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San Francisco

T(415) 273-7436

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

  • B.A., with highest distinction, University of California, Berkeley

Bar Admissions

  • California

Memberships

  • American Bar Association

  • ULI (Urban Land Institute) San Francisco District Council, Emeritus Board, UrbanPlan Committee

  • University of California, Berkeley Alumni Association

Lee A. Edlund

Partner

Lee is a real estate partner in the San Francisco office. For over 30 years, he has advised clients through the full range of transactions related to commercial property ownership, development, and management, with an emphasis on leasing. Lee represents parties on all sides of the table, advising prominent landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers, and developers in deals across the western United States involving office, mixed-use, shopping center, healthcare, and other commercial assets. 

Lee’s diverse breadth of experience enables to him to quickly identify potential issues and mitigate risk at the earliest stages of a transaction. He routinely negotiates and drafts ground leases, subleases, license agreements, and related documentation, including tenant work letters, guaranties, consents and subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment agreements, among others.

On the landlord side, Lee represents institutional owners and investors, including real estate investment trusts and large development companies, in transactions that range from small, multi-tenant floor leases to leasing entire buildings.

In negotiating with prospective tenants, Lee employs techniques that favor long-term relationships without compromising the preservation of owners' rights.

As tenant's counsel, Lee represents large enterprises and corporate users, with a focus on the technology sector where he excels at negotiating its non-traditional requirements. For example, tech companies often have specific issues regarding confidentiality, security, and technical infrastructure. Also, due to the intermittent growth that technology companies typically face, he helps them to negotiate assurances should they require additional space or to receive fair and reasonable subleasing rights as their needs evolve.

Community Involvement

Lee is a long-standing member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he formerly served on the San Francisco District Council Executive Board and is now a member of its Emeritus Board. He is currently a member of ULI San Francisco’s Commercial Local Product Council. He is a long term member and former Co-Chair of the UrbanPlan Committee for ULI’s San Francisco District Council, which supports the volunteer efforts of the UrbanPlan program—an educational enterprise. The curriculum is taught in high schools and colleges, and it has been adapted for use in one-day workshops for elected and appointed public officials and other members of the community at large, in connection with which Lee served on a national steering committee. In his work with UrbanPlan, Lee volunteers as a facilitator in high school classrooms and as an instructor at one-day workshops. 

Accolades

  • Selected for inclusion in Northern California Super Lawyers (2013, 2018 - 2020)

Lee’s diverse breadth of experience enables to him to quickly identify potential issues and mitigate risk at the earliest stages of a transaction. He routinely negotiates and drafts ground leases, subleases, license agreements, and related documentation, including tenant work letters, guaranties, consents and subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment agreements, among others.

On the landlord side, Lee represents institutional owners and investors, including real estate investment trusts and large development companies, in transactions that range from small, multi-tenant floor leases to leasing entire buildings.

In negotiating with prospective tenants, Lee employs techniques that favor long-term relationships without compromising the preservation of owners' rights.

As tenant's counsel, Lee represents large enterprises and corporate users, with a focus on the technology sector where he excels at negotiating its non-traditional requirements. For example, tech companies often have specific issues regarding confidentiality, security, and technical infrastructure. Also, due to the intermittent growth that technology companies typically face, he helps them to negotiate assurances should they require additional space or to receive fair and reasonable subleasing rights as their needs evolve.

Community Involvement

Lee is a long-standing member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he formerly served on the San Francisco District Council Executive Board and is now a member of its Emeritus Board. He is currently a member of ULI San Francisco’s Commercial Local Product Council. He is a long term member and former Co-Chair of the UrbanPlan Committee for ULI’s San Francisco District Council, which supports the volunteer efforts of the UrbanPlan program—an educational enterprise. The curriculum is taught in high schools and colleges, and it has been adapted for use in one-day workshops for elected and appointed public officials and other members of the community at large, in connection with which Lee served on a national steering committee. In his work with UrbanPlan, Lee volunteers as a facilitator in high school classrooms and as an instructor at one-day workshops. 

Accolades

  • Selected for inclusion in Northern California Super Lawyers (2013, 2018 - 2020)
  • Leading video game developer. Assist gaming company, the subsidiary of a global tech firm, with continued leasing of office campuses comprising corporate headquarters in Irvine, California.
  • Leading video game developer. Represent assignee of tenant’s interest in a full building lease at a historic site in Santa Monica, California, for gaming company, the subsidiary of a global tech firm.
  • Tishman Speyer Properties. Leasing and subsequent sale of Moffett Green, a 719,037-square-foot trophy office campus in Sunnyvale, California - the leasing transaction was one of the largest private sector office leases of 2021, and the $707 million acquisition marked the largest investment trade in Silicon Valley history at the time of closing in 2022 according to Newmark, which brokered the transaction.
  • Tishman Speyer Properties. Development and leasing of 222 Second Street, a 452,418 rentable square-foot office tower in San Francisco, California, which was initially leased in its entirety to LinkedIn Corporation.
  • Tishman Speyer Properties. Various aspects of its acquisition and development of a portion of The Campus at Playa Vista in Los Angeles, California.
  • Prudential Real Estate Investors. Represented Prudential Real Estate Investors in its lease of 246,000 rentable square feet of office space to Delta Dental Plan of California at 100 First Plaza in San Francisco, California.
  • Tishman Speyer Properties. Acquisition of 407 North Maple in Beverly Hills, California, and its leasing of the entire building (containing 164,000 rentable square feet) and space in a neighboring project to Fox Interactive Media.
  • Hines Interests Limited Partnership. Acquisition of Pacific Plaza in Torrey Hills, California.
  • Hines Interest Limited Partnership. Acquisition of Golden Eagle Plaza in San Diego, California.
  • Jay Paul Company. Lease workout concerning 280,000 rentable square feet with BroadVision at Pacific Shores Center in Redwood City, California.
  • Telecommunications Company. Ground lease of a 500,000-rentable-square-foot, two-phase office development from the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Cerritos.
  • Morgan Stanley Real Estate. Build-to-suit office lease of a 157,000 rentable square foot building to Infonet Services Corporation, including its subsequent sale of the building pursuant to an option contained in the lease.
  • Tishman Speyer Properties. Lease of 63,475 rentable square feet of office space to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP at the building located at 555 Mission Street in San Francisco, California.
  • TMW Management. Lease of 42,000 rentable square feet of office space to Playboy Enterprises at 9242 Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California.
  • Equity Office Properties. Lease of 40,000 rentable square feet of office space to Citadel Investment Group at One Market in San Francisco, California.
  • Equity Office Properties. Lease of 40,000 rentable square feet of office space to Shartsis Friese LLP at One Maritime in San Francisco, California.
  • Equity Office Properties. Lease of 37,000 rentable square feet of office space to Foley & Lardner at One Market in San Francisco, California.
  • Tishman Speyer. Lease of 22,000 rentable square feet of office space to Getty Images at 6300 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.
  • Legacy Partners. Restaurant lease to Tamarine for its location at St. Francis Place in San Francisco, California.

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