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Chris Chavez

Senior Counsel

San Francisco

Practical real estate lawyer with a focus on tech and clean energy sectors, a long history of representing institutional investors and lenders, and a deep commitment to enhancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

Chris has experience in acquisition, disposition and financing of large portfolios of commercial real estate; distressed debt; negotiation of joint ventures for development projects; construction contracts; data center leasing/co-location; office leasing; and transactions involving multi-family housing.

Chris is very involved in Orrick’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and has served as a co-chair of the San Francisco DEI Committee for many years. She is also involved in diversity efforts at UC Berkeley School of Law and has previously served on its Alumni Board and the Board of the East Bay Community Law Center.

Chris was resident in the firm's Tokyo office from 1999-2002.

  • Project sponsor’s lead real estate counsel for financing of wood pellet production and shipping operations in Texas.

    Representation of developers of multi-family properties in San Francisco and Seattle in acquisition and development matters.

    The following are some of Chris's representative transactions:

    • Acquisition of a 25-megawatt, LEED Silver, Tier III data center in Virginia and simultaneous long-term triple net lease to a credit tenant.
    • Data center leasing, financing and operational matters for premier San Francisco data center.
    • Acquisition, leasing and sale of Foundry Square IV in San Francisco.
    • Borrower's counsel for a $300 million+ refinancing of a San Francisco multifamily property.
    • Borrower's counsel for a $775 million loan secured by a 4,500-unit apartment property in southern California.
    • Developer's counsel for multifamily projects in Seattle, Washington.
    • Buyer's/borrower's counsel in the acquisition and financing of a portfolio valued at more than $1 billion, consisting of 100+ office and R&D properties in Silicon Valley.
    • Seller's counsel in the sale of a portfolio of 31 industrial properties in the western United States, totaling eight million square feet, for $500 million+.
    • Representation of the originators and arrangers in three commercial mortgage-backed securitizations in the aggregate amount of over ¥125 billion involving assets in Japan.
    • Representation of numerous Japanese investment vehicles formed by U.S. and European investors in connection with general corporate matters and acquisition, financing, management and disposition of nonperforming loan portfolios with an aggregate acquisition price in excess of ¥80 billion.
    • Leases for tech companies in San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Denver and New York