Mr. Etlin was recently named in the Best Lawyers in America 2008 Directory for Real Estate Law and the Legal 500 2007 Directory for Real Estate Law, received an Attorney of the Year award in 2007 from California Lawyer magazine, and was listed as a Northern California “Super Lawyer” by San Francisco Magazine in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Mr. Etlin is a member of the Urban Land Institute and Lambda Alpha International (the Honorary Society for the Advancement of Land Economics).

Mr. Etlin’s real estate practice includes all aspects of transactional real estate, including acquisitions, sales, financing, leasing of office, retail and industrial properties, negotiation of complex joint venture agreements for commercial and residential development projects, redevelopment law, and large portfolio transactions. Mr. Etlin has been extensively involved in workouts of troubled projects, including foreclosures, restructuring of debt, restructuring of equity, resolution of partnership disputes, and resolution of construction disputes. He has also represented both owners and contractors in negotiations of construction contracts. Mr. Etlin has co-authored articles on the California Revised Limited Partnership Act and has lectured on commercial real estate lending and workouts, commercial leasing, purchase and sale agreements, and construction and mechanic’s lien law. Most recently, Mr. Etlin’s clients include domestic and foreign institutional investors, real estate developers, and large corporate users of real estate. Representative engagements include:

• Representation of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals for more than fifteen years in acquisition and disposition of real estate for various hospital and medical office campuses throughout California, including site assembly in 2005 and 2006 for the rebuilding of Kaiser’s flagship Oakland Hospital, and acquisition in 2005 and 2007 of portions of the former Peoplesoft campus in Pleasanton, California. Mr. Etlin’s work for Kaiser has included advice on many aspects of the California Community Redevelopment Act.
• Representation of Great Eagle Holdings Limited (a publicly-traded company based in Hong Kong) in connection with the acquisition in January 2008 of the Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, California.
• Representation of Panoramic Interests in the sale in April 2007 of a seven-property apartment and mixed-use portfolio in Berkeley, California, to Equity Residential, which included assumption of tax-exempt bond financing and was the largest (by dollar value) single real estate transaction in the City of Berkeley to date.
• Representation of the City of Vallejo, the Vallejo Redevelopment Agency, and the Marine World Joint Powers Authority in connection with the restructuring of a complex option agreement pertaining to the leasing and management of the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Amusement Park in Vallejo, and eventual sale of the Park by the City to Six Flags in July 2007.
• Representation, pro bono, of The Ed Roberts Campus, a non-profit corporation founded by a consortium of other non-profit organizations that work in the area of disability rights and support for people with disabilities in living independently, in connection with the development of an office building adjacent to the Ashby BART station in Berkeley that will serve as a home for the sponsoring non-profit organizations, as well as other organizations that provide services for people with disabilities.
• Representation of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency in connection with negotiation of the Owner Participation Agreement and related documents for the redevelopment of the former Emporium department store site to accommodate a new Bloomingdale’s store, a retail and entertainment mall, and office space.
• Representation of Classic Residence by Hyatt in construction of a $170 million continuing care retirement community in Palo Alto, California.
• Representation of Wilson Meany Sullivan in the acquisition, leasing, and redevelopment of the historic Bank of America headquarters building at Powell and Market Streets, in San Francisco, California, to house a flagship retail store for Forever 21, a new Bank of America branch, and 44 residential apartments.

Mr. Etlin was born in Los Angeles, California, and received his B.A. from UCLA in 1982 and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall in 1985. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1985 and is a partner in the San Francisco office.