Charles Oewel has completed over 4,700 multifamily housing units and 580,000 square feet of office and retail projects in Texas, Nevada, Washington and California in a career spanning over 40 years. Oewel is the developer of Transit Oriented Development (“TOD”) and mixed-use developments in the San Francisco Bay Area. TOD and mixed-use development include:
• Fremont BART Station: 322 housing units and 85,000 SF of commercial/office- 2001
• Union City BART Station: 282 housing units and 192,000 SF of retail anchored by Safeway and Payless Drugs- 1989
• Pleasant Hill BART Station: 360 housing units- 1990
• Delta Fair Shopping Center and Runaway Bay Apartments: 280 housing units and 180,000 SF of retail anchored by Food for Less and Payless Drugs- 1988 Oewel has completed or is in pre-development of the acquisition and construction of several projects in the Bay Area, gaining valuable local experience and long-standing working relationships with City institutions, professionals and government agencies. Oewel has developed niche skills specializing in the development and asset management of student housing, completing housing at universities in California, Wisconsin, Illinois and West Virginia. A new problem is impacting higher education- housing insecurity and student homelessness. A UCLA research study concludes 16% of all college students in California are homeless; fully 20% of community college students are unsheltered. Community colleges provide motivated students with life-changing opportunities at low tuition costs, but too many are dropping out because housing costs too much. This problem begs solutions to invigorate the mission of these institutions. At the same time, student housing reached a crisis point, the cost of construction has escalated placing roadblocks in the way of delivering housing affordable to students. Oewel has innovated modular housing units finished inside with flooring, walls, ceilings, lighting, heat and air, kitchen and bathroom fixtures manufactured on an assembly line at one half the cost of conventional construction and delivers in months, not years.
In forming Housing and Education Resource Development (HERD), Oewel has assembled a team of professionals with licensed architectural and construction management resources to complete project design, construction and property management. Oewel captains an organization that covers new development from the ground up to stabilized operations.
Oewel holds a bachelor’s degree majoring in economics from Penn State University and an MBA in finance from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Biographical Synopsis: Charles Oewel Business Experience
35 Yrs. Real Estate Development (4,700+ Housing Units, 580,000 SF of Commercial Real Estate, Mixed Use Transit Villages, student housing)
10 Yrs. Real Estate Finance (Citicorp, Barnett Bank of Florida)
Oewel Properties, 1992-2024 Housing and Education Resource Development, CEO and Co- founder, 2022-2024
Non-Profit Experience
Founder and Consultant, Foundation for Community Life, a 501(c)(3) Trustee, Rotary Club of Tiburon-Belvedere Foundation 2007-2015 Past President and Director, Rotary Club of Tiburon-Belvedere 2012-2024
Education
B.S., Economics, Pennsylvania State University M.B.A., Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania