Michael Kiely

Partner

Michael J. Kiely is a Partner in the Firm whose legal practice spans all areas of real estate, including finance, development and land  use. He has extensive experience representing developers, sellers and buyers, investors and promoters, lenders and real estate joint  ventures, with a particular emphasis on projects involving the  intersection of private real estate development and government. 

Michael’s practice includes a substantial public/private  partnership, or P3, emphasis, including governmental facilities  development projects, mixed- use and transit-oriented  development projects, and public finance, such as infrastructure 

financing, New Markets Tax Credits, Low Income Housing Tax  Credits, Renewable Energy Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits,  Section 108 loans, Community Development Block Grants, Mello  Roos bond financing, and parking, lease and other types of  revenue bonds. His practice also deals with prevailing wage issues  arising in connection with such projects. Michael has earned a  reputation for being able to pull together the multiple parties,  competing government policies, conflicting sets of regulations and  different risk profiles that are inherent in large, complex  public/private development projects. 

Michael also has substantial experience in land use matters for  major projects. Such work has involved complex vertical  subdivisions, integrated developments, density shifting, mitigation  sharing, settlement of CEQA litigation and development  agreements. 

Michael’s experience covers all asset classes, including  multifamily, mixed use, office, retail, industrial, hotel, resort,  government facilities and data center.

mkiely@kkslawyers.com

310.203.2689

1800 Century Park East, Suite 200 Los Angeles, CA 90067

  • Counsel to Garland Center in Downtown los Angeles, a mixed use office/data center project, in the subdivision of the building into
    separately.
  • Lead counsel for East West Bank in the sale of 555 Montgomery, San Francisco and lease back of substantial space in the building.
  •  Lead counsel for JMA Ventures as owner, operator and developer of Homewood Mountain Resort, including debt and equity financing, and land use entitlements in Placer County, California.
  •  Lead counsel for Lowe Enterprises as developer of a $380- million transit-oriented development in Culver City and Los
    Angeles, including acquisition from the City of Culver City, its successor agency and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
    land use and CEQA, and various agreements with Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
  •  Lead counsel for JMA Ventures in the acquisition and disposition of data centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California and Phoenix, Arizona.
  •  Lead counsel for LaTerra Development in land acquisition and financing of the construction of the US$100 million The Line
    Project in Santa Ana, California, including equity and debt
  •  Lead counsel for Lowe Enterprises asmaster developer of 55- acre San Jose Civic Center including master development agreement
    negotiations, CEQA and land use matters.
  •  Lead counsel for Forest City as developer of $110-million Blossom Plaza transit oriented development in the Chinatown area of Los
    Angeles, including a disposition and development agreement for ground lease of City-owned land, two reciprocal easement
    agreements, Low Income Housing Tax Credit financing, a City HOME Loan, Prop 1C grants and HUD TOD funding; Project
    recognized as “Deal of the Year” by the Daily Journal (2014).
  •  Represented Primestor as developer in the acquisition of City condemnation parcels and $12-million infrastructure financing
    subsidies for development of a $100-million “big box” retail project in South Gate.
  •  Represented Lowe Enterprises as developer of City-owned $30- million senior facility and transit parking structure in Compton,
    funded by pre-2011 redevelopment tax allocation bond proceeds, including CEQA compliance, recognized as “Deal of the Year” by
    the Daily Journal (2011).
  •  Represented ICO Development as developer in the acquisition, development, environmental review, entitlement, construction and
    lease revenue bond financing of a $110-million Los Angeles County office building in South Los Angeles.
  •  Represented The Walt Disney Company as owner/developer in connection with an environmental impact report, statutory
    development agreement and owner participation agreement for $129-million “pay as you go” tax increment infrastructure financing
    program in connection with 125-acre/six-million- square-foot corporate campus project in Glendale.
  • Represented Kearny Real Estate Company as developer in an owner participation agreement for a $39-million tax increment
    subsidy and a $12-million Mello Roos bond financing and related land use entitlement and DEQA matters, relating to the $250+
    million Los Angeles Air Force Base Redevelopment Project in El Segundo and Hawthorne.
  •  Represented Trizechahn as developer in the acquisition, environmental review, entitlement, development, financing, construction and sale of the $650-million Hollywood & Highland project, a major transit-oriented retail/theater/hotel development in
    Hollywood, including $82-million parking revenue bands and $42- million certificates of participation.
  •  Represented Urban Partners as developer in the acquisition, entitlement, development, financing, construction and sale of Del
    Mar Station, a $175-million 350-unit transit-oriented, mixed- use development in Pasadena, including a commuter rail station and a
    build-to-suit transit parking facility.
  • Represented Bond Companies as developer in the acquisition, entitlement, development, financing, construction, and sale of
    Sunset & Vine, a $100-million mixed-use residential/retail development in Hollywood, including $4.5-million tax increment Los Angeles County Bar Association Real Estate and Land Use Sections International Council of Shopping Centers Community Involvement Vice Chairman, Manhattan Beach Unified School District Proposition C and EE Citizens Bond Oversight
    Committee, Robinson School PTSA (2017-present) Member, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and United way of Greater
    Los Angeles – Home for Good Task Force, Production Housing SubCommittee (2011-2013)
    Member, Board of Directors, Executive Committee (2001-2009) Genesis LA Economic Growth Corporation-

