Residential, Resort & Hospitality Properties
Our knowledge and experience, as well as our recognition in the field, allow us to coordinate all aspects of the most complex projects. We add value by customizing project models and strategies to meet short- and long-term business objectives while maximizing flexibility to adjust products and programs to changing market conditions. Our strategic advice and experience in the residential, resort, and hospitality industries generate positive results and facilitate project success.
Golf Course and Resort. Our attorneys have significant experience structuring, documenting, and implementing some of the most renowned golf course and resort projects in the country. We handle every issue unique to golf course and resort projects, including:
- Developing and drafting equity and nonequity membership programs, focusing on developer rights, tax implications, membership rights and obligations, membership initiation fee and dues structures, and refund and transfer policies
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Obtaining necessary approvals and permits from regulatory agencies, including the Department of Corporations, the Department of Real Estate, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, and the State Board of Equalization
- Optimizing project viability and profitability through analysis and revision of client marketing strategies, business plans, and pro forma financial statements
- Restructuring membership programs and revising membership documents to adapt to changing market conditions and updated client objectives
- Negotiating and drafting project-related contracts, including purchase agreements, golf course design agreements, golf course management agreements, hotel management agreements, employment agreements, licenses, and special event and tournament contracts
Our golf course and resort clients benefit from the customized transaction and project models we have developed. In addition, our clients are able to take advantage of our proficiency and knowledge in complementary areas of the law.
Residential. Our expertise extends to all aspects of residential development. We have experience with master-planned communities, large and small condominium projects, and mixed-use developments. We also routinely coordinate the relationship between the residential component of a project and surrounding resort and recreational facilities. Our focus on early planning and integration of the various elements of the resort community contributes to the viability and success of the entire project.
We are uniquely qualified to address the challenges and issues affecting residential developments adjacent to or within destination resort communities. We possess essential expertise in the allocation of rights and obligations between the residential community on the one hand and the golf course and/or resort on the other, including maintenance, access, and use rights and responsibilities. We carefully craft working documents, including cost-sharing agreements, shared-use agreements, easement agreements, license agreements, and other types of documents that allocate rights and obligations among various users to avoid potential disputes and facilitate project success.
In addition to successfully integrating the residential and resort aspects of a project, we strive to create, document, and implement features that enable our clients to change and redesign the residential community throughout the life of the project. Our positive working relationship with regulatory agencies facilitates our ability to incorporate these features for the benefit of our clients. Moreover, these relationships allow us to expedite approvals by tailoring our documents with provisions approved by the regulators. Our skill in navigating the regulatory process protects our clients from delays often associated with the regulatory process.
Hotels. We represent both purchasers and sellers of hotels, as well as lenders providing financing in hotel transactions. We draft and negotiate purchase and sale agreements, perform extensive due diligence, including title review and insurance analysis, and provide expert advice on related licensing, permit, management, franchise, alcohol, leasing, labor, and other operating issues.
We have expertise in areas and issues unique to the hotel industry. In particular, we draft and negotiate hotel management agreements and franchise agreements, advise clients on the development and construction of new or expanding hotel projects, and assist clients with personnel issues. We negotiate development agreements, easements, and covenants; address zoning and subdivision matters; obtain governmental approvals and entitlements; represent developers in obtaining acquisition, working capital, construction, or rehabilitation financing; and negotiate architectural, engineering, and construction contracts.
Timeshares, Interval Ownership, and Fractional Interests. Our attorneys are known for their innovative work in the timeshare, interval ownership, and fractional-interest facets of the industry. We have unparalleled experience in structuring not only classic timeshare products, but right-to-use, multisite vacation clubs, point-based systems, and mixed-use projects with hotel, timeshare, and golf components.
Our capabilities include counseling both publicly and privately held clients regarding development structures, registration requirements, disclosure matters, document preparation, including related sales and management agreements, and negotiation and documentation of receivables financing. We also regularly assist out-of-state and foreign clients seeking to register their projects in California and elsewhere.
We have been at the forefront of the vacation ownership industry since its inception, and we continue to develop innovative and effective legal structures for these exciting resort products. Our focus is on creating greater degrees of user flexibility, which often includes implementation of the floating week and floating unit programs and multisite vacation clubs marketed on a points basis.
Risk Management. Regardless of the size or type of project, our primary goals are to maximize developer flexibility and minimize developer liability. Our risk-management programs are designed to identify and address potential developer risk areas and to establish effective claim and lawsuit response mechanisms. Our litigation experience provides our clients with the ability to approach different issues from a unique perspective. Our approach is proactive, addressing potential problems early in the planning stages of a development before problems arise and creating project documents to reduce exposure and protect clients from unexpected circumstances.
