The commercial real estate sector is driven by a diverse set of market trends, from the expansion of young tech firms to rising foreign investment and the evolving work/life preferences of a growing millennial workforce that will increasingly influence retail and office property development and investment.
As real estate investors become more conservative in their outlook, they look at markets more closely and differentiate among product types more carefully―for instance, when it’s harder to attract financing for multifamily deals, technology companies may be increasing their space needs at an incredible pace.
At the same time, interesting new growth opportunities are emerging in the rise of non-bank financing and public private partnership (PPP) for infrastructure and other projects.
We are dealmakers, not just lawyers
We take our clients’ success personally. Many of us have had business careers in addition to our legal careers. We bring a strong business orientation and a real understanding of our clients’ goals and risk tolerances. We understand that our job is to get things done.
While we certainly provide legal counsel, our decades of experience give us the perspective to provide strategic input on the market, out-of-the-box solutions and mitigation of risk. We focus on efficient deal management, providing excellent service and minimizing friction and stress—making deals happen is supposed to be enjoyable.
Who we work with
We work with clients ranging from institutional owners to entrepreneurial developers to large corporate/technology companies.
Our clients include companies such as AT&T, Facebook, Jay Paul, PIMCO, Avanath, TH Real Estate (formerly TIAA-CREF), Equity Residential, Fannie Mae, Lowe Enterprises, LACMA, Columbia Property Trust, Dignity Health, Archrock, PlumpJack Group, Trader Joe’s, The Macerich Company, Trammell Crow Residential, Prudential and Westfield.
What we do
With significant depth and experience across most real estate asset classes and all phases of development projects, we can help with complex financings, joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, affordable housing, leasing, public/private transactions, debt and equity finance, hospitality, construction, and design and loan restructurings.
And as part of a large full-service firm, we can and do call on our colleagues for experience in the tax, environmental, securities, intellectual property and litigation aspects of our clients’ businesses.
Avanath Capital Management, a real estate investment firm focused on conventional and affordable multifamily properties, in completing an approximately $248 million recapitalization transaction for Avanath Affordable Housing I, LLC.
Bently Enterprises, LLC, in its $145 million sale of the historic landmark Bently Reserve building in downtown San Francisco to New York-based real estate investment company RFR Holding LLC.
California State University San Marcos Corporation, a subsidiary of California State University, San Marcos, in connection with the negotiation of a public-private partnership arrangement to develop an extended learning facility for the university.
Gemalto Cogent Inc., a digital security firm, in negotiating and closing the sale of its headquarters campus in Pasadena, California, for approximately $25 million.
Jay Paul Company, a leading and prolific real estate developer whose major Silicon Valley tenants include Facebook, Amazon and Google, in virtually every one of its financings and refinancings of more than 12 million square feet of institutional-quality space, with an additional 6 million square feet in its active pipeline, totaling more than $14 billion of transactions.
John & Marcia Goldman Foundation in the approval and construction of EPACENTER ARTS, a 21,000-square-foot youth community center that will provide educational opportunities for youth in East Palo Alto, California.
Lowe Enterprises in the formation of an Opportunity Zone joint venture with Related Fund Management. The venture was created to develop an approximately 113,000-square-foot, nine-story office building located at 2130 Violet Street in the vibrant Arts District in downtown Los Angeles—a designated Opportunity Zone.
The Macerich Company, a large shopping center REIT, in the negotiation of a conveyancing agreement and related agreements for the acquisition from the city of Carson of a 41-acre development site in the city of Carson, California (Los Angeles County), for the development of a 566,000-square-foot state-of-the-art high-end fashion outlet center. Development of the center will cost well in excess of $400 million.
Olive Hill Group in its $120 million recapitalization of an office building at 520 Broadway in Santa Monica, California.
PBF Energy, one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and suppliers of transportation fuels, heating oil and other petroleum products, in its $1 billion acquisition of the Martinez refinery and its logistics assets from Shell Oil Products US.
PlumpJack Fund LP, a subsidiary of PlumpJack Hospitality, in its $100 million formation and unwinding of a joint venture with Boulder, Colorado-based real estate developer Meriwether Companies to redevelop the PlumpJack Inn into an all-season destination resort and residence in North Lake Tahoe.
A consortium of investors in connection with a $28 million secured financing of Acreage Holdings, Inc., a Canadian holdings company with a diverse portfolio of cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensing operations in the United States.