Moore-James

James R. Moore

Shareholder

Jim Moore’s law practice focuses on real estate transactional matters, including commercial and agricultural real property acquisitions and dispositions, commercial leasing (both office and retail), orchard development leasing, title and escrow work and real estate secured financing. He represents clients in connection with the acquisition and disposition of major commercial office projects throughout California and the United States, and recently represented a public company in the acquisition of a landmark high-rise office project in Southern California. He has also been lead counsel in the sale of tens of thousands of acres of farm and ranch land throughout Northern California. Jim has extensive experience representing both landlords and tenants in commercial lease transactions, and is head lease counsel for several commercial office and retail projects in Northern California. In addition, he has significant experience representing both lenders and borrowers in connection with the workout and settlement of nonperforming loans, and in complex, mixed collateral foreclosures. Before practicing law, Jim worked for The Upjohn Company, where he developed and implemented national marketing strategies for Upjohn’s Critical Care Product Line.

Responsiveness, communication and attention to detail are the cornerstones of my practice philosophy. In practice, that means my clients can always rely on quality work product and open lines of communication.

“My practice focuses on transactional real estate matters, from the acquisition and disposition of major commercial office projects to long-term orchard development leases, and everything in between.”

In addition to Sacramento, I’ve lived in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Denver. I actually started out in Southern California on the biggest ranch west of the King Ranch in Texas—Tejon Ranch.

Experience

Acquisitions and Dispositions

  • Lead counsel in the acquisition and disposition of numerous high-rise office buildings and multiple commercial office and retail projects throughout California, and 16 other states.
  • Representation of a Northern California federally-recognized Indian Tribe, and its affiliated entities, in connection with real property acquisitions, dispositions and financings.
  • The acquisition, development and resale of a 5,000 acre award-winning master-planned new town project in San Joaquin County, including the phased sales of land and lots for more than $1.5 billion (in the aggregate) to national and regional builders.
  • The acquisition and disposition of tens of thousands of acres of ranch and agricultural lands in Northern California.
  • Negotiated, documented and closed the mixed-use, multi-property lease and phased acquisition of a portion of a decommissioned United States Air Force Base.
  • Served as special real estate counsel to the Chapter 11 Trustee in connection with the sale, auction and disposition of the estate’s numerous real property holdings and commercial real estate portfolio in the largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District of California.
  • The acquisition of a $494 million non-performing loan encumbering a partially developed luxury residential master-planned community on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, including the acquisition of various real and personal property assets related to the project.
  • The acquisition, from a national finance company, of a $13 million non-performing loan secured by sixteen underlying real and personal property secured loans, including the negotiation and documentation of the loan purchase, the diligence on the loan and the underlying collateral, and the closing of the acquisition.

Leasing

  • Statewide leasing counsel for a major California financial institution with over 75 retail locations throughout California.
  • Leasing counsel for the ownership of a high-rise, commercial office building in the downtown Sacramento “Capitol Mall” district.
  • Negotiated and documented complex orchard development leases and ground lease option structures for major agri-business clients in Northern California’s Central Valley.
  • Leasing counsel for the developer/owner of several commercial office projects and retail projects in Northern California.
  • Negotiated and documented complex ground leases and option structures for one of the fastest growing commercial carwash operators in California.

Real Estate Finance

  • Represented a national banking institution in connection with the complex, multi-stage, mixed collateral foreclosure of a major Northern California paper mill and related real and personal property holdings.
  • Represented a federally-recognized Indian Tribe in connection with the contested foreclosure of a 160-acre commercial/industrial project.
  • The development and implementation, for the CRHMFA Homebuyers Fund, of the Moderate Income Retrofit and Conversion Loan Program, including: (i) negotiation of the California Energy Commission grant contract; (ii) structuring and creating loan program documentation, vendor contracts and underwriting guidelines; and (iii) creating loan servicing guidelines in connection with long term loan program administration.
  • Representation of a major investment partner and affiliated guarantor in a failed Bay Area development project, including institutional lender workout, forbearance and settlement.
  • Representation of a defaulting borrower and affiliate guarantor in the workout and settlement of an $85,000,000 loan made by a major institutional lender.

Involvement

Articles

1996

  • Unlocking the Japanese Rice Market: How Far Will the Door be Opened? 9 Transnat’l Law 273 (1996), James R. Moore

Honors

  • Sacramento Magazine Top Lawyer, 2015 – 2022
  • Law School Honors: Graduated With Great Distinction; Order of the Coif; Outstanding Achievement Award for 1997 (awarded to the top graduating law student)
  • The Transnational Lawyer, International Law Journal: Staff writer, 1995-1996; Editor-in-Chief, 1996-97

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • State Bar of Colorado
  • State Bar of California, Real Estate Section