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2023 Lawyers in Real Estate Awards
Seattle & Northwest
David J. Petersen
Represented $1.2-billion sale of senior housing facilities from Sunwest's bankruptcy
Represented a client in certification to build a 500-MW wind energy facility
David Petersen chairs Tonkon Torp’s Real Estate & Land Use Practice Group, focusing his practice on land use and local government law. He works on large-scale residential developments, big-box retail stores, educational and office campuses, mixed-use developments and master planned communities, and other industrial and commercial facilities. He has successfully represented clients before permitting bodies including the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and many Oregon and California cities and counties. Petersen’s subspeciality is renewable energy development.
Petersen’s robust real estate transactional practice includes representing owners and developers in a wide range of title, finance, transactional, leasing and regulatory matters. He has handled the real estate aspects of several complex mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies, including the $1.2-billion sale of 146 senior housing facilities resulting from Sunwest’s bankruptcy, at the time the nation’s largest privately-held senior housing provider.
Another highlight is representing a client in obtaining a site certificate from the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council to construct a 500-MW wind energy facility in Morrow and Umatilla Counties. In another transaction, Petersen counseled a major Oregon utility on corporate, tax, finance and real estate issues concerning three solar energy projects in the greater Portland area, including the first two installments of the Oregon Solar Highway, which seeks to use highway rights-of-way and rest stops for solar energy generation.
Petersen serves as a volunteer advocate for foster kids through Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). He also worked regularly as a high school football referee and baseball umpire.
He’s been recognized by the Best Lawyers in America and Chambers U.S.A. and received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
These are why we are honoring David Petersen with Connect CRE’s 2023 Seattle & Northwest Lawyers in Real Estate Award. The award celebrates real estate attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their practice and the larger community.