill" locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and other West Coast markets, where entitlement difficulty creates a moat.
• Targets projects in the $50M–$350M range; Blake Griggs reports a $700M+ pipeline, 1,250+ residential units under development/operating, and 170,000+ sq ft of retail.
• Partners with major institutional capital sources — the firm lists relationships with Mitsui Fudosan America, Wells Fargo, LaSalle Property Fund, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, PCCP and Gemdale USA, indicating a preference for institutionally-backed joint ventures.
• Increasingly focused on the housing-affordability thesis through Opportunity Housing Group, converting existing market-rate apartments into income-restricted workforce housing via Essential Housing municipal bond financing.
• At the November 2025 IPA/Marcus & Millichap Multifamily Forum, Blake told 400+ investors he sees strong Bay Area multifamily investment prospects heading into 2026, framed around several macro themes driving demand.