Key Contacts
Matthew W. Ellis
Partner
San Francisco 415.848.4846
Sacramento 916.520.5495
Danielle R. Stephens
Danielle R. Stephens
Partner
Danielle Stephens is a skilled transactional attorney who assists clients with commercial real estate leasing, financing (including CMBS and SBA loans), acquisitions and sales, easements, and title matters with a focus on contractual negotiations requiring collaborative deal-making. She also advises on matters involving contaminated properties including due diligence and remediation.
Sacramento 916.520.5475
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5475
Related Industries
Related Practices
- Bankruptcy & Insolvency
- CEQA / NEPA
- Complex Business Litigation
- Eminent Domain & Inverse Condemnation
- Employment Counseling
- Employment Litigation
- Environmental Remediation & Due Diligence
- Environmental/Toxics Litigation
- Financial Institutions
- Land Use
- Real Property & Land Use Litigation
- Water Law
- Water Quality Law
Real Estate
Investors, developers, and property owners rely on Downey Brand’s capabilities to guide them through every phase of a real estate project. Our attorneys have the depth of experience and industry knowledge to assist clients in analyzing real estate opportunities that will advance their interests.
From environmental and title due diligence, to land purchase and financing, and through the approval process with local and state agencies, our attorneys are there to keep the project on track and close the deal. Our industry team brings together real estate, finance, environmental, and land use attorneys, providing clients a comprehensive and efficient response to the challenges and opportunities of any real estate project.
Our diverse client base is representative of our firm and includes manufacturers, agricultural growers and processors, investors, tenants, and owners whose properties include office buildings, retail centers, mixed-used developments, and industrial office parks throughout the region. With years of experience and an understanding of the many variables of a real estate project, our team knows how to close the deal to meet our client’s goals.
Selected Experience
- Represented several lenders in connection with all real estate aspects of financings secured by solar and wind generation projects in California.
- Represented national investment management and consulting firm in connection with an approximately 123,000 square foot office building lease to the State of California.
- Represented a retail developer in connection with the acquisition, development, financing and leasing of several anchored shopping centers in Northern California.
Trade Groups
- Association of Commercial Real Estate (ACRE)
- Bay Planning Coalition (BPC)
- California Business Properties Association (CBPA)
- California Real Estate for Women (CREW)
- California Retailers Association (CRA)
- International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
- Lambda Alpha Land Economics Society (LAI)
- NAIOP, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
- North State Building Industry Association (BIA)
- Real Estate and Construction Networking, Sacramento (RECON)
- Sacramento Association of Realtors (SAR)
- Urban Land Institute (ULI)
- Represented several lenders in connection with all real estate aspects of financings secured by solar and wind generation projects in California.
- Represented national investment management and consulting firm in connection with an approximately 123,000 square foot office building lease to the State of California.
- Represented a health care organization in connection with the financing, entitlement development and leasing of several medical office building and hospital projects in Northern California.
- Represented a retail developer in connection with the acquisition, development, financing and leasing of several anchored shopping centers in Northern California.
- Advising a municipal client regarding potential conflicts between existing and proposed conservation easements and strategies for resolving (ongoing).
- Negotiating a conservation easement on behalf of a large landowner (in the early stages).
- Reviewing and analyzing conservation easements and advising clients regarding related issues.
Jennifer D. Barcellos
Jennifer D. Barcellos
Associate
Jennifer Barcellos assists families and business owners in various areas of estate planning, trust administration, probate, business, real estate, and estate, gift, and income taxation. Clients trust that she will skillfully guide them through the legal complexities with compassion and empathy.
Sacramento 916.520.5462
Associate
Sacramento 916.520.5462
Kelly M. Breen
Kelly M. Breen
Partner / Co-Chair, Diversity Committee
Kelly Breen has a proven track record of helping clients navigate complex business issues with a common sense approach that achieves optimal results. She applies the right balance of aggressive advocacy, robust understanding of the law, and creative problem-solving to every case she handles.
Sacramento 916.520.5485
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5485
Kristin N. Capritto
Kristin N. Capritto
Partner
Kristin Capritto assists clients with all aspects of estate planning, trust administration, probate, business entities, and real estate transactions. Her alternative dispute resolution and negotiation expertise offers clients alternatives to litigation and adversarial proceedings.
Sacramento 916.520.5275
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5275
San Francisco 415.848.4818
Matthew W. Ellis
Partner
San Francisco 415.848.4846
Sacramento 916.520.5495
Sean J. Filippini
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5430
Amy R. Higuera
Partner
San Francisco 415.848.4836
Francesca Leonelli
Francesca Leonelli
Senior Associate
Francesca is a dual qualified attorney licensed to practice in Italy and California. Her practice focuses on cross-border and domestic commercial real estate transactions involving the acquisition, disposal, financing and development of different asset classes.
