Richard M. Shapiro

Richard Shapiro has a diverse real estate-related practice, which includes land use and all aspects of real estate development, acquisitions and dispositions, entity formation, financing and venture workouts, leasing, land use, and construction. In addