Beth Callender and Pete Garcia are partners in life and in URBAN INTERVENTIONS. They share a passion for cities and are interested in and participated in local efforts to improve the human condition. Whether supporting smart planning, good design, or equal access, their goal is to fund and catalyze projects that lead to a better downtown San Diego.
Before starting URBAN INTERVENTIONS with Beth, Pete had a long, successful career as a designer, builder, developer, and owner of real estate projects, including residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional projects throughout the western U.S., Hawaii, and Costa Rica. For nine years, Pete served as President and CEO of University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors, a major construction and engineering company with yearly revenues of over $200 million and approximately 1,000 employees. He later consulted for several companies, including Walt Disney Imagineering.
Pete is also a partner with David Malmuth in I.D.E.A. Partners, LLC and developed IDEA1 as part of the I.D.E.A. District – a unique urban, mixed-use project in downtown San Diego focusing on Innovation, Design, Education, and Art. In public service, he is a Past-Chairman of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Foundation, Past-Chairman of the Board of AVID Center, and Past Vice-Chair of the State of California Commission for Economic Development.
As Principal in Greenhaus, a nationally-recognized advertising and marketing company, Beth worked throughout the U.S. and Mexico branding, marketing, and consulting on real estate properties including resort destinations, cultural institutions, cities, master planned communities and urban mixed-use projects. At Greenhaus, and throughout her 30+ year career, Beth served as the strategic lead on consumer and market research, the customer journey and marketing implementation. Today she consults with select on clients on marketing, sales, and the customer experience and works locally with organizations focused on downtown San Diego redevelopment and placemaking.
Beth has been an active member of Urban Land Institute for more than 20 years. Her engagement in leadership at ULI has been both at the national and local San Diego level including Chair of the San Diego-Tijuana District Council, Chair of the CDC Gold Product Council, and on the national programs committee. Her role in PCBC, a leading California residential building conference, has been diverse; she has served on the board, on programs, and on strategic planning for the show. She has been a featured speaker at Urban Land Insitute, PCBC, American Marketing Association, and the International Downtown Association.
Funs facts:
Pete wrote and produced an acclaimed motion picture, authored an award-winning novel, and his paintings are held by corporations, institutions and collectors throughout the US, Europe, and Latin America.
Beth is a former ballet dancer whose first love of cities comes from all the inexpensive second-floor studio spaces favored by dance companies.