Experience

Diamond Heights Shopping Center

Represented the seller of the 75,000-square-foot Diamond Heights Shopping Center in San Francisco.

20-Acre Premier Development Site, Redwood City

Guided Graniterock on the sale of a 19.85-acre premier development site in Redwood City, Calif. to Jay Paul Company.

VF Outdoor Corporate Campus, Alameda

Represented the developer of a build-to-suit new corporate campus consisting of four buildings for VF Outdoor, owner of such brands as North Face, in connection with developer entity formation, land purchase, build-to-suit lease with option to purchase, construction agreements and construction financing.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Assisted Berkeley Repertory Theatre in the acquisition of a 62,000 square-foot building in West Berkeley, allowing Berkeley Rep to pay 50% less for 50% more space.  The acquisition allows the theatre to consolidate all its pre-production activities into one campus.  

Price Family Vineyards

Handle winery’s general business matters, as well as acquisition matters for its owner, Bill Price, including Price’s investments in ultra-premium Kistler Vineyards.

Pittsburg River Park Sale

Represented the seller, Johns Manville, in the sale of this former manufacturing site of asphalt and asbestos roofing materials, which was contaminated with asbestos, petroleum hydrocarbons and various volatile organic compounds.  The sale to Pittsburg River Park, LLC, an affiliate of Renova Partners, involved the shifting of various environmental responsibilities and liabilities to the buyer, which obligations were secured and backed by deeds of trust and insurance programs.

Murphy Crossing Campus, Milpitas

Represented CBRE Global Investors in the sale of the nearly 368,000 square foot Murphy Crossing campus in Milpitas for $88 million.

Sherman Plaza East & West, Van Nuys, CA

Represented Embarcadero Capital Investors with its disposition of office property Sherman Plaza East & West in Van Nuys. The property was acquired by Majestic Investments for $49.5 million and houses tenants such as the State of California Franchise Tax Board, General Services Administration and North Los Angeles County Regional Center.

Winery Site Acquisition - Pritchard Hill, Napa Valley

Represented members of the renowned Mondavi family in their acquisition of a prestigious Pritchard Hill vineyard property in Napa County, adjacent to a winery property they acquired last year, also with our help.  The Mondavis plan to design and build a new estate winery on the site, and we are working with them on the entitlements process.

Sale of Historic Wakefield Building, Oakland

Represented The Swig Company and STARS Real Estate Investments in the $29.9 million sale of the historic Wakefield Building in Oakland, Calif. The 1920s building includes 56,666-square-feet of creative office space and is LEED Gold certified.

Historic Pasadena Office Complex

Represented Swig Co. LLC in its $26.1 million purchase of a 72,500-square-foot office complex and adjacent parking garage in Pasadena, CA.

Office Building Purchase, Pasadena CA

We represented The Swig Company in its acquisition of an eight-story, 85,860-square foot office building in downtown Pasadena’s Playhouse District.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Strand Theater Project

Assisted American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in developing the Strand Theater, a new performing arts facility on Market Street. Tasks have included real estate transactional representation, tax exempt entity formation and qualification, land use entitlements and New Market and Historic tax credits expertise.

Development of Elephant Preserve

Representing the Ndovo Foundation in the acquisition and development of a 4,900 acre preserve for African elephants in Tehama County.

Chicago Fairmont Hotel

Represented The Swig Company in the negotiation of a long-term management agreement with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts at the Fairmont Chicago Hotel, and the subsequent sale of the asset to an international hotel investment company.

Prominent San Jose Office Development Acquisition

Represented Embarcadero Capital Partners’ third fund in its complex $46 million acquisition of one of downtown San Jose’s most prominent office developments, Almaden Financial Plaza.

Kaiser Center, Oakland

Represented The Swig Company in its acquisition of the Kaiser Center, a 900,000-plus square foot mixed-use complex, in Oakland, CA.

San Francisco SOMA Office Property Refinancing

Represented The Swig Company in its $75 million refinancing of an office property in San Francisco’s SOMA district.

$130 Million Office Building Sale

Represented a private partnership in the sale of a Palo Alto office building to a REIT for over $130 million and the negotiation of a joint venture agreement with the REIT pursuant to which one of the principals of the partnership maintained an investment in the building and continued to manage it.  At the time, the sale price represented the highest per square foot price ever achieved for an office building in the Bay Area.

