Co-chair, Real Estate, Land Use and Construction Practice Group
Areas of Practice
Real estate and development transactions, including working with public agencies and private parties on public capital projects
Purchase and sale of public lands by negotiation or eminent domain; public relocation assistance for businesses and residences
Land use matters and administrative proceedings
Substantial experience in resource land conservation, telecommunications and public transit
Representative Experience
Represents private companies, including Emeritus Corporation, and nonprofit organizations, including Family Services of King County, in the purchase and sale of real property and related financing
Represents private property owners including Port Blakely Tree Farms and Upland Reserve, LLC in working with local governments to obtain development permits
Represents private companies, including the King County Jet Center and Classic Helicopter, in administrative land use proceedings; represents telecommunication companies in obtaining easements and franchises
Represents Sound Transit, the University of Washington and other public agencies on real estate transactions, utility relocation matters and administrative proceedings
Real estate transactions involving public lands and crafting cooperative relationships among and between public and private organizations
Represented Port Blakely Tree Farms in sale of Transferable Development Rights to King County, Washington, upon 450-acre Ames Lake property and in sale of 260-acre Treemont Property to King County for conservation development
Represented StockPot, Inc. and Campbell Soup Company in litigation and negotiations regarding the relocation and sale in lieu of condemnation of StockPot Soup 100,000 square foot Culinary Campus by King County for the Brightwater sewage treatment facility
Represented Camp Fire USA in defeating unwarranted landmark designation of its north Seattle property prior to sale for redevelopment
Prior Experience
Managed King County (WA) $300 million regional park and open space acquisition program which added 14,000 acres of natural resource land and over seven miles of trails to the county’s public land system
Associate general counsel to the Seattle Goodwill Games Organizing Committee - handled a wide variety of general corporate matters and business transactions and had primary responsibility for negotiating, drafting and helping to implement venue facility lease agreements with local governments and organizations
Associate, Preston firm - focused on municipal law and municipal finance; instrumental in the representation of Metro on the Downtown Seattle Transit Project (the bus tunnel)
Representative Clients
Sound Transit
Port Blakely Tree Farms
University of Washington
Campbell Soup Company
4Culture (Cultural Development Authority
of King County)
Community Health Center of Snohomish County
Publications and Presentations
“Real Estate Tools for the New Urbanism and Growth Management: Transferable Development Rights and More,” Presentation to Washington State Bar Association Fall Real Estate Conference, 2003
“Gifts of Conservation Easements,” Presentation to Washington State Bar Association Charitable Giving Toolbox Seminar, 2004
Update Editor, Washington Lawyers Practice Manual chapter on the Endangered Species Act, 2003-2005
“The Endangered Species Act and Conservation Land Acquisition Techniques: Tips for Real Estate Practitioners Working with the Tri-County Model 4(d) Rule Response Proposal,” Washington State Bar Association, Real Property, Probate & Trust Section Newsletter, Winter and Spring 2002
“Slicing and Dicing the Fee Estate: Strategies for Successful Negotiation of Property Interests for Public and Private Resource Preservation Projects,” Washington State Bar Association Environmental and Land Use Law Section Midyear Seminar and Meeting, May 2000
“Use of Public/Private Financing in Real Estate Projects,” Washington State Bar Association Seminar, May 1998
Memberships and Activities
Board of Directors, Cascade Land Conservancy
Advisory Board Member, Mountains-to-Sound Greenway
Member, International Right-of-Way Association
Trustee, Municipal League of King County 1990-1993, 1999-2002
Board Member and President, Pike Market Senior Center and Downtown Food Bank, 1987-1991
Member and Chair, Seattle Downtown Human Services Advisory Task Force, 1986-1988
Leadership Tomorrow, Class of 1988
Washington State Bar Association
Named as one of "America's Leading Business Lawyers" by Chambers USA
Education
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, 1983
B.S. in Political Economy of Natural Resources, with highest honors, University of California at Berkeley, 1979
