1st Annual REAL Symposium breaks new ground

In what is thought to be the first event of its kind held in Northern California, 165 people signed up for the SPIRE-sponsored First Annual Real Estate and Law (REAL) Symposium at Stanford University on Nov. 9.

Stanford Professionals In Real Estate joined with the Real Properly Law Section of the State Bar of California for the day long series of seminars.

While there have been countless other real estate seminars in the region, it is thought this was the first one to bring together a mixture of attorneys, real estate professionals and other business people.

The event also brought cutting edge, before-the-headlines are-written, information. T. Brent Hawkins, a partner with Best Best & Krieger LLP and who is general counsel for the California Redevelopment Association, did that when he talked about the future of redevelopment agencies, including information about a critical lawsuit.

“That was really timely because he was speaking to us the day before the case was going to be argued at the California Supreme Court in San Francisco,” says Don Nanny, a co-chair of REAL Symposium 2011.  “He was able to trace for us … the history of the whole problem. It was like having an up-to-the-minute report of something that is very, very important and significant for redevelopment in California.”

The first of two keynote speakers was commercial real estate legend John Cushman III, co-chairman of the board of  Cushman & Wakefield Inc., the world's largest private commercial real estate firm with 231 offices in 58 countries on six continents with more than 15,000 employees.

The real estate oracle gave his insights into office leasing and capital markets emphasizing trends in the San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County markets.

The other keynote speaker, Brian Pretti, senior vice president, The Mechanics Bank, explained where the country is now in the process of deleveraging because of the Great Recession and attendant issues.  He also offered his insights as an economist as to what might offer the best opportunities for the future.

“It was an honor for us and quite educational for everybody that attended to hear what they had to say,” Mr. Nanny says.

Although the event was a year in the planning, it was opened up to sponsorships only in late Summer, but  21 firms quickly signed on as sponsors to show their support for the unique event.  They are:

Arnold & Porter LLP

Asian Real Estate Association of America

Berbay Corp.

Berkeley Research Group

Bingham McCutchen LLP

Buchalter Nemer Prof. Corp.

California Continuing Education of the Bar

California Real Estate Law Newsletter

Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP

Devcon Construction Incorporated

Dostart Development Company, LLC

Gilchrist & Rutter Prof. Corp.

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Holme Roberts & Owen LLP

Makena Capital Management, LLC

Miller Starr Regalia Prof. Corp.

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Silicon Valley Business Journal

SSL Law Firm LLP

Wilson Meany Sullivan LP

Mr. Nanny was the co-chair of REAL Symposium 2011 along with Susan Meaney, a member of the Board of Governors of SPIRE and a partner and managing director at Makena Capital Management LLC.

Mr. Nanny, a partner at Gilchrist & Rutter Professional Corp., in Santa Monica, and an advisor to the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of California, praised the work of the Real Symposium planning committee.

Planning Committee members:

Elaine Andersson, QAV Realty Services, Inc.

Lance Anderson, Miller Starr Regalia Prof. Corp.

John K. Chapin, California Continuing Education of the Bar

Chad Hagle, Aventine Development Corporation

David Lanferman, Sheppard Mullin LLP, San Francisco

E. David Marks, GCA Law Partners LLP

Susan Meaney, Makena Capital Management, LLC

Jose Mendoza, Klinedinst PC

Donald C. Nanney, Gilchrist & Rutter Prof. Corp.

James D. Richman, Arnold & Porter LLP

Mollie Ricker, Dostart Development Company, LLC

Helen Kang Shin, Morrison & Foerster LLP

Ron Sonntag, Executive Director, SPIRE

Mia Weber Tindle, Bingham McCutchen LLP

Gillian van Muyden, Glendale City Attorney's Office

Kenneth R. Whiting, Jr., Holme Roberts & Owen LLP

Toni P. Wise, Greenberg Traurig LLP

Michael H. Zischke, Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP