Real Estate

From due diligence, contract negotiation, strategy, and repositioning to environmental concerns, regulatory restrictions, and permitting issues and disputes over property rights and uses, many concerns can arise in real estate. Addressing all the issues is absolutely necessary but can be complex and daunting without knowledge and experience.

Best Best & Krieger LLP’s (BBK) experienced Real Estate attorneys advise on real estate assets, policy, and investment strategies. We negotiate, document, structure and restructure real estate acquisition, sales, finance, leasing, property management and development contracts for commercial, retail, office, industrial, residential, and mixed-use properties and projects. The firm was recognized by Chambers USA in 2024 for California: Real Estate - Land Use / Zoning. 

Comprehensive Services and Unrivaled Experience
Leveraging the skill of our Public Finance, Litigation and Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights attorneys and the knowledge and experience of our leading Business, Environmental Law & Natural Resources, Municipal Law and Special Districts teams, we offer unrivaled proficiency and comprehensive service at affordable rates. With 12 offices from coast to coast, we offer the right combination of skills, knowledge and connections to help clients get complex deals done efficiently.

Representing both private and public entities as commercial property owners, residential and commercial developers, tenants, lenders and borrowers, as well as pension funds, investors, corporations, and non-profit entities, BBK assists on all types of development projects related to: 

• Acquisitions, investments, and dispositions
• Development, redevelopment, and construction
• Due diligence
• Distressed properties, bankruptcies, reorganizations, and loan workouts
• Leasing
• Public and private finance and refinancing/Mello-Roos bonds
• Environmental issues, including compliance with CEQA and NEPA, state and federal Clean Water and Clean Air acts, Endangered Species Act, and other applicable laws
• Affordable housing
• Residential and commercial common-interest developments/association management
• Land use, zoning, permitting, and entitlements
• Transportation, infrastructure, and port projects
• Dry utilities, alternative energy, and power purchase agreements
• Transactional real estate matters, title reports, escrow issues, and boundary disputes
• Tax issues and tax credits
• Fees, assessments, and exactions
• LAFCO, annexation, and Williamson Act compliance
• Special districts and municipal issues
• Public-private partnerships
• Prevailing wages and project labor agreements
• Tidelands and port leasing
• Title disputes, quiet title, partition, and eminent domain
• Timberlands

Our attorneys coordinate with the transaction parties, local, state, and federal agencies, engineers, and environmental and economic consultants to assure that all issues are addressed. When disputes arise, we effectively resolve them in and out of court.

We also represent community associations advising on all aspects of association governance. Our experience includes representing associations in connection with real estate issues that arise within those communities.

• Represented an international agricultural products processing company in a $50 million new credit facility (equipment, accounts receivable, real estate, and line of credit).
• Represented a city in the development of a ground lease and NBA (D League) basketball arena.
• Represented the owner of grocery store chains in the negotiated acquisition, development, and lease agreements for the construction of new stores, as well as the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and reciprocal easement agreements for the shopping centers in which they are located.
• Represented a developer in a $65 million real estate CMBS portfolio financing.
• Represented the San Diego Unified Port District on the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, Hotel, and Convention Center, including the financing of off-site public infrastructure, public amenities, and environmental enhancements.
• Represented the developer of the new Los Angeles Chargers 250,000 square-foot corporate headquarters and practice facility and three football fields in the City of El Segundo, including all land use, Subdivision Map Act, CEQA, and development agreement matters as well as other City regulatory approvals. 
• Represent pension fund advisors and institutional fund managers in leasing matters for portfolios of office, industrial, retail, and mixed-use properties.
• Represented a nonprofit hospital in a $238.7 million CHFFA bond financing.
• Represent developers in the purchase, sale, and leasing of office and retail properties, and regarding due diligence and management issues.
• Represent a public agency client in the $100 million purchase from a private party, ground lease, and leaseback to a public agency for a medical office.
• Represent timberland owners in real estate transactions, including conservation easements and publicly funded sales transactions for conservation purposes.
• Represent tax equity investors with title and site control due diligence in connection with renewable energy projects.