Valentin G. Aguilar, II

Representative Matters

Purchase and Sale Transactions, Joint Ventures, and Development

• Represented a private equity fund in acquisition, joint venture, financing, and disposition transactions involving multifamily, office, and retail properties across the United States, with a collective value in excess of $6.8 billion
• Represented clients in the acquisition of various Class A “trophy” buildings, including Aon Center in Los Angeles, California; 101 and 800 North Brand in Glendale, California; The Crossroads in San Mateo, California; Lake Merritt Plaza in Oakland, California; Wells Fargo Center in Seattle, Washington; 1740 Broadway and 1900 Grant in Denver, Colorado; Monument III in Herndon, Virginia; 816 Congress in Austin, Texas; and Park Towers in Houston, Texas
• Represented a real estate investment fund backed by institutional Asian capital in the development and related financing of student housing and multifamily projects across the United States
• Represented a client in acquiring—through the owner’s bankruptcy case—a condominium project located in San Rafael, California. The acquisition involved negotiating a “standstill” agreement with the senior lender, positioning the client as the “stalking horse” bidder in a Section 363 sale, negotiating with mechanics’ lienholders and a committee of unsecured creditors, and negotiating the joint venture and management agreements and the acquisition financing
• Served as lead counsel to the Los Angeles Lakers in the sale of the Forum—the Lakers’ historic home venue—in connection with the team’s move to the Staples Center
• Represented a government-sponsored enterprise in a series of purchase and sale transactions involving a portfolio of eight multifamily communities located in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, for a total consideration of approximately $168 million

Workouts, Enforcement of Lender Remedies, and Finance

• Represented a financial institution in the enforcement and workout of $260 million in direct and syndicated loans secured by large tracts of land, finished lots, and residential properties in Colorado, Arizona, and California
• Structured and closed an “industry-first” acquisition of a distressed commercial mixed-use building in Santa Monica, California, involving the purchase of a defaulted commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan and the subsequent completion of the acquisition through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure with the owner. The transaction is reputed to have been the first successful closing of a real estate acquisition structured through the purchase of a defaulted loan from a CMBS pool via an assignment of the special servicer’s right to purchase the defaulted loan
• Represented one of the largest CMBS special servicers in the United States in the ex parte appointment of a receiver and subsequent foreclosure on the $1 million+ square foot Hilltop Mall in Northern California
• Represented a private equity debt fund in the workout of a $35 million credit facility secured by senior and mezzanine interests in a portfolio of motels in California
• Structured a discounted payoff on a $68 million mortgage loan secured by a portfolio of medical office buildings in California, Arizona, and Florida, and represented the owner in the subsequent sale of individual properties from the portfolio
• Represented a federal savings bank and other financial institutions in numerous foreclosures on commercial properties in the Western United States

Leasing

• On behalf of the landlord, completed a year-long negotiation with one of the leading art galleries in the world, to close on a complex long-term lease involving the redevelopment of a sprawling historic flour mill that occupies several buildings on an entire city block in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles. The venue is now among the largest art galleries in the world, offering world-class exhibitions, museum-caliber amenities, and a variety of programs for the public
• Represented a national university in negotiating a lease of a 100,000+ square foot office building in Playa del Rey, California
• Represented one of the largest shopping center real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the United States in various retail leasing matters across the country
• On behalf of various commercial property owners, negotiated and documented move-out or lease termination agreements involving the use of confessions of judgment or stipulated judgments as a means of expediting evictions

Structured Settlements

• On behalf of a real estate developer, negotiated a very favorable settlement for the client in a decade-long lawsuit against the City of Half Moon Bay, California, after the client obtained a judgment for an amount that threatened to force the City into bankruptcy (which would have frustrated and delayed the client’s recovery against the City). The lawsuit was brought against the City for disapproving entitlements in connection with the development of the client’s 24-acre residential project
• On behalf of a Fortune 500 healthcare services company, completed a complex restructuring of hospital ground leases, in settlement of litigation against the company’s healthcare REIT
• On behalf of a private California college, structured and negotiated a complex agreement providing for the physical, operational, and legal separation between the college and the college’s associated middle and high schools. The separation agreement brought to a conclusion a saga involving more than 35 years of effort by the parties to become separate institutions

Education

• J.D. University of Southern California, Gould School of Law 1996
• • Member, Interdisciplinary Law Journal
• B.S. University of California, Riverside 1991

Bar Admissions

• California

• The Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate Law, 2023 – 2024
• Legal 500, Real Estate, 2013
• Real Estate Southern California, Top 40 Under 40, 2008
• Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, Southern California, 2006