Loryn D. Arkow

Loryn Dunn Arkow is a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group. She has extensive experience handling acquisition, disposition and development transactions; joint ventures, lending and other finance transactions; recapitalizations and workouts.

Clients turn to Loryn for counsel on structuring complex transactions and entities, and in finding creative strategies to get deals done.

Her client list includes large public pension funds, pension fund advisors, private equity funds and other investors, lenders, developers and sponsors in sectors including retail, office, industrial, multifamily, condo development, homebuilding, medical and mixed-use projects.

She speaks Japanese and Spanish, and has been recognized by Chambers, Super Lawyers and The Legal 500.

“Loryn is brilliant: an ace attorney who proves that kind, empathetic people are often the best deal makers, as they can read the other side, craft creative solutions and move projects forward,” Chambers USA reports.

• Acquisitions / Dispositions
• Alternative Property
• Commercial Leasing
• Corporate Real Estate
• Development and Construction
• Government Real Estate
• Hospitality and Leisure
• Lending / Distressed Real Estate
• Real Estate
• Real Estate Litigation

Loryn’s transactions include:

• Handled entity structuring and complex joint venture documentation for an investment vehicle to acquire two hotels in the Western United States through a bankruptcy auction process.
• Represented television network in the sale of iconic twenty-five acre parcel in the heart of Los Angeles together with the studio operations conducted thereon for $750,000,000.
• Represented clients in various apartment acquisitions and related debt financings and joint ventures, from stand-alone projects to a several-hundred-million-dollar portfolio.
• Represented pension fund advisor in negotiation and documentation of joint venture and debt financing with major national developer of high-rise apartments and condominiums for unique development of luxury condominiums in growth-restricted area of Southern California subject to complex entitlement scheme.
• Represented pension fund in buy-out of joint venture partner interests in national portfolio of 140 properties and sale of various assets.
• Negotiated and documented joint venture and debt transactions between a state public pension fund and a foreign pension fund for the acquisition of a $300 million Texas high-rise office building involving significant structuring to address foreign pension fund’s international tax considerations.
• Negotiated, documented and executed acquisition by developer of portfolio of retail properties through a bankruptcy sale.
• Represented REIT in $400 million acquisition of San Francisco office building.
• Represented public company in joint venture for development of retail outlet mall.
• Restructured subordinated debt investment into joint venture controlled by affiliates of lender for master planned golf course community; negotiated and documented mezzanine loan for golf course; prepared agreements in connection with development and sale of lots; collaborated on strategy, demands  and agreements regarding client’s claims against debtor.
• Represented life insurance company in origination of $120 million construction loan for a 600-unit apartment building in San Diego, California.
• Represented life insurance company in origination of $32 million loan for a California distribution center, with master lease credit enhancement structure.
• Represented pension fund in $125 million purchase of partnership interest in core San Francisco office building, structuring and negotiating partnership rights and obligations.
• Negotiated and documented workouts and refinancing of project-related debt for developer of medical office buildings.
• Handled various restructurings of platform ventures with developers/sponsors on behalf of pension fund clients involving changes to capital requirements, distribution structures, management provisions, and exit strategies.
• Analyzed and structured buy-out, equity infusion and reorganization transactions to minimize transfer tax and reassessment consequences under California law.
• Led team for acquisition and restructuring of entrepreneur’s ownership of car dealerships.
• Represented pension fund advisors in analysis of investments and negotiation and documentation of terms of mezzanine and other subordinated debt and equity placements.
• Counseled a national publicly-traded lodging REIT in connection with Ground Lease and Reciprocal Easement Agreement issues for one of its most significant California hotels; provided further assistance to the client with respect to space leases within the hotel and addressing issues with the local municipality.