• “Reps and Warranties in Commercial Real Estate Sales Contracts – Buyer and Seller Perspectives”, Strafford Publications, Inc.
Continuing Education Webinar, March 8, 2018; December 1, 2020.
• “7 Important Steps To Take Before Selling Your Commercial Property,” Bisnow, July 18, 2017
• “Provisions in LLC and Partnership Agreements,” Strafford Publications, Inc. Continuing Education Webinar, June 6, 2017
• “Structuring Waterfall Provisions in LLC and Partnership Agreements,” Stafford Publications, Inc. Continuing Education Webinar, January 26, 2016; March 24, 2106;May 4, 2016; April 19, 2017, March 2018
• “Reps and Warranties in Commercial Real Estate Sales Contracts – Buyer and Seller Perspectives”, Strafford Publications, Inc. Continuing Education Webinar, March 8, 2018; December 1, 2020.
• “Provisions in LLC and Partnership Agreements,” Strafford Publications, Inc. Continuing Education Webinar, June 6, 2017
• “Case Study: Azalea in South Gate,” Los Angeles Urban Land Institute StimULI Program, April 15, 2015
• “Where’s the (Public) Money? Securing Public Incentives and ProjectGap Funding in a postRDAWorld,” Los AngelesCounty Bar Association, March 18, 2015
• “Cocktails with Your CEQA Lawyer” Updates on CEQA and the Post-Redevelopment World, San Diego, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2013)
• “Extra Innings in the Public/Private Game – It is Not Over” ICSC Southern California Idea Exchange, Long Beach (Jan. 23, 2013)
• “Redevelopment: Rising From Ashes Or Final Death Rattle?” Law360 (Oct. 25, 2012)
• “Keep Up With The Latest CEQA Developments” CEQA Breakfast Briefing, Los Angeles, (Sept. 27, 2012)
• Redevelopment: Past, Present, and . . . Future?” Los Angeles County Bar Association (March 9, 2012)
• “Implications Of Calif.’s Cancellation Of RDAs” Law360 (Jan. 23, 2012)
• “What Does The End of Redevelopment Mean For You?” Redevelopment Roundtable, Los Angeles (Jan. 12, 2012)
• “How to Navigate the Shark-Infested Waters of Redevelopment in California” Redevelopment Roundtable, Los Angeles (Sept. 7,
2011)
• “Bonds Fail To Deliver Economic Punch” Daily Journal (April 15,
2010)
• “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Determining Whether to Modify Your Redevelopment Deal” Redevelopment Magazine
(Sept. 2009)

  • Real Estate Transactions
  • Real Estate
  • Finance Real Estate
  • Development Land Use

  • University of California at Los Angeles, School of Law (J.D. 1989)
  • Georgetown University (B.S. Business Administration 1986)

  • AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell (highest rating an attorney can receive for legal quality and ethics)
  • The Best Lawyers in America© – Land Use and Zoning Law (2018)
  • Southern California Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers (2012-2018)
  • Legal 500, 2010
  • Top Real Estate Deals, Los Angeles Daily Journal (2011, 2014)
  • Who’s Who in Real Estate Law, Los Angeles, Business Journal (2013)
  • “Dealmakers,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, November 11, 2013
  • California’s Top 50 Development Lawyers, Los Angeles Daily Journal
    (2014)

  • Urban Land Institute
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Real Estate and Land Use Sections
  • International Council of Shopping
    Centers

  • Vice Chairman, Manhattan Beach Unified School District Proposition C and EE Citizens Bond Oversight
    Committee, Robinson School PTSA (2017-present)
  • Member, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and United way of Greater Los Angeles – Home for Good Task Force, Production Housing SubCommittee (2011-2013)
  • Member, Board of Directors, Executive Committee (2001-2009) Genesis LA Economic Growth Corporation