Lisa Peterson

Partner

Co-chair, Real Property Practice Group

Lisa Peterson counsels clients in all aspects of commercial and industrial real estate purchases and sales, project development, and ownership. She regularly represents landlords and tenants in commercial leasing transactions involving a wide range of properties including office, retail, industrial, and laboratory. Further, Lisa works with landlords on an ongoing basis, managing their lease portfolios and handling various property management issues.

Lisa represents clients of all sizes including individuals, family-owned businesses, and large institutional real estate investors including Skanska USA Commercial Development Inc., Hines Interest Limited Partnership, Goldman, Sachs & Co., LaSalle Investment Management Inc., and California State Teachers' Retirement Fund System.

Practice Highlights

Commercial leasing

Negotiates office and retail leases for large and small tenants in properties of all kinds including downtown high-rise office space and smaller suburban projects, with emphasis on representation of institutional owners of downtown office space in all aspects of leasing and property management.

Property acquisitions and sales

Represents buyers and sellers of commercial real estate including negotiating the operative agreements, coordinating due diligence, working with title companies to resolve title issues, and handling closing details.

Commercial Office Leasing

Downtown office

Negotiated leases on behalf of the developers of 2+U and 400 Fairview in downtown Seattle covering hundreds of thousands of square feet of Class A office space.

Gaming company

Represented a gaming company in a lease for their new headquarters in class A office space.

Ground lease

Assisted a family-owned LLC in restructuring and extending an antiquated ground lease to allow the tenant an opportunity to redevelop the property.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Represented DWT in our lease of 165,000 feet in downtown Seattle.

Nonprofits

Regularly represent nonprofits in leases of office space on a pro bono basis.

Purchase and Sale Transactions

Skanska USA

Represented Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc. in connection with the acquisition and development of the 2+U office project in downtown Seattle from the initial rounds of the term sheet, ground lease negotiations, and drafting and negotiating leases for over 700,00 square feet of class A office space.

Property acquisitions and development

Assist clients purchasing urban office properties.

Evaluated viability of developing a property burdened by a deed restriction limiting building height where the beneficiaries of the restriction could not be traced, including working with title company on insurance.

Analyzed issues relating to potential purchase and redevelopment of a property on which the improvements were structurally connected to an adjacent landmarked building.

Negotiate access easements and crane and shoring easements to facilitate development of urban properties.

Family ownership

Structured a plan to collapse tenancy in common arrangements and distribute properties among multiple family trusts to support estate planning objectives including drafting a partition agreement.

Industrial property

Handled real estate aspects of $100 million business sale with multiple parcels of property.

Default litigation

Advised client when a buyer failed to close on schedule and coordinated with litigation team in successful defense of litigation when the buyer alleged that the seller was in default for refusing to extend closing date.

Admitted to Practice

Washington, 1989

Education

J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law, 1989
B.A., Political Science, Business Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1984

Memberships & Affiliations

- King County Bar Association

Professional Recognition

- Named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in Real Estate Law by Best Lawyers, 2015-present
- Named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" by Chambers USA in Real Estate (Washington), 2018-2023; Named a "Recognised Practitioner", 2018