Skip to content
    • About CED
    • Academics
    • For Students
    • CED
      • About CED
        • Community + Values
        • People at CED
        • Meet CED Alums
        • Our Spaces
        • Our History
        • Work at CED
        • Giving
        • Contact Us
      • Academics
        • Undergraduate Majors + Minors
        • Graduate Programs
        • Concurrent Graduate Degrees
        • Certificates
        • Summer Programs
        • Study Abroad
      • Admissions
        • Undergraduate Admissions
        • Graduate Admissions
        • Fees + Financial Aid
      • Undergraduate Advising
        • Newly Admitted Students
        • Forms + Policies
        • Major + Minor Requirements
        • Prepare for Graduation
        • Academic Progress Report
      • News + Events
        • News
        • Events
      • Research + Design
        • Affiliated Research Centers
        • Climate Solutions
        • Equity + Social Justice
        • Technology + Material Innovations
        • Design Excellence
        • Publications
        • Environmental Design Archives
        • Student Work
      • Student Resources
        • Student Organizations
        • Student Support
        • Awards, Scholarships, Fellowships
        • Academic Student Employment
        • Student Fees and Waivers
        • IT + Computing
        • Fabrication + Materials
        • Environmental Design Library
        • Building Safety
        • Facility Services
        • Careers + Opportunities
    • ARCH
      • About Architecture
        • Commitment to Diversity
        • Accreditation and Licensure
      • People
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Master of Architecture (MArch)
        • Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
        • Master of Science in Architecture
        • PhD in Architecture
        • Bachelor of Arts
        • Minors
      • Gallery
      • Courses
      • Advising
    • LAND
      • About LAEP
      • People
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Master of Landscape Architecture
        • PhD
        • Bachelor of Arts
        • Minor in Landscape Architecture
      • Gallery
      • Advising
    • CITY
      • About DCRP
      • People
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Master of City Planning
        • PhD
        • Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies
        • Minor in City Planning
        • Minor in Geospatial Information Science & Technology
      • Gallery
      • Advising
    • IURD
      • About IURD
      • People
      • IURD Research Projects
      • Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D)
        • About Abbey MRED+D
        • Abbey MRED+D Admissions
        • Abbey MRED+D Courses
        • People
      • Master of Urban Design (MUD)
        • People
      • BA in Sustainable Environmental Design
      • Advising
  • CED
    • About CED
      • Community + Values
      • People at CED
      • Meet CED Alums
      • Our Spaces
      • Our History
      • Work at CED
      • Giving
      • Contact Us
    • Academics
      • Undergraduate Majors + Minors
      • Graduate Programs
      • Concurrent Graduate Degrees
      • Certificates
      • Summer Programs
      • Study Abroad
    • Admissions
      • Undergraduate Admissions
      • Graduate Admissions
      • Fees + Financial Aid
    • Undergraduate Advising
      • Newly Admitted Students
      • Forms + Policies
      • Major + Minor Requirements
      • Prepare for Graduation
      • Academic Progress Report
    • News + Events
      • News
      • Events
    • Research + Design
      • Affiliated Research Centers
      • Climate Solutions
      • Equity + Social Justice
      • Technology + Material Innovations
      • Design Excellence
      • Publications
      • Environmental Design Archives
      • Student Work
    • Student Resources
      • Student Organizations
      • Student Support
      • Awards, Scholarships, Fellowships
      • Academic Student Employment
      • Student Fees and Waivers
      • IT + Computing
      • Fabrication + Materials
      • Environmental Design Library
      • Building Safety
      • Facility Services
      • Careers + Opportunities
  • ARCH
    • About Architecture
      • Commitment to Diversity
      • Accreditation and Licensure
    • People
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Master of Architecture (MArch)
      • Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
      • Master of Science in Architecture
      • PhD in Architecture
      • Bachelor of Arts
      • Minors
    • Gallery
    • Courses
    • Advising
  • LAND
    • About LAEP
    • People
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Master of Landscape Architecture
      • PhD
      • Bachelor of Arts
      • Minor in Landscape Architecture
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • CITY
    • About DCRP
    • People
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Master of City Planning
      • PhD
      • Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies
      • Minor in City Planning
      • Minor in Geospatial Information Science & Technology
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • IURD
    • About IURD
    • People
    • IURD Research Projects
    • Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D)
      • About Abbey MRED+D
      • Abbey MRED+D Admissions
      • Abbey MRED+D Courses
      • People
    • Master of Urban Design (MUD)
      • People
    • BA in Sustainable Environmental Design
    • Advising
  • About CED
  • Academics
  • For Students
  • About CED
  • Academics
  • For Students
BACK
BACK
Ben Metcalf
Twitter

