Client of the Month: The Michaels Organization
6010 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA
McCullough is excited to feature The Michaels Organization as our November Client of the Month. Since 1973, The Michaels Organization has been creating a legacy that can be summed up in one powerful phrase, “The world is a better place to live where we build and manage it.” Based in Camden NJ, and now in 37 states across the US, Michaels houses over 175,000 residences across the U.S. They own and manage 440 affordable living communities and have about $2 billion worth of projects in the pipeline. Most of their portfolio is affordable housing as well as student, military, and market rate. With 2,300 employees now, the organization continues to grow.
We sat down with Abbie Hawkins, Director of Development, to learn about her role, the impact The Michaels Organization is having on the community, and the projects and programs she is most looking forward to being involved in.
Abbie joined Michaels in July of 2022. Their commitment to provide housing in San Diego caught her attention immediately. She had been seeing them pop up all over the place in the San Diego area and fell in love with their company values and culture. For Michaels, it’s all about what they do and the people they do it for.
“My passion is providing housing and the impact it has to lift lives,” which is the company motto. “It’s about more than just providing essential housing, it’s about how that housing allows people onto the next phase of their life, and creates a stronger community, which is really cool for me.”
Photo Courtesy of the Michaels Organization
Creating Thriving Communities for Everyone
What sets Michaels apart has to do with looking at the larger picture. This is about embracing and leveraging their individual differences to the benefit of their teammates, business, and the communities they serve. One of the major pillars of the organization is creating a platform to help people move on to the next stage of their life - one aspect of that is giving scholarships to employees - to date they have given out over $11 million in scholarships. Not only does the organization encourage employees to pursue continuing education and learning opportunities to grow, but they have support over the residents of their properties as well. Michaels was the first affordable housing company in the industry to offer impact-driven programming to foster resident empowerment.
Photo Courtesy of the Michaels Organization
Today, they are partnered with Better Tomorrows, a nonprofit organization within the affordable housing developments that Michaels serves, and provides impactful community programming to low-income adults, seniors, children, and youth. Michaels has also partnered with Mastery High School of Camden, New Jersey and they welcome students for a 18-week internship program.
“This company is so unique and different from the typical development firm, every week there is a new way headquarters is getting people involved,” says Abbie.
Looking Ahead
Abbie’s focus has been on workforce housing and student housing. But it doesn't stop there, the Company recently combined all development departments into one collaborative group, where they are focused on P3 ventures, partnering with schools, both non-profit and for-profit, and government entities. Now that its all under one roof, they are looking at everything from affordable to military to market rate housing.
One exciting upcoming project will be in the middle of downtown San Diego. This project will deliver over 1,000 units in two 40 story towers - one not really being done around town. This project was won in an RFP process through the State of California’s Department of General Services in an Executive Order to create housing. It is exactly what the community needs, producing middle income housing, that has been left out of the market and will target workforce households, earning between 79% to 120% AMI in one tower and 20% affordable units with market rate units in the second tower.
Surrounding the conversation around Complete Communities, McCullough is looking forward to working with The Michaels Organization on an upcoming project located at 6010 El Cajon Blvd, which will be 236-unit project being processed under Complete Communities. This will be wonderful for that particular community and will provide necessary inclusionary housing for students and residents in the area. We are looking forward to sharing more as the project continues.
6010 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA
There is a lot to look forward to in the pipeline for The Michaels Organization and the opportunity to bring relief with essential housing for the City of San Diego and our community. The current housing crisis doesn’t show any sign of slowing and The Michaels Organization is working hard with local stakeholders to ease the housing needs. Although McCullough’s relationship is just beginning, we are looking forward to the many opportunities to work together to solve cities' housing needs, and deliver beautiful spaces where residents can thrive, grow, and live fully.
Melanie Loria
Marketing + Business Development Manager
Catherine McCullough Recognized as Finalist at Business Women of the Year Awards
The McCullough team is proud to announce that Catherine was nominated and among the finalists for the 2022 Business Women Of The Year Awards by the San Diego Business Journal (SDBJ). SDBJ recognizes dynamic women business leaders who have contributed significantly to San Diego’s workplaces and communities. David McCullough, PLA, ASLA and Catherine McCullough, FSMPS, CPSM attended the awards event on Tuesday, November 15. It was an inspiring afternoon of celebrating the accomplishments and impact so many women have made on businesses in San Diego.
Catherine and David at the Awards Ceremony, November 15,2022
Nominated by Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) San Diego, Catherine has been a prominent business leader in San Diego and beyond for several years. In 2001, she joined McCullough Landscape Architecture with partner, David McCullough, and became the Chief Executive Officer and President in 2002. The firm then became a woman-owned corporation and Small Business Enterprise (SBE). Catherine is a mentor and inspiration to several other women in the industry by being recognized as a Fellow of The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and serving as past president, as well as a national board member and regional conference leader. In addition to serving on the Marketing and Programs Committees for CREW and mentoring others within the organization, she is continuously sharing and contributing her in-depth knowledge and expertise with others in the Commercial Real Estate industry. Outside the office, she has spent many years volunteering at her children’s schools over the years and continues to volunteer in her North Park neighborhood by planning events and coordinating a historic streetlight district, all while running a successful landscape architecture business.
We want to also say congratulations to Mary Walshok for receiving this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and to all the other incredible women recognized in the following categories: Rising Star, Nonprofit, Small Company, Medium Company, and Large Company. According to Catherine, Mary’s key takeaways to everyone shared during her acceptance speech contained the “Seven Cs” – Complexity, Connectivity, Competency, Change, Chaos, Confidence, and Celebrations. All items women should embrace with grace and tenacity. Additionally, Mary provided a quote to remember,
“Girls compete with each other. Women empower each other.”
Catherine and David McCullough with past president of CREW San Diego, Bree Wong, and Lucas Mallory, both of PCL Construction
Catherine with fellow CREW San Diego 2023 Board of Directors member and Business Women of the Year winner in the Large Company category, Alexis Volen of CIRE Equity - CONGRATULATIONS, ALEXIS!
We couldn’t be prouder of this honor for our leader to be among the many inspiring finalists from the San Diego Business Journal Business Women of the Year awards.
Melanie Loria
Marketing + Business Development Manager
Happy Thanksgiving!
We would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. For McCullough, it is all about gratitude. We are thankful for the amazing community, clients and projects that have shaped our practice and our lives. The places we work in and design for, and the people we do it with. We are so thankful for the friendship and support of so many clients, family, and friends.
We have been humbled by the trust you have placed in our firm, and we are grateful to be able to celebrate with you this holiday season. In addition to all of you, we would also like to acknowledge our hardworking staff. We could not do what we do without them! As landscape designers, we get to create meaningful and thoughtful spaces that are both functional and great places to spend time with friends and family.
May the day find you and yours healthy, happy, and safe!
*Please note, our offices we will be closed November 24th and 25th.