About REthink
REthink Development, with offices in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California, has differentiated itself by initiating development projects that reflect the context in which they are built. The context that informs the project includes considerations of the sun, wind and natural environment and the historical and cultural context in addition to the traditional influences of economic conditions and market trends.
REthink’s contextual development approach makes us capable of achieving entitlements in challenging neighborhoods and difficult sites where other companies would struggle. Unlike many developers, every REthink project evolves from the unique set of site characteristics including environmental, historic, and cultural/ social influences. By doing so, the community is involved in defining the final product. REthink backs this unique approach with sound fundamental financial analysis. By integrating our ownership perspective with the contextual design approach we achieve sustainable buildings with superior economic performance and value.
Team members are astutely knowledgeable on the technologies, techniques, solutions, and materials that encompass the green building industry as well as bringing modern creative buildings to the market. Lastly, the team as a whole truly believes in the benefits of green building and wants to spread its practice as much as possible throughout the country and world.
Team members also have ample experience in the real estate and financial markets enabling the close tying of green building and renewable energy to their very important financial benefits and implications. Additionally, the Team is supported by Advisors who have developed, owned or consulted on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of multifamily, retail, office, and industrial developments, have acquired, disposed of, and financed billions of dollars worth of real estate and own and manage a number of shopping centers, industrial, and multifamily developments throughout Southern California.
Greg Reitz, Principal, REthink Development
At REthink, Mr. Reitz has been responsible for sourcing, financing, securing City approvals and managing the construction of several ground-breaking projects including an 89-unit apartment building on State Street in the City of Santa Barbara, its first significant apartment building in nearly 50 years. He also ensured REthink’s Cherokee Studios mixed-use development project in Hollywood was designed to achieve LEED Platinum and was awarded the National AIA Top 10 Green Project Award. In 2009, Greg was selected as a Green Leader by the California Real Estate Journal.
As the former Green Building Advisor for the city of Santa Monica, he was responsible for overseeing all green building activities and programs including authoring the Residential Green Building Guide. During his tenure there, Santa Monica went from having no LEED-certified buildings to having more LEED buildings per capita than any other city in the country.
A LEED Accredited Professional and an emeritus board member of the Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), he has supported the efforts of many cities across the state – including Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Culver City – in developing green building policies.
Mr. Reitz has a degree in Cybernetics from University of California Los Angeles.
Steve Edwards, Founder and Principal
Steve Edwards is an entrepreneur and real estate development professional committed to pursuing innovation through creative development. He is principal and president at REthink Development a boutique real estate development company and Sr VP of Lifestyle Development at Ensemble Investments a full-service development and real estate company.
Steve is responsible for leading highly specialized mixed-use development projects and districts that combine hospitality and creative placemaking techniques with emerging prop-tech solutions in a sustainable manner. From a one-of-a-kind boutique hotel that will break all molds on Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice to a set of 6 mixed-use projects with 1200+ units and close to 2 million square feet in the Silicon Valley, Steve is figuring out and building what is “next” for real estate.
Steve has spent the last 20+ years sourcing, entitling, developing, redeveloping, and managing unique real estate development projects. He is responsible for taking $1 billion of projects to various levels of entitlement and development.
Prior to real estate, Steve worked in software technology and digital entertainment. He ran technology product management for Redpoint Ventures backed digital entertainment technology company founded by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck creating first of its kind cross platform entertainment experiences and games – LivePlanet. He product managed technology development with 30-person Silicon Valley engineering team. He designed and product managed custom game, peer review, matching, and group engines for integrated entertainment experiences that were aired on ABC, HBO, MTV and theatrically.
Prior to LivePlanet and directly out of college, he co-founded and ran product management and marketing for venture capital backed knowledge management software company based on a neural network engine (early A.I.) in San Francisco.
Steve has degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Management from Leeds School of Business at University of Colorado and a degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with a minor in Biochemistry at University of Colorado. He is also teaching various elements of real estate development and investment as an Adjunct Professor in the Marshall School of Business.