• Co-Chair, ULI Los Angeles Leadership Council and Member, ULI
• Member, ULI Los Angeles Advisory Board
• Director, Stanford Professionals in Real Estate (effective January 2018)
  • Member, Stanford Real Estate Council
• Member, Partnerships & Limited Liability Companies Committee, Business Law Section, State Bar of California
• Advisory Committee Member, Real Estate and Construction Division of Jewish Federation
  • Chair, Young Leadership Development Institute
• Member, Real Property Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Former Board Member, City of Hope Los Angeles Real Estate and Construction Industries Council
• Former Board Member and Secretary, Harvard Club of Southern California
• Former Member, International Council of Shopping Centers

• Los Angeles Business Journal, 2023 Women of Influence
• Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate Law, 2023
• Chambers USA, California: Southern: Real Estate
• Chambers California: Southern, Real Estate
• Globe St. - Real Estate Forum, Women of Influence in Commercial Real Estate
• Los Angeles Business Journal, Leaders in Law Honoree, Real Estate Attorney of the Year for 2019
• Los Angeles Business Journal, Rising Star Finalist for 2010
• Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, Los Angeles County Bar Association Real Property Section for 2006
• One of Real Estate Southern California’s 2006 Women of Influence
• One of Southern California’s Super Lawyers from 2009 to present
• Nationally recommended by The Legal 500 United States for 2017-2019

• Speaker, “The Investment Landscape: How Multifamily is Driving Economic Recovery,” and “A Conversation on Strategy, Opportunity & Investing,” 30th Annual GlobeSt. Apartments Fall 2021 Conference, October 26, 2021
• Moderator, “The Hottest Markets: Through the Lens of Foreign vs. Domestic Lenders and Investors,” Commercial Observer’s Spring financing Commercial Real Estate Forum, June 4, 2019
• Moderator, "The Sit Down: The Owner's Perspective," Commercial Observer: Inaugural Financial Commercial Real Estate Forum, December 11, 2018
• Speaker, “Disaster on the Horizon – How Owners Can Protect Themselves Before and After a Natural Catastrophe,” USC Gould School of Law 2018 Real Estate Law and Business Forum, April 12, 2018
• Speaker, “Structuring Preferred Equity Investments in Real Estate Ventures: True Equity vs. ‘Debt-Like’ Equity,” Strafford Webinar, November 22, 2016
• Moderator, “Foreign Investment Panel,” Bisnow’s Los Angeles Capital Markets Forum, March 16, 2016
• Panelist, “Economic Trends Nationally and in Southern California,” Real Estate Law and Business Forum, USC Gould School of Law, March 10, 2016
• Moderator, “Finance and the Effects of Rising Interest Rates,” Los Angeles Jewish Federation, October 20, 2015
• Panelist, “Raising Equity for Commercial Real Estate Projects,” Mansfield Equities Series, October 13, 2015
• Speaker, “Real Estate Joint Ventures,” Lowell Milken Institute of Business Law and Policy, UCLA Law School, March 18, 2015
• Speaker, “Choice of Entity: Tax Liability, Flexibility and Other Implications,” State Bar of California, February 12, 2015
• Moderator, “Supply & Demand: Driving Deal Flow,” Marcus & Millichap/IPA Southern California Commercial Real Estate Forecast, January 28, 2015
• Moderator, “A League of Their Own: The Industrial Markets Demands, Projections & Investment,” Marcus & Millichap Southern California Commercial Real Estate Forum, February 27, 2014
• Panelist, “Drafting for Success,” American Bar Association Webinar, March 20, 2012
• Moderator, “Real Estate Development in the Current Economy,” Opus Connect, March 14, 2012

• "Legal and Practical Risks: How COVID-19 Is Complicating Real Estate Closings," Stroock Special Bulletin, March 24, 2020
• "Beyond Lost Rent: Consequences of Commercial Tenant Bankruptcy," Real Estate Weekly, January 6, 2016
• "New California LLC Law Complicates Drafting of Operating Agreements," Real Estate Finance and Investment, February 24, 2014
• "The New LLC," Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, January 2014

Quoted in:

• “This Year's Multifamily Pipeline to Set Record,” GlobeSt., January 13, 2022
• “Here's Why Buyers and Sellers Are Heading Off-Market for Deals,” GlobeSt.com, November 29, 2021
• “Deals in the O-Zones,” The Real Deal, July 18, 2019
• “LA’s Top Landlords Talk Value Creation and Opportunity Zones,” Commercial Observer, December 13, 2018
• "Real Estate Players Turn To JVs For Flexibility," Law360, October 12, 2016
• "Calif. Justices May Clog Up Water Projects In Takings Case," Law360, March 21, 2016
• "High Court Eminent Domain Case May Offer States Clarity," Law360, January 25, 2016
• "Mayor Broadens Earthquake Regulations," Globest.com, August 17, 2015

California

J.D., Stanford Law School, 1996

M.A., Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, 1996

B.A., magna cum laude, Harvard University, 1990