Overview

Matt's practice focuses on the areas of joint ventures, including limited liability companies, partnerships, and incentive development management agreements, acquisitions and dispositions, entity and project level finance, merger and acquisition transactions, workouts, and entity restructuring. Matt has been practicing law with Cox Castle since 1986. Over that period, he has worked on just about every conceivable type of real estate transaction through three economic cycles. He has represented developers, investors, owners and operators, involving all real estate product types and transactions. He has developed a reputation for practical legal advice with a view towards the client’s business objectives. 

Advising Owners and Developers

Matt advises developers and owners of all product types in connection with their acquisition, development, financing, operation and disposition of real estate projects and, if necessary, workouts and recapitalizations.  His clients include both large publicly traded companies and smaller entrepreneurial owners and developers throughout the United States. 

Representing Capital Providers

Matt represents some of the largest domestic and foreign institutional investors in connection with their investment in real estate projects and companies.  He has documented and negotiated numerous complex structured real estate financing transactions.  In addition, Matt provides clients ongoing counsel concerning asset management issues, restructures and workouts pertaining to such investments.

Corporate Matters

Matt also works with numerous real estate operating companies advising them on general legal matters, including corporate structure, capitalization, executive compensation arrangements and mergers and acquisitions.

Matt is an active member of many professional organizations and trade groups, including the Urban Land Institute (ULI) where he serves on the leadership committee for the Community Development Council (whose membership includes the nation's most prominent master developers and merchant builders), the National Association of Home Builders, the Building Industry Association, the San Francisco Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association, American Bar Association, and State Bar of California.

He has written numerous articles and lectured on such topics as residential, resort, office, and retail joint ventures, incentive management agreements, workouts and restructures, hotel management agreements, new sources of capital, and related real estate topics. In addition, Matt is the editor of the annual Marshall Bennett notes and serves each year as the moderator for the annual Capital Markets Day at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC).

Experience

Serves as general and corporate counsel to a private developer located in Southern California in connection with the structure and operation of its company, including incentive compensation arrangements with its key executives.

Represented the developer in negotiating and documenting a development and disposition agreement with a Northern California municipality for the development of more than 500 market and affordable for sale housing units.

Represented the developer in negotiating a ground lease development and disposition agreement with a California agricultural district for the development of a mixed-use industrial and multifamily project.

Represented the developer in the restructuring of a joint venture for the development of a master-planned community in Northern California with an equity capitalization in excess of $100 million.

Represented one of the largest investment funds in single family, build-to-rent and multifamily joint venture projects throughout the United States. In the last two years, the fund closed joint venture transactions involving equity commitments in excess of $600 million.

Represented a developer in a joint venture with a Fortune 100 company to redevelop its corporate campus in Northern California, including the development of multifamily and office projects.

Represented an office mixed-use developer in the acquisition of real property, the formation of a development joint venture and the obtaining of a construction loan for a mixed-use development in the Denver, Colorado area. The total capitalization of the deal is in excess of $100 million.

Represented an office developer in the formation of a joint venture for the acquisition and redevelopment of an office park in Greenwood Village, Colorado, including the assumption of two separate debt facilities. The total capitalization of the deal was in excess of $300 million.

Represented a private homebuilder in the sale of its homebuilding business located in the Carolinas to a large privately held builder. The transaction involved both an initial purchase price exceeding $70 million and an earnout based on the future performance of the company as well an employment agreement for its top executives.

Represented a private homebuilder in the sale of its homebuilding assets and the creation of a landbank facility to the acquiring builder (a large private homebuilder).

Represented one of the largest property owners in Southern California in the sale of an existing hotel and the ground lease of the property on which such improvements are located. The sale component was valued in excess of $120 million and the ground lease annual base rent before escalations exceeded $1.5 million plus percentage rent from operations.

Serves as general and corporate counsel to a small private developer located in Southern California in connection with the structure and operation of its company, including incentive compensation arrangements with its key executives.

Represented a public builder in the workout of over $600 million in loan transactions.

Represents one of the largest land holders in California in connection with its entitlement, development, management and disposition of its mixed use real estate portfolio acquired out of a bankruptcy restructure.

Represented a private developer in a structured finance preferred equity investment for the development of a major Southern California mixed use project valued at $500 million.

Represents a large public homebuilder in the acquisition of residential development land. To date such acquisitions total in excess of $500 million.

Represents a recently formed opportunity fund in the investment of multifamily housing projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, including documenting and closing transactions valued at over $400 million to-date.

Counsel to a recently formed opportunity fund in negotiating, drafting and closing development joint venture transactions, including documenting and closing transactions valued at over $500 million to-date.

Counsel to a Fortune 500 corporate user in the acquisition and development of its 2 million square foot corporate campus.

Counsel to an office and industrial developer located in the Northwest in connection with the recapitalization of their development company and project financing.

Represented a large public builder in its acquisition of a Texas based private developer with operations in Houston and Dallas.

Represented a large private home builder in the disposition of its home building company to an offshore investor for $1.1 billion.

Insights

News

Speaking Engagements

Awards & Affiliations

Honors & Recognitions

Best Lawyers, Real Estate, 2012, 2014-2024

Selected as Connect Media's 2020 Lawyers in Real Estate

Recommended Attorney, Real Estate, Legal 500 USA, 2017

Who’s Who Legal: Real Estate 2016, 2018

Selected by The Daily Journal as one of the "Top 25 Real Estate Transactional Attorneys"

Chambers USA, Real Estate, 2012-2015

Northern California Super Lawyers, 2010

Professional Affiliations

Urban Land Institute (ULI)

American Bar Association

Bar & Court Admissions

  • State Bar of California

Education

J.D., Columbia University Law School, 1986

B.A., Pomona College, 1983

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