Sumeet is an unwavering advocate for our community, and I know he will continue to serve Downtown San Diego in this leadership position.
Betsy Brennan, President and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership
SAN DIEGO (January 3, 2019) — Today, the Downtown San Diego Partnership, which seeks to promote an economically prosperous and culturally vibrant urban center and represents more than 11,000 Downtown property owners and 400 business members, announced Sumeet Parekh,
Sumeet Parekh, Managing Partner at HP Investors and New Board Chair at the Downtown San Diego Partnership
“We are thrilled to welcome Sumeet as our new chair. For years, he has served as an active member of the Partnership, voice on our Executive Committee, and chair of the Downtown Clean & Safe Board of Directors. Sumeet is an unwavering advocate for our community, and I know he will continue to serve Downtown San Diego in this leadership position.”
Betsy Brennan, President
Born to Indian immigrants and raised in the region, Sumeet Parekh is a proud, native San Diegan. For more than a decade, he has served as managing partner of San Diego-based HP Investors (HPI), which creates, owns, and manages real estate opportunities for long-term growth and is responsible for more than 25 iconic buildings in the city’s urban center. Under Parekh’s leadership, HPI’s portfolio includes establishing the swanky Sophia Hotel on West Broadway, acquiring the much-sought after Legend Building located directly behind the stands at Petco Park, and partnering on the development of the visionary Makers Quarter in East Village, a new Downtown cultural hub designed to attract the millennial talent required to sustain San Diego’s future workforce.
Before HPI, Parekh acquired, structured, and managed more than $3 billion in real estate investments for The Carlyle Group in New York City, one of the world’s largest and most successful private equity firms. Prior to The Carlyle Group, he served as a real estate investment banking associate at Merrill Lynch and a corporate strategy consultant at Deloitte. Parekh holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Finance and Management from the University of Southern California and San Diego State University.
This year at HPI, Parekh plans to begin converting a historic building, The Grand Pacific Hotel, into a three-story high-end steakhouse, and also seeks to begin enhancing the J Street Corridor, adjacent to the Padres baseball stadium, into one of the city’s most exciting retail areas. With ambitious plans set for his company ahead of the new year, he has also established some very important goals for his DSDP chairmanship. As the new DSDP board chair, he knows the success of HPI’s projects are directly related to the health and vibrancy of Downtown. As such, he’s committed to a three-pronged platform of attracting more jobs and employers, working to address homelessness and public safety issues, and enhancing Downtown San Diego’s overall community, culture, and quality of life.
Parekh was unanimously elected as Chair by the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Board of Directors. While his leadership role formally began on January 1, 2019, his ceremonial appointment will take place during the Partnership’s annual Installation Dinner on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.
Parekh succeeds immediate past chair Craig Benedetto (Partner, California Strategies) and will be joined by the following officers of the Downtown Partnership Board of Directors in 2019: Chanelle Hawken (Vice President, Government and Public Affairs, Cox Communications), James Lawson (President, Presidio Public Affairs Group), Bill Sauls (William H. Sauls, Attorney At Law), and Phil Rath (Principal, Rath Miller).