Joseph S. Stuart

Mr. Stuart has a rare combination of skills and prior experience in real estate, as an attorney in a major California firm, as a Regional General Counsel for a Fortune 250 company, and as a broker for the largest commercial real estate services company. His real estate practice focuses primarily in the area of transactions, including extensive experience with shopping center, industrial, office, and residential properties, as well as land transactions. In the aggregate, he has personally handled approximately $2.5 billion in deals. Mr. Stuart has been involved in transactions throughout Northern California and Southern California, as well as in Texas, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nevada, and Hawaii.

Recent Work / Representative Matters

Industrial Properties.

Negotiated and documented the purchase, sale, build-to-suit, lease, ground lease, sublease and lease assignment for industrial buildings as small as 8,000 square feet, as well as very large "big box" transactions in the 100,000 to 600,000 square feet range.

Extensive experience with industrial transactions as part of master-planned projects, such as "infill" projects with small buildings for lease or sale (in fee ownership or as condos), as well as very large master-planned projects, such as military base redevelopment.

Represented national real estate company in the disposition of numerous industrial buildings and land transactions throughout the United States.

Handled the sale of income/investment properties from $1 million to $20 million and higher.

Represented developer in equity joint venture and debt loan totaling $19 million.

Represented a national real estate company in analysis and disposition of a large portfolio of telecommunication easements, licenses and land, located throughout the western United States.

Shopping Center Properties.

Negotiated and documented the purchase, sale, build-to-suit, lease, ground lease, sublease and lease assignment of retail land and spaces of all sizes, including 100,000+ square foot “big box” deals and numerous acres of fee or leased land.

Handled all sorts of transactions involving national retail chain stores.

Assisted court-appointed receiver in lease and operational issues for large shopping center.

Handled the sale of income / investment properties in the $4 million to $9 million range, as well as major shopping centers in the $50 million to $112 million range.

Assisted with a large corporate transaction that involved selling chain restaurant assets located in Hawaii and Guam.

Residential Properties.

Negotiated and documented thousands of acres of land transactions from $1 million to $420 million, for raw land, partially improved land, finished lots, and so-called "blue-top" lots, both in and out of master-planned communities.

Served as General Counsel for three Divisions (Sacramento, Seattle and Portland) of a national homebuilder, including handling all sorts of operational matters pertaining to large-scale homebuilding.

Represented client in major joint ventures between national homebuilding companies for the development of very large master-planned communities.

Project financing experience includes $67 million and $360 million acquisition and development loans.

Handled foreclosure of 500-acre residential project.

Analyzed sale of construction loan portfolio for 100 loans and loan guaranties.

Represented homebuilder for land sale in-lieu of condemnation.

Handled numerous landbanking transactions with major institutions as well as local individual investors / landbankers.

Assisted with analysis and documentation regarding all sorts of on-site and off-site development / infrastructure matters, such as easements and licenses for construction purposes, cost sharing agreements, encroachment issues, common area community facilities issues, agreements of all sorts with neighboring landowners, utilities or other service providers, as well as disputes related to all the foregoing.

Office Properties.

Negotiated and documented master lease of 400,000-square-foot office building in Pennsylvania.

Negotiated and documented a wide array of lease and sublease transactions in class "A" office towers, as well as smaller walk-up office buildings.

Handled sales of land for office building development, as well as the sale of existing income-producing office project investments.

Land - Miscellaneous.

Negotiated and documented the purchase and sale of thousands of acres of land - zoned or yet-to-be zoned, industrial, retail, office and residential.

Handled one of the largest land sales in the state of California, comprised of over 436,000 acres sold to conservancy groups, with closings occurring over a three-year period.

Assisted a national client with the disposition of a large portfolio of improved and unimproved land parcels located throughout the western United States.

Handled the disposition of historical "trophy" properties, such as a Monterey Wharf property and Del Mar Train Station property.

General Counseling.

Mr. Stuart's broad, generalized legal counseling experience includes, among others:

1. complex title and survey analysis;
2. drafting and analyzing easements and licenses that are reciprocal, appurtenant, in-gross, temporary, or perpetual;
3. drafting and analyzing various contractual agreements with governmental agencies, quasi-governmental agencies and neighboring land owners in connection with project development, such as cost-sharing agreements, fee credit agreements, encroachment agreements and indemnity agreements;
4. drafting and analyzing covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) for small projects and major master-planned projects;
5. drafting and analyzing broker representation, listing and commission agreements;
6. drafting and analyzing miscellaneous vendor contracts, such as construction, construction management, consultation services, and design professionals (e.g., architect, engineer);
7. negotiating acquisition and construction loan documents for several projects, one as large as $360 million;
8. drafting, analyzing and negotiating subordination, nondisturbance and attornment agreements (SNDAs) on behalf of landlords, tenants, borrowers and lenders;
9. analyzing and addressing governmental or private party allegation of environmental contamination, such as Storm Water Pollution Prevention (SWPP) plan violations;
10. analyzing development agreements, subdivision agreements, and affordable housing agreements; and
11. pre-dispute advice regarding claims by employees, vendors, customers and business partners, including experience in managing and strategizing active litigation and other legal services.

Memberships

Orange County Bar Association.

Los Angeles County Bar Association.

International Council of Shopping Centers.

National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).

Licensed Real Estate Broker - 1985-1998.