Leadership
Neil Calfee
For over two decades, Neil Calfee has demonstrated expertise and experience in the cultivation and management of complex development projects, involving both intergovernmental “public-public partnerships” and public-private (P3) partnerships between one or more government entities and a private sector developer. For the past five years, Neil has served as the Principal of Calfee Development Advisors (CDA), a consulting firm focused on serving public and private clients in the areas of partnership creation, public procurement, transaction structuring, and project management. Prior to forming CDA, Neil was Director of Real Estate Development for Arizona State University (ASU) and prior to that, Redevelopment and Revitalization Manager for the City of Tempe.
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Throughout his career, Neil has led a diverse range of projects in a variety of capacities. His unique blend of skills spanning higher education, municipal government, and private sector development allows him to undertake unique projects that are not typical in the market.
At ASU, Neil was involved in the creation of new public-private partnerships which resulted in the successful development of more than 2,000 beds of student housing on ASU ground-leased parcels across three separate campuses, plus the development of two dining facilities within those same partnerships. He was project lead on ASU’s efforts to successfully attract the largest single office project in Arizona history – a 2-million square foot regional headquarters for State Farm Insurance, also on ASU-owned property. Neil was instrumental in forging numerous successful P3s allowing ASU to repurpose several underperforming assets which benefitted both the university and the surrounding community.
Prior to his tenure at ASU, Neil spent 12 years with the City of Tempe, leading redevelopment and revitalization efforts for the city. During this time Neil created and managed numerous large-scale public-private partnerships within the city and worked on a wide range of issues including brownfield redevelopment, urban revitalization, neighborhood economic development, affordable housing, and historic preservation.
Neil has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Planning and an MBA, both from Arizona State University.
Ross Robb
Ross Robb has over 30 years of real estate and development management experience with a focus on public-private partnerships with cities, including Tempe and Chandler, Arizona and Omaha, Nebraska and public universities, including Arizona State University and San Francisco State University. From 2008 until 2016, Ross was Vice President of Development; Public-Private Partnerships for University House Communities, a student housing focused development and management company, where he oversaw the development of Century Residence Hall and Citrus Dining Hall at Arizona State University and University House Tempe – Phase 2.
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Ross was co-managing partner of Benton-Robb Development Associates, LLP (1991 – 2008) and a co-managing member of Riverfront Holdings, LLC (2004 – present) where he led the negotiation of an array of joint venture agreements and public-private agreements resulting in the development of major mixed-use projects including Hayden Ferry Lakeside on Tempe Town Lake (Tempe, Arizona), and Riverfront Place on the Missouri River (Omaha, Nebraska).
Ross served for nine-and-one-half years on the Kyrene School District Governing Board, 4 of those years as Board President. He is the Board President of Arizona Capital Facilities Finance Corporation, a 501(c)(4) organization that, since 1999, has financed and re-financed over $500 million of public-private projects at Arizona State University. Ross is the founder and Chairman of the Caitlin Robb Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that has raised and granted over $2 million for pediatric cancer research and patient need programs. Ross has an MBA from Arizona State University and a BS in Accounting from the University of Buffalo.