Best Minds: Bob Gardner

Best Minds: Bob Gardner

February 27, 2025

By Joshua Boren, Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives, RCLCO

How does a career in consulting inform a commitment to philanthropy?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, RCLCO’s Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives, Joshua Boren, speaks with Bob Gardner, Managing Director Emeritus, about his over forty year-long career working in the urban environment, with roles spanning the private and public sectors. They discuss Bob’s journey through real estate, from working as an economist, to founding his own firm, to joining RCLCO.

“In order for us to be good consultants, we needed to be good people. You just can’t fool these top developers, entrepreneurs, investors —you need to be straight up, and they need to have confidence in who you are, and the firm that you represent, and equally as important, the work product that comes out….Those are the qualities I take with me into the public work that I do.”

– Bob on what lessons he has carried from consulting to his charitable work

The discussion also dives into Bob’s philanthropic work, including his long history with Community Corp. of Santa Monica —who were recently awarded the 2025 RCLCO Foundation Affordable Housing Leadership Award—in addition to his volunteer work with Chrysalis, and contributions to ULI’s TAP program.

“Community Corp is working to provide housing where the private sector does not, and that has proven to be a good fit for me, and has allowed me, at this point in my career, to make a difference and touch so many lives with the work that Community Corp does. At the moment, Community Corp operates over 2,000 apartments —most of them are in Santa Monica, although our new projects are in Los Angeles. Our occupancy rate is over 98%, and it’s been a wonderful experience.”

– Bob on the work of Community Corp. of Santa Monica

“It has been one of the best experiences of my life to be able to be associated with that organization. To see somebody who had no self-image understand that they may have value, that they may have worth—and gain more enthusiasm about who they are and what they can do.”

– Bob’s experience with Chrysalis, a non-profit dedicated to changing lives through jobs.

About Bob Gardner

Managing Director Emeritus 

Bob has served as a Community Corporation Board member since 2005 and currently serves on its Executive Committee as Treasurer. He is a long-time Santa Monica resident and is passionate about helping address Los Angeles’ housing challenges. Bob also engages in community service as a current member of ULI/Los Angeles’ Technical Assistance Panel Committee, having chaired that committee in the past. In addition, he is a long-standing volunteer at Chrysalis in Los Angeles, a non-profit organization providing job readiness programs to individuals seeking to reconnect to the workforce and get on a path to self-sufficiency.

As Managing Director Emeritus in RCLCO’s Los Angeles office, Bob has over 40 years of professional experience providing market and financial feasibility evaluations, and fiscal and economic assessments of commercial and residential real estate projects for both private and public sector clients. RCLCO is proud to also honor Bob’s contributions to Community Corp., and his contribution to RCLCO over more than four decades.

About Joshua Boren

Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives

Joshua Boren is the Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives for RCLCO and works across the firm’s three lines of business to drive major efforts and undertakings both externally and internally. Specifically, Joshua specializes in leading business development, client management, marketing, and customer solutions as part of the RCLCO team. With nearly 20 years of experience, Joshua brings a particular expertise in understanding how network building and relationship management is critical to organizational success, resulting in millions of dollars of revenue generation and successful RCLCO engagements across a range of client types include institutional investors, developers, owners, operators, and the like.

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