About Us
Gary Downs
Principal & Managing Member
Gary partially owns and manages over 60 apartment developments, comprising over 3,500 units. The developments are located in California and Texas. He is a founding principal of Highland Property Development, Impact Development Group and Downs Pham and Kuei. The real estate industry recognizes him as an expert in the development of affordable housing. He also maintains a legal practice where he represents developers, lenders and investors on real estate, tax credit and affordable housing matters. Mr. Downs participates in the development of local, state and national housing policy. He is Vice Chair of the Urban Land Institute Affordable and Workforce Housing Council. His Board Member positions are in 2Gen Equities, a non-profit with a mission of mitigating poverty and Preservation Housing Foundation, a non - profit involved in the preservation of historic buildings and management of affordable housing. As an avid biker, he is also active in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two sons and maintains offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Arcadia, California.
Cynthia Michels
Development Manager
Cindy supervises the legal and due diligence aspects of all Impact acquisitions including land use planning, financing applications, loan closings and equity syndications. Cindy is also responsible for managing community and governmental relations. Prior to joining Impact, Cindy spent 16 years as a principal of an affordable housing developer in the City of Los Angeles. She also gained valuable experience at two national syndicators of affordable housing where she was responsible for due diligence reviews, investor relations, and various other aspects relating to the purchase of housing tax credits in exchange for partnership interests in affordable communities. Cindy has extensive legal experience having previously worked as a paralegal at law firms in Los Angeles and the DC area.
Frank Gamwell
Senior Vice President of Construction at HPC
A director of Highland Property Construction, Inc. and serves as its Senior Vice President of Construction. Mr. Gamwell has over thirty years of multi-faceted construction and development experience on projects throughout Europe, the Pacific Rim and the Western United States. Mr. Gamwell is a two-time president of the Western Region of the Construction Management Association of America, is a LEED Accredited Professional, and is widely recognized as a Construction Defect and Construction Cost Expert in litigation matters. Mr. Gamwell has been involved as a Construction Manager, Estimator and Project Executive on numerous complex and prestigious projects, including the $1.5 billion expansion of Disneyland, the Salk Institute expansion in La Jolla, CA, and the build-out of Amgen, Inc.’s campus in Thousand Oaks, CA. Mr. Gamwell has managed the construction or renovation of fifteen student housing projects at renowned campuses throughout California, including UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley. Mr. Gamwell has worked on the renovation and adaptive re-use of more than twenty historic buildings, including the catalyst projects at the heart of Los Angeles’ urban boom in 2001. He is also an expert in multifamily construction and renovation, having completed the renovation of almost 20 projects recently. Mr. Gamwell’s affinity toward environmental issues has led him to focus on urban infill, historic restoration, adaptive re-use projects, and the efficient rehabilitation of multi-family residential housing. Please see the services page for more on HPC.
