Overview

Michael Leake is a partner in the firm’s San Diego office and Practice Group Leader of the firm's Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group.

Areas Of Practice

Michael has a broad based real estate transactional practice with experience in real property purchase and sale, leasing, financing, entity formation and structuring, and multi-family and hotel property management agreements. Michael represents real estate investment funds, REITs and developers in the acquisition, leasing, financing and disposition of real estate assets and residential real estate developers in purchase and sale transactions and post-acquisition site development and cost sharing agreements, as well as with respect to 1031 exchanges. In addition, he represents commercial and industrial building owners and tenants in the structuring, documentation and negotiation of ground leases (including sale-leasebacks), office, retail and industrial use leases and related occupancy and build-out agreements in suburban office park developments and downtown commercial district buildings. He also represents lending institutions and borrowers in real estate secured financings for purchase of real property and construction of improvements on real property. Michael is general counsel for the USS Midway Museum, a non-profit in downtown San Diego. 

Experience

Experience

Recent Commercial Leasing Transactions:

  • Represented numerous tenants and landlords at multiple locations nationwide in the leasing of industrial buildings
  • Represented regional retail restaurant at multiple locations in leasing and licensing matters
  • Represented tenant in commercial ground lease for retail property located in San Diego, California
  • Represented landlord in commercial ground lease for retail property in Chula Vista, California
  • Represented Momentum Acquisitions, as the subtenant, as part of its acquisition of a multi-family retail subleasehold estate project, and negotiated the terms of a ground lease and sub-ground lease with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County Texas, as ground lessor
  • Represented Wells Fargo in connection with leasing of commercial space in California
  • Represented a consortium of lenders in negotiating a ground lease and sub-ground lease as part of a $688 million repower project by NRG in El Segundo, California
  • Represented tenant in commercial office lease for 248,000 rsf in San Diego, California
  • Represented tenant in commercial office lease for 305,000 rsf in San Diego, California
  • Represented tenant in commercial office lease expansion for 57,000 rsf in San Diego, California
  • Represented tenant in commercial office lease for 25,000 rsf in San Diego, California
  • Represented tenant in commercial office lease for 46,000 rsf in San Diego, California
  • Represented tenant in commercial office lease for 73,000 rsf in San Diego, California
  • Represented large national retailer in connection with the leasing and subleasing of retail space in California, Nevada and Hawaii
  • Represented real estate investment fund in the acquisition, leasing, financing and disposition of commercial office real estate assets in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Texas
  • Represented several regional shopping center developers in the acquisition, leasing, financing and disposition of retail shopping centers in California, Arizona and Nevada

Recent Commercial Property Acquisitions and Dispositions:

  • Represented seller in disposition of 75,000 square foot commercial office building in Los Angeles, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 84,798 square foot, 3 building, commercial industrial complex in San Diego, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 37,615 square foot retail/office building in Chicago, Illinois
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 218 room Radisson hotel in Atlanta, Georgia and negotiation of hotel management agreement
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 4,738 square foot commercial retail building in San Diego, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 44,422 square foot commercial retail building in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 410,855 square foot, 12 building, commercial office park in Woodland Hills, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 49,322 square foot mixed-use center in Coronado, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 20,425 square foot retail portion of mixed-use residential and commercial development in Pasadena, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin and negotiation of hotel management agreement
  • Represented seller, Collins Development Company, in its sale of six different business parks located throughout San Diego County and Orange County. The buyers included HG Fenton, Angelo Gordon, Parallel Properties, TA Realty, and Shidler. These dispositions involved hundreds of tenants, as well as estoppel and SNDA issues, loan assumptions, and loan prepayments
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 24,317 square foot office building in San Diego, California
  • Represented seller in disposition of three commercial office building projects to REIT in San Diego, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 20,000 square foot office building in Dallas, Texas
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 14,042 square foot retail shopping center in San Diego, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of six gas station properties in Oregon
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 21,565 square foot retail condominium in San Diego, California
  • Represented seller in disposition of La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 301,500 square foot industrial facility in Vicksburg, Mississippi
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 77,500 square foot commercial office building in Los Angeles, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 39,500 square foot office/industrial building in Albany, New York
  • Represented seller in disposition of Rancho Valencia Hotel and the Villas at Rancho Valencia in San Diego, California
  • Represented receiver in disposition of various real estate assets, including a retail shopping center in Costa Mesa, California

Recent Multi-Family Acquisitions and Dispositions:

  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of and negotiation of property management agreement for 204 unit multi-family development in Baytown, Texas
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of and negotiation of property management agreement for 294 unit multi-family development in Austin, Texas by way of acquisition of loan and deed in lieu of foreclosure
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of and negotiation of property management agreement for 246 unit multi-family development in Arlington, Texas
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 204 unit multi-family development in Baytown, Texas
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 294 unit multi-family development in Austin, Texas by way of acquisition of loan and deed in lieu of foreclosure
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 240 unit multi-family development in Jacksonville, Florida
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 246 unit multi-family development in Arlington, Texas
  • Represented family trust in disposition of 310 unit multi-family development in San Diego, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 104 unit multi-family development in Downey, California
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 256 unit multi-family development in Mesa, Arizona
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 881 unit multi-family development portfolio in Tucson, Arizona
  • Represented purchaser in acquisition of 192 unit multi-family development in Las Vegas, Nevada

Recent Commercial Lending Transactions:

  • Represented U.S. Bank in connection with real estate secured financing transactions
  • Represented global investment/finance company in connection with $377,000,000 financing for regional natural gas power plant
  • Represented lender in retail/commercial condominium construction loan for $12,000,000 in downtown San Diego, California
  • Represented lender for commercial loan by hotel for $9,000,000 in La Jolla, California
  • Represented borrower in $30,000,000 infrastructure development loan for redevelopment project in San Marcos, California
  • Represented borrower in commercial loan for $2,200,000 secured against a multifamily property in San Diego, California

Residential Development Experience:

  • Represented regional home builders in connection with acquisition, disposition and construction financing for various single family and multi-family residential projects in Southern California

Honors

Honors

Real Estate and Construction, Legal 500, 2014

Insights

Media Mentions

Memberships

Memberships

Member, California State Bar Association

Member, Real Property Section, American Bar Association

Member, Real Property Section, San Diego County Bar Association

Member, NAIOP

Member, Downtown San Diego Partnership

Digital Media

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School, 1999

B.A., Montana State University-Billings, 1995

Admissions

  • California 
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