TOP REAL ESTATE AND DEVELOPMENT LAWYERS 2025
DAVID ALVARADO HARVEST LLP LOS ANGELES D avid Alvarado has built his career around one principle: helping clients capitalize on opportunities and solve challenging problems. The commercial real estate transactional attorney has facilitated more than $1 billion in development projects and more than $5 billion in real property purchase and sale transactions throughout his practice. Alvarado’s path to law began with different ambitions. He initially wanted to become a real estate developer and pursued a finance degree from Cal Poly, graduating summa cum laude. However, he shifted course after recognizing the value of legal expertise. “I shifted my attention to gaining a deeper knowledge of contracts and other skills offered by the legal field and found that was a better fit,” Alvarado said. He earned his JD from UCLA School of Law and launched his career as a commercial real estate transactional attorney. “My practice spans all asset classes and property types, but my main focus is on development and purchase and sale deals and related work,” Alvarado said. His recent transactions demonstrate the complexity of modern real estate deals, including a coastal mixed-use redevelopment project involving a 50-acre site in Southern California and an option and development agreement worth over $360 million for approximately 400 residential units. The coastal redevelopment presented particular challenges. Alvarado represented a developer negotiating a joint venture with a landowner and utility company to re-entitle the property for mixed- use purposes. The landowner’s awareness of the property’s value created obstacles. “One of the most significant challenges was that the landowner held a highly desirable piece of real estate and was well aware of its value,” Alvarado said. “As a result, they were particularly rigid and resistant to making concessions.” Success required extensive stakeholder education and strategic planning. The team structured multiple exit points, including options to exit upon securing entitlements, completing land development, or proceeding with vertical development. This flexibility proved essential for balancing competing priorities of control, value creation and adaptability. Alvarado’s approach centers on understanding
ANTHONY R. BURNEY ALLEN MATKINS LECK GAMBLE MALLORY & NATSIS LLP SAN FRANCISCO A nthony Burney has built his career on a real estate world. As partner and chair of Allen Matkins’ San Francisco real estate practice, Burney represents institutional owners, investment managers, developers and commercial tenants across the United States. His practice spans four core areas: acquisition and disposition work, leasing transactions, finance deals and development projects. Burney handles everything from single-asset deals to portfolio acquisitions, joint venture formations and distressed loan scenarios. He also counsels developers on construction-related legal issues including CC&Rs and easement agreements. foundation of respect and professionalism that has served him well in the transactional Recent transactions demonstrate the scale of Burney’s practice. He represented multifamily clients in acquiring 15 properties across the United States with total transaction volume reaching $1.2 billion. Other notable deals include representing a life insurance company in selling two Arizona office properties for approximately $110 million and handling a beverage company’s asset and real estate transaction across multiple West Coast properties valued at $175 million. One particularly complex matter involved representing an institutional landlord in leasing a 1.025 million square-foot industrial building in Riverside County to a major logistics provider. “Many of the transactions mentioned above were on an accelerated timing,” Burney said. “We have also been fortunate to have recently handled a few REIT acquisitions for our clients, which adds another level of diligence and complexity to the transaction.” Burney credits his mentors with shaping his approach to practice. “The most important lesson I learned from my mentors was to treat everyone in a transaction with respect, regardless of their level of seniority,” he said. The transactional real estate legal community remains small, with attorneys frequently encountering the same opposing counsel across different deals. “It is important to advocate strongly for your client to achieve the desired business and legal result, but it is also important to do so in a way that is professional and courteous to those with whom you are working with on the transaction,” Burney said.
SHERI L. BONSTELLE JEFFER MANGELS BUTLER & MITCHELL LLP LOS ANGELES S heri Bonstelle brings an uncommon background to California development law. Before entering the legal profession, she worked as a licensed architect in New York on projects including the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Union Square subway station and Queensborough Community College. “I was drawn to the practice of law because it allowed me to influence policy, change laws, and impact the type and scale of development,” Bonstelle said. Now specializing in land use, entitlement and development law, she focuses on obtaining approvals under the California Environmental Quality Act, Housing Accountability Act, Coastal Act and municipal codes. Her dual expertise in architecture and law positions her to handle complex development projects that often face fierce community opposition. Recent cases demonstrate the challenges developers face in California’s housing crisis. In January, Bonstelle secured a court victory in one of the few cases where a court found a city acted in bad faith under the Housing Accountability Act. The case involved a 50-unit mixed-use project in Boyle Heights, a historically Chicano/Mexican American community experiencing gentrification pressures. Cesar Chavez 888, LLC v. City of Los Angeles , 24STCP01880 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 10, 2024). The developer sought to construct a six-story building with five units affordable to extremely low- income households and ground-level commercial space. Despite meeting all objective zoning standards and receiving initial city approval, the East Los Angeles Area Planning Commission denied the project after four hearings over five months. Judge Curtis A. Kin ruled the city violated the Housing Accountability Act and directed Los Angeles to approve the project. The court also awarded attorney fees. By May 2025, as ordered by the court, the commission approved the project. “In Cesar Chavez, the main obstacle was the strong and coordinated opposition to the project by the community, including the councilmember, who was running for reelection,” Bonstelle said. “We overcame the opposition by staying level-headed under direct assault, treating all participants with respect, and providing substantial evidence and
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PAGE 6 | DAILY JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT | JUNE 18, 2025
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