300+ Unit Residential Project, Petaluma

This sale of an active quarry, concrete recycling center and asphaltic batch processing site to a national homebuilder for development of single-family homes required complex environmental risk sharing agreements between the quarry operator, the seller of the property and the buyer.  The issues presented included quarry closure requirements and the remediation of groundwater contamination and petroleum contaminated soils.  The environmental risks were allocated through work plans, various indemnification provisions and insurance programs.

330 Townsend Office Building, San Francisco

Represent ATC Partners in sale of 330 Townsend office building in San Francisco.

Downtown Long Beach Office Building Disposition

Represented The Swig Company in the sale of its 460,000-square-foot office building in downtown Long Beach, Calif. In addition, we resolved a water discharge issue at the property and advised on the tax aspects of the transaction.

Embarcadero Capital Partners

Represented Embarcadero Capital Partners in the acquisition, disposition and financing of over 25 office properties on the West and East coasts.

Embarcadero Corporate Center, Palo Alto

Represented Embarcadero Capital Partners in the sale of the 100,734 square foot Embarcadero Corporate Center in Palo Alto for $77 million.

Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group

Represented Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group in the sale of six of the company's San Francisco hotels, including the historic Sir Francis Drake, which Kimpton continues to manage.

Large Scale Solar

In addition to representing the developer in the permitting and environmental review processes, we negotiated purchase and sale agreements with more than 50 owners for approximately 8,000 acres of agricultural land for two large solar energy facilities.

Manufacturing and Distribution Facility Disposition

We have represented Levi Strauss & Co. in a variety of real estate transactions throughout the country, including the disposition of manufacturing and distribution facilities and the negotiation of office and industrial leases.

San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito

The San Ysidro Ranch is an exclusive hotel property in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains in Montecito, California.  We represented Auberge Resorts in connection with the sale of the Ranch to Ty Properties, Inc.  In connection with the sale, we negotiated the hotel management agreement, under which Auberge continues to manage the property.

Firm Highlights

News

JPMorgan Chase Accuses TransUnion of Stealing 'Trade Secrets'

Intellectual property practice chair Eugene Mar provided expert commentary to American Banker for the article "JPMorgan Chase Accuses TransUnion of Stealing 'Trade Secrets'." In the article, he said: "By filing this as a trade...

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News

Farella Braun + Martel Earns San Francisco Green Business Recertification

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News

Farella Awards 2024 Diversity Scholarships to Bay Area Law Students

Farella Braun + Martel’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Belonging Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2024 Diversity Scholarship grants totaling $45,000 to Bay Area first-year law students Marcus Albino, Saamia Haqiq...

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News

Burdened by Debt, Savvy SF Office Owners Get Creative

Restructuring, insolvency, and creditors rights partner Gary Kaplan provided expert commentary in The San Francisco Standard article, "Burdened by Debt, Savvy SF Office Owners Get Creative." In the article, Gary explained that in most cases...

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Event

Unplugged: The Renewable Energy Speaker Series - The IRA's Environmental Justice Incentive Programs

Join Farella Braun + Martel and the Environmental Law Institute for the relaunch Unplugged: The Renewable Energy Speaker Series with Farella’s John Ugai and guest speakers Miana Campbell with U.S. Department of Energy, Maria Castillo with...

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Publication

California Regulation of Charitable Fundraising Platforms: Part I - Definitions

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . In episode 76, I introduce the provisions of California's Charitable Fundraising Platforms law (Gov. Code, § 12599.9). These rules are relevant to all...

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Publication

Where Are We Now, Following Maui County, Sackett, and the Latest EPA Guidance?

The last few years have seen significant developments in our understanding of the reach of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). (Indeed, “reach” here can be interpreted literally and figuratively.) The two issues plaguing...

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Publication

Copyright Law for Influencers and Brands: How Content Creators and Companies Hiring Them Can Navigate Copyright Law for a Successful Partnership

In recent years, the advent of the social media “influencer” has revolutionized advertising. Companies often partner with influencers to market their products, hoping to tap into the influencer’s devoted audience. Likewise, influencers create certain content...

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Publication

New PFAS Federal Drinking Water Standards Create Major Liability and Litigation Risk

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has released a final regulation setting individual drinking water maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for five per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These MCLs are incredibly stringent due to EPA’s stated concerns...

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Publication

Court Reinstates CPPA Enforcement Authority and Confirms No Delay Necessary for Enforcement of Future CCPA Regulations

A recent appellate decision has made clear that the regulations promulgated under California’s groundbreaking consumer privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)), are ripe...

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