Gary McKitterick

Practice Areas

Gary is a career real estate lawyer handling some of the largest and most complex real estate transactions in the country. He represents large technology companies and office, retail, industrial, medical, and residential developers and investors in a wide range of projects across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Gary has been selected as one of the top real estate lawyers in America by The Best Lawyers in America from 2003 to 2024, and recognized by Chambers USA as one of the Leading Lawyers in California in Real Estate Law and Construction Law from 2019 to 2023.

Public and privately held companies rely on Gary to structure and negotiate complex transactions. For example, he was the lead lawyer for the acquisition of a skyscraper in Chicago that was, at the time, the largest single asset transaction in the history of Chicago. He also handled one of the largest land transactions in the history of California when Gary structured the sale of over 437,000 acres of land to the Bureau of Land Management and a private conservancy.

In the last three years alone, Gary has structured development, acquisition, disposition and investment deals totaling multiple billions of dollars. Gary is also involved in some of the most high-profile active construction projects across the United States and Canada.

Gary is one of the leading transactional development and construction experts on the West Coast and has authored a chapter on construction management issues for legal publisher Mathew Bender. He has lectured on construction matters for graduate schools at USC, UCLA and UCI and has written numerous articles covering such subjects as "Organizing and Planning a Project" and "The Role of Construction and Development Management."

Professional Memberships

The Real Estate Round Table (Washington, D.C.) – President’s Council Member (2015 – Present)

Stanford Professionals in Real Estate (SPIRE)

Urban Land Institute (ULI)

International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

NAIOP

UC Irvine Center for Real Estate – The Paul Merage School of Business, Board of Advisors (2008 - 2022)

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, California, Board of Trustees (2007 - 2020); Chair of the Board (2013 - 2016); Executive Committee (2007 - 2020)

Hoag Orthopedic Institute, Irvine, California, Board of Trustees (2011 - Present)

Providence St. Joseph Health (50 hospital, multi-state healthcare system), Finance Committee Member (2016 – 2019)

American Diabetes Association – Orange County, Executive Advisory Committee (2007 - 2010)

Orange County Father of the Year and Father's Day Council, Executive Advisory Committee (2007 - 2015); Father of the Year Honoree (2006) Father's Day Council, Co-Chair (2008 and 2009)

Harbor Day School, Newport Beach, California, Trustee Emeritus; Board of Trustees (1993-2007); Chair of the Board (1998 - 2000); Executive Committee (1994 - 2004)

Sage Hill School (9-12 High School), Newport Beach, California, Board of Trustees (Founding Board) (1996 - 1997)

Orange County Gang Reduction & Intervention Partnership (GRIP), Board of Directors (2015 - 2017)

Education

Work Highlights

ACQUISITIONS

Buyer. Represented a buyer of a Chicago skyscraper with a purchase price of $850 million.

Buyer. Represented a buyer of a major urban mixed use project with purchase price of $780 million.

Buyer. Represented a buyer in structuring a purchase of a portfolio of 23 hotels in five states with 11 different loan assumptions of securitized debt.

Opportunity Funds. Represented several opportunity funds in evaluating, purchasing and later disposing of several portfolios of debt and REO properties.

Buyer. Represented a buyer in the acquisition of over 4,000 leased properties located in 33 states and 3 Canadian provinces and represented a buyer in the acquisition of a portfolio of 58 fiber optic agreements located in 20 states and Canada.

Buyer. Represented a buyer in structuring the acquisition of 55 retail stores located in 4 western states.

DISPOSITIONS

Seller. Represented a seller in structuring and closing a sale involving over 437,000 acres of land, which was one of the largest private land sales in California history and one of the largest conservation sales in the United States.

Seller. Represented a seller in a $450 million disposition of a California portfolio of office, bio-tech and residential properties located in San Francisco (including the majority of Mission Bay), Alameda, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Seller. Represented a seller of mixed use project including the historic Los Angeles Union Station.

Seller. Represented a seller in the disposition of 100 properties with a total value of $270 million in eight states.

Seller. Represented seller in disposition of a portfolio of fiber-optic leases.

DEBT ANALYSIS AND MODIFICATIONS

Borrowers. Represented multiple borrowers in restructuring over $2.2 billion of CMBS debt.

Borrower. Represented public company borrower in restructuring over $2.7 billion of debt.

Bank. Represented bank in workout strategy for $2.6 billion distressed debt portfolio, which was acquired from a failed bank. Assets located in twenty states.

LEASING

Developer. Represented a developer in a ground lease of a 3.4 million square foot office campus in Silicon Valley-this transaction was the largest entitled land deal in the Silicon Valley in 2001.

Tenant. Represented a tenant in a 1.2 million square foot lease in Omaha, Nebraska.

Landlord. Represented a landlord in a 1.2 million square foot lease in Pennsylvania, a 1.05 million square foot lease in Chicago, Illinois, and a 1.0 million square foot lease in New Jersey.

Industry Sector Expertise

SERVICES

Commercial Real Estate Transactions

INDUSTRIES

Real Estate

Construction

Financial Services

Industrial & Logistics

Office