Skip Whitney

A native of San Francisco, Skip started his real estate career in 1972. He has been involved in all facets of real estate from residential, commercial, bio tech, innovation, leasing, investment sales, development, and capital markets.

In addition to his work with U.S. clients, Skip has consistently been successful in advising clients from China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia as an advisor for inward-bound investment and leasing transactions on the West Coast of America since 1982. He has gained the reputation as one of the early leaders in the China/US cross-border transactions and one of the top real estate executives for Chinese investment on the West Coast.

Skip is the founding member of Kidder Mathews Asia-Pacific Services, one of the only China-focused Cross Pacific real estate groups in the U.S. The group offers advisory services for site location, brokerage, development, joint ventures and property management services to Chinese companies looking to invest in the United States and U. S. real estate companies looking for strategic capital partners.

Skip has been involved in investment transactions worth over $2.5 billion and hundreds of lease and sale transactions.

As a key influencer and advisor in Bay Area and China relations, he is the co-founder of Bay Area Council’s China Initiative and signatory to the Council’s Memorandum of Understanding with China Yangtze Council. He also co-founded San Francisco City’s economic initiative ChinaSF, with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Skip was the founding co-partner of the Bryant Street Pier International Cruise Terminal, a 750,000 square feet mixed-use project, which was to be built at Pier 30-32 of San Francisco in 2001. Other partners included PSA/Maple Leaf of Singapore, China Maritime Transport of Hong Kong-Taiwan and Lendlease of Australia.

On behalf of the former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Skip handled the real estate negotiations for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). He was one of the driving forces for San Francisco’s Mission Bay Science and Technology Park, a 12 million square foot mixed-use development project, consisting of commercial, residential, life science, cleantech, IT, and UCSF research center.

Passionate about wine, film and giving back to the community, Skip is an ambassador-at-large for the California Film Institute, and co-founded the Singapore International Film Festival. He has represented of several wineries in Napa Valley to promote California wines into Chinese market, including Opus One Winery and Staglin Family Vineyard. He also is shareholder of the Mayacama Golf and Country Club in Healdsburg, California.