Matthew L. Levy

Matthew is a leading commercial real estate transactional attorney who specializes in structuring and negotiating all types of joint ventures, purchase and sale transactions, loans, and development, construction, and property management agreements. He has structured a wide range of joint venture agreements on both the investor and sponsor side which allows him to look at transactions more holistically, understanding what both sides are trying to achieve.

A former in-house counsel at a large land developer, Matthew's experience enables him to understand the economic, legal, and practical challenges facing developers in California. He is distinctly situated to negotiate provisions relating to the allocation of costs and overruns in development transactions, the implementation of exit strategies, and the resolution of impasses.

A seasoned transactional advisor for real estate investors, his practice involves acquisitions, sales, and development for institutional and private clients, including life insurance companies, homebuilders, developers, major domestic and foreign banks, and other financial institutions.

Matthew has substantial experience in analyzing, structuring, negotiating, and documenting complex real estate joint ventures and financings having advised on a broad range of property types, including residential, hotel, office, retail, industrial, multifamily, and mixed-use projects. He is also adept at negotiating purchase and sale agreements, land bank option and construction agreements, cost-sharing agreements, easements, licenses, and other development documents.

Matthew is highly regarded by his clients for his legal acumen, business and mathematical-oriented approach, attention to detail, deal structuring, and drafting skills. He understands his client’s underwriting and pro forma, and tailors his legal advice to best suit their needs.

• Represented an institutional fund sponsor in the negotiation and formation of several joint ventures involving co-GP entities and large institutional investors, to acquire and obtain financing for several apartment projects valued at more than $500 million and containing more than 3,000 aggregate apartment units located in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.
• Represented a publicly-traded homebuilder in (a) the negotiation and formation of a fund with an institutional investor to acquire and develop over $1 billion in build-to-rent projects in select markets throughout the United States, (b) the acquisition of regional homebuilders, and (c) the formation of several joint ventures with other publicly-traded homebuilders to acquire and develop over 10,000 single-family residential lots.
• Represented a high-net-worth family office in the negotiation and formation of several joint ventures with regional homebuilders to develop single-family residential developments containing over 5,000 lots.
• Represented a large institutional fund with over $6 billion in investments in the formation of several joint ventures involving co-GP entities and other large institutional investors, (a) to acquire and develop industrial complexes containing approximately 900,000 square feet in Arizona, and (b) to acquire and reposition office buildings containing approximately 400,000 square feet in Colorado and Oregon.
• Represented a large developer in the negotiation and formation of several joint ventures involving co-GP entities and large institutional investors, to acquire and develop (a) approximately 2.5 million square feet of life science projects in California and Colorado, (b) approximately 750,000 square feet of creative office projects in California, and (c) 1.2 million square feet of industrial projects in California and Arizona.
• Represented Northern California developer in connection with the restructuring of an existing syndicated investment vehicle and the formation of a joint venture between such existing syndicated investment vehicle and a governmental plan for the development of Class A, three-story life since project containing approximately a 173,000 square-foot in Northern California.
• Represented an institutional advisor and affiliated insurance company in the negotiation and formation of several joint ventures with national developers to acquire, finance, recapitalize (with preferred equity) and construct (a) various apartment complexes containing over 2,250 apartment units located in California and Florida, (b) over 450,000 square feet of self-storage facilities in Southern California, and (c) over 700,000 square feet of industrial projects in Southern California.
• Represented governmental pension plans in connection with (a) the formation of several club deals by and among such governmental plan, one or two other foreign pension plans, and various operators to acquire and develop renewable energy and other infrastructure facilities throughout the United States, (b) the acquisition of a self-storage portfolio containing more than 50 projects, (c) the seed investment in a fund to acquire one of the first portfolios of single-family residentials homes for rent, and (d) the investment of $30 billion as limited partners in several opportunity funds.

Honors & Recognitions

Pasadena Magazine’s list of 2024 Top Lawyers

Best Lawyers, Real Estate Law, 2020-2024

Southern California Super Lawyers, 2007-2024

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of California

Jewish Federation – Gellar Program