Sacramento 916.520.5458
Senior Associate
Sacramento 916.520.5458
John Oehmke
John Oehmke
Of Counsel
John Oehmke has been helping his clients buy and sell businesses for more than twenty years. He primarily helps them structure transactions, whether it is a merger, asset deal, or a stock deal, representing both the buyer as they add new businesses and the seller as they exit.
Sacramento 916.520.5480
Of Counsel
Sacramento 916.520.5480
Danielle R. Stephens
Danielle R. Stephens
Partner
Danielle Stephens is a skilled transactional attorney who assists clients with commercial real estate leasing, financing (including CMBS and SBA loans), acquisitions and sales, easements, and title matters with a focus on contractual negotiations requiring collaborative deal-making. She also advises on matters involving contaminated properties including due diligence and remediation.
Sacramento 916.520.5475
Partner
Sacramento 916.520.5475
Announcements
8 related items-
January 16, 2024Associate Joshua A. Dalavai Joins Downey Brand’s Litigation Practice
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December 12, 2023Associate Brianna Nielsen Joins Downey Brand’s Corporate Group
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November 2, 2023Downey Brand Ranked Nationally and Regionally in 2024 Best Law Firms®
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March 8, 2021Real Estate Partner Marc Centor Joins Downey Brand’s San Francisco Office
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October 20, 2020Downey Brand Welcomes Madeline R. Weissman to its San Francisco Office
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February 7, 2020Danielle Stephens Rejoins Downey Brand as a Partner
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January 2, 2020Downey Brand Welcomes Aaron Johnson to Estate Planning and Taxation Practices in Sacramento
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December 12, 2017Downey Brand Names Six New Partners
In the News
1 related items-
July 16, 2014Mercury Cleaners Saved, Will Move Across 16th Street
The Sacramento Bee
Speaking Engagements / Events
9 related items-
December 9, 2024Case Law Update: Part I and Part II
Panelist, CLE International 20th Annual CEQA Conference -
November 22, 2023Splitting Heirs: Partition of Real Property Act
CEB Webinar Recording -
May 8, 2023So, it turns out the family business and its real estate will be owned by different people. Now what?
Speaker, Capital Region Family Business Center Generations Conference -
October 6, 2022Dust to Dust: An Overview of Real Property Issues for T&E Lawyers
Presenter, Continuing Education of the Bar Webinar -
February 24, 2022Women of Influence Panel Discussion & Luncheon
Presenter, CREW Sacramento Women of Influence -
December 9, 2021Housing and CEQA
Panelist, CLE International 17th Annual CEQA Conference - Year in Review -
November 9, 2021How Nonprofits Introduce Children and Youth to Opportunities in the Built Environment
Panelist, 2021 Women in Construction Fall Conference -
March 16, 2021Defensible Spaces: How Updates to State and Local Codes Aim to Achieve Wildfire Prevention in California
Environment, Land Use and Real Estate Section of the BASF Barristers Club -
May 10, 2019Resiliency for a Vibrant Bay Area
Panelist, Bay Planning Coalition’s 2019 Spring Summit
Legal Alerts
7 related items-
January 8, 2016The California Supreme Court’s CEQA Docket Comes To A Dramatic Close For The Year, Resolving That EIRs Need Not Address The Environment’s Impacts On A Project
Environmental Law -
December 2, 2015California Supreme Court Strictly Interprets State Fully Protected Species Statute and Finds Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis Inadequate in Newhall Ranch EIR
Land Use Law -
October 30, 2015Update: Berkeley Hillside Case Ends With Victory for Lead Agency in Court of Appeal
Land Use Law -
June 6, 2015Appeals Court Decides Crucial Case On State Fish And Wildlife’s Extension Of Streambed Alteration Limits To Existing Water Diversions
Water Law -
March 4, 2015California Supreme Court Delivers Long-Awaited Ruling In Berkeley Hillside
Land Use Law -
May 2010Your Purchase Agreement May be an Unenforceable Option
Real Estate Law -
March 5, 2010July 1st: May be Able to Deter ADA Plaintiff’s Lawsuits With New ADA-Focused Inspections
Real Estate Law
Publications
5 related items-
April 12, 2022San Francisco’s Storefront Vacancy Tax is Now in Effect
Downey Brand Publication -
August/September 2021District Court Pulls the Plug on California Restaurant Association Challenge to City’s Ban on Natural Gas Infrastructure in New Construction
Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter, Volume 1, Number 11 -
March 2020Update: Signature Gatherers and Solicitors
California Grocer, Issue 1 -
April 2016Family Farm and Ranch Business Succession
Inside the Minds: Family and Business Succession Planning, 2016 Ed., Aspatore Books -
August 2012Legal Issues in Vineyard Development and Expansion
California Association of Winegrape Growers