It’s the way we think 
that sets us apart.

TMG Partners has been in the business of developing award-winning, financially-successful, community-based real estate for 40 years. As much as we have accomplished over the last four decades, we believe it is the way we THINK about our region, the risks we manage, the critical timing of our projects and the value we create that sets us apart.
Localism

Real Estate is
a local business.

No, really.

The San Francisco Bay Area is an extremely diverse real estate marketplace with countless micro-business climates teeming with possibility. But you have to be here—and know here—to make the most of the opportunities all around us. Having been exclusively committed to the Bay Area for four decades, we have developed a keen local intuition which gives us a unique advantage in recognizing both the opportunities and risks in this complex market.
Regionalism

We Think 
Mega

If we try to solve our land use problems by focusing
only on the nine Bay Area counties, we will fail.

Michael CovarrubiasChairman & Co-CEO

As the Bay Area’s economy has grown over the last four decades, so too has its challenges—particularly related to transportation, housing, affordability and climate change. To plan for growth of 4 million more people in the next third of a century, TMG is thinking bigger, beyond our nine Bay Area counties, and working on longer term strategies to create greater connectivity across our entire megaregion.
Timing

It’s got to work at low tide as well as high tide.

Some of our best deals are the ones we didn’t do.

Matt FieldCo-CEO

Almost anyone can make money in a positive economic climate. But it takes discipline, depth of market knowledge and experience in all major product types to know when to buy and when to sell. The most profitable deals can be the ones you decide just don’t make sense or are outbid by an “out of town” competitor. Because we are active in our markets on a daily basis, TMG Partners has managed a portfolio through 40 years of market cycles that works in all phases and has withstood the sands of time.
Vision

huh?

Once it’s obvious, it’s too late.

Cathy GreenwoldSenior Advisor

If you wait for the statistical proof to confirm real estate opportunities, you’re looking backwards. TMG Partners has cultivated an approach to studying the business landscape that reveals market opportunities before they become obvious. Our contrarian investment strategy balances optimism and caution with the intent of turning forward-looking investments into no-brainers.
Returns

Redefining IRR

Our measure for success goes beyond profit.

Lynn TolinChief Operating Officer &
Executive Vice President

Most investment professionals have a clear understanding of IRR: Internal Rate of Return, a purely financial measurement of performance. At TMG we use a different definition. For us, IRR means balancing Integrity, Relationships and Results. We measure every aspect of our business through this lens to ensure our partners, communities, tenants and buyers are treated with the highest degree of respect and responsibility while we consistently deliver superior financial performance.
Think
Localism
Regionalism
Timing
Vision
Returns
Close

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News & Awards.

TMG Partners has won awards for many projects
including honors for “Best Mixed Use,”
“Best Office,” and “Best Historic Rehabilitation”.
In the News. Press Releases. Awards.
CBS News
CBS News Bay Area
Berkeley offers amnesty to property owners to help make unpermitted ADUs compliant
By Kenny Choi

Denise Pinkston has been brainstorming on paper -- and in her mind -- more ways to create affordable housing ever since she realized state laws for decades made it nearly impossible to build accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs.

"There was hardly any zoning where you could have an ADU. As a result, no one could get a building permit," said Pinkston.

Early in her career, Pinkston worked in local government planning for Marin County, enforcing building codes.

"It broke my heart to go to places like Bolinas and West Marin and force a homeowner who needed that income stream to evict a tenant," said Pinkston.

Pinkston left her role and co-founded the Casita Coalition, a non-profit that led the charge to change state laws in 2017, making it easier for homeowners to build ADUs.

While permitting eased, there are still tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, unpermitted dwellings in homes across the Bay Area, according to housing experts.   

The city of Berkeley is hoping to remedy that by launching an amnesty program that will give homeowners of unpermitted ADUs a path to make them legal.

"By creating a pathway that makes it easier and more affordable to get that unit rented, we could potentially be adding a number of new housing units to the rental market," said Jordan Klein, Berkeley's Director of Planning and Development.

Klein says the program would bring more cost-effective rental units to Berkeley's high-cost housing market in a safe manner.

"It's important that we make sure that every housing unit is safe and habitable," said Klein.

"In a housing crisis that is epic and decades old, this is a small, incremental, easy step that allows people to do what they're doing anyway, but do it safely and legally," said Pinkston.

The four-year pilot program assures homeowners the process will be confidential and no penalties will be assessed on the previously undocumented apartments.

"When our laws say all those illegal ADUs you have are illegal and you're a bad homeowner if you continue to keep your tenant, it's time to update that," said Pinkston.

For Pinkston, it's the kind of work that is now much more than a sketch and idea, to address California's housing crisis.

Berkeley officials say to qualify, the unit must have been built or converted before 2020. They add the city is uncertain how many unpermitted ADUs exist within the city, but acknowledge it could be in the thousands.

A study by researchers at Stanford University determined that for every legal accessory dwelling unit built in San Jose between 2016 and 2020, there were three-to-four "informal" or unpermitted ADUs built.