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Michael Towbes

MichaelTowbesMichael Towbes is Chairman and owner of the Towbes Group, an award-winning and respected construction, development and asset management company based in Santa Barbara. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Princeton University and attended graduate school at MIT. This training informs his ongoing track record of business success achieved through wise planning and calculated risk.

Under Mr. Towbes’ leadership, the Towbes Group manages more than 2 million square feet of commercial space and 2,100 residential units. The company has developed some 6,000 residential units, as well as 1.4 million square feet of commercial space including shopping centers, office buildings, business parks and a mobile home park. Development is primarily focused in the Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

He has been the general contractor for several low-income housing projects for nonprofit sponsors. Additionally, he is a Senior Life Director of the National Association of Home Builders and has chaired its Commercial/Industrial Council.

Mr. Towbes is also Chairman and owner of Montecito Bank & Trust, a Santa Barbara-based bank with assets of more than $800 million and eight branches in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. He was one of the founders of the bank, which opened in 1975.

As a resident and community leader in Santa Barbara since 1960, Mr. Towbes has a distinctive sensitivity to understanding and meeting community needs. He has served on and chaired numerous local nonprofit boards, including the Board of Cottage Hospital for 27 years, including five years as its chair. He is one of Santa Barbara’s leading philanthropists, with multi-million dollar gifts to create The Granada, a performing arts center in Santa Barbara, and to assure the continued presence of Santa Barbara’s full-time classical music radio station KDB.

Mr. Towbes was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 award finalist in the greater Los Angeles area. He has been honored by his selection as Santa Barbara Man of the Year, recipient of the Santa Barbara News-Press Lifetime Achievement Award and the University of California, Santa Barbara Chancellor’s Medal. He has been chosen both as Santa Barbara Philanthropist of the Year and Santa Barbara Volunteer of the Year by the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives.

 

Robert Skinner

Since joining the Towbes Group 1997, Robert Skinner has served in a number of key leadership roles. He currently oversees all aspects of the company’s business as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. During his tenure, the Towbes Group successfully closed one of the largest leasing transactions in Santa Barbara county history. He also is Chief Operating Office and General Counsel of the Towbes Group-affiliate Montecito Bank & Trust.

In addition to his real estate and banking responsibilities, he is one of the founders and managing principals of Towbes Capital Partners, the real estate investment division of the Towbes Group. He is the chief executive officer of Agility Capital, a venture-debt fund he co-founded in 1999. Along with Michael Towbes, he formed and is managing partner of Twenty One East Victoria Investments, a firm focused on opportunities created by California’s central coast technology industry.

Prior to joining the Towbes Group, Mr. Skinner was an attorney with the international law firm of White & Case specializing in real estate transaction and bankruptcy work in the Los Angeles and New York offices. His legal expertise encompasses complex business litigation and construction and real estate law.

As a community leader, Mr. Skinner has served on the Boards of Directors of Montecito Bank & Trust, the Towbes Foundation, Barrister Executive Suites, the Santa Barbara Foundation, Camerata Pacifica and the development committee for the Santa Barbara Zoo.

Mr. Skinner is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate.

Craig Zimmerman

Craig Zimmerman is President of the Towbes Group, a role he assumed in 2001 after serving as Vice President of Commercial Property Management and as Chief Operating Officer. He currently oversees all of the Towbes Group’s operating divisions including development, construction, commercial and residential property management and maintenance services. Under his leadership, the company has seen consistent growth.

Since joining the Towbes Group in 1999, Mr. Zimmerman’s commitment to professional excellence has further honed the company’s focus on quality and customer service. He has driven a deeper expression of the company culture through the implementation of the Employee Grant Program, employee mentoring programs, and achievement awards based on internal and external customer service. Mr. Zimmerman also is one of the founders and managing principals of Towbes Capital Partners, the real estate investment division of the Towbes Group.

Prior to the Towbes Group, he was Senior Vice President at the renowned real estate development firm Maguire Thomas Partners (now Maguire & Partners). There 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 began his real estate career at Los Angeles-based Barrister Executive Suites, Inc. 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 industry leader. Mr. Zimmerman continues his association with Barrister as a member of its Board of Directors.

Mr. Zimmerman is a licensed real estate broker and is the former 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 contributed his time and support to several nonprofit and affordable housing advocate organizations.

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.