Ben Metcalf

Research Professor, City & Regional Planning; Managing Director, Terner Center for Housing Innovation; Practice Director, Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design
Email
ben.metcalf@berkeley.edu
Website(s)
Terner Center
Website(s)
https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/whoweare
Email
ben.metcalf@berkeley.edu
EDUCATION
Master of Public Policy and Urban Planning, Harvard Kennedy School
BA, Amherst College

BIOGRAPHY

Ben Metcalf is the managing director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, where he leads the expansion and deepening of the center’s work addressing housing affordability challenges through rigorous research and policy analysis. In addition, he holds an appointment as Associate Research Professor with UC Berkeley’s Department of City & Regional Planning and serves as practice director for the Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design. He is also the chief executive officer of Terner Labs, a nonprofit organization formed in 2021 to advance the applied innovation work of the Terner Center.

In 2015, Metcalf was appointed by former Governor Jerry Brown to lead California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), a role he held until 2019. During his tenure at the state, he played an instrumental role in the passage and implementation of the 2017 Housing Package and oversaw the department during a period of significant expansion of the state’s financial and regulatory reach into housing and land use matters. In addition, Metcalf served on the board of directors of the California Housing Partnership Corporation and the California Housing Finance Agency, and he was the founding chair of the State of California’s Homelessness Coordinating and Finance Council.

Prior to joining HCD, Metcalf worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., including as an appointee of President Obama in the role of deputy assistant secretary overseeing HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs. His responsibilities included oversight of the Federal Housing Administration multifamily guaranteed loan portfolio and a subsidized affordable housing portfolio representing 30,000 multifamily properties across the U.S. As senior advisor to the FHA commissioner on multifamily housing, he developed key administration priorities related to energy efficiency; housing for the elderly, disabled, and formerly homeless; and comprehensive neighborhood revitalization.

Earlier in his career, Metcalf developed mixed-income and mixed-use communities with California-based BRIDGE Housing Corporation. He had day-to-day responsibility for a portfolio of major projects from initial due diligence and site acquisition through approvals, design and construction, bringing forward ~$125 million in development activity and played key roles in successfully securing environmental and land use approvals for four major Bay Area land opportunities representing ~$1.5 billion of new development.

Metcalf holds a master’s degree in public policy and urban planning from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA from Amherst College. He served as inaugural fellow at the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

COURSES TAUGHT

CYPLAN 230 U.S. Housing, Planning, and Policy

​CYPLAN 238 Studio in Affordable Housing Development

Photo Modal

Berkeley home page

230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820 Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820 | Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

  • Contact
  • Work at CED
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Linkedin
  • Accessibility
  • Land Acknowledgment
  • Privacy
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Credits

© 2025 UC Regents; all rights reserved.

    • DONATE NOW
    • ARCH
    • CITY
    • LAND
    • IURD
Berkeley home page
  • ARCH
  • CITY
  • LAND
  • IURD
  • DONATE NOW
  • Contact
  • Work at CED
  • Faculty + Staff

230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820 Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

  • Accessibility
  • Land Acknowledgment
  • Privacy
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Credits

© 2025 UC Regents; all rights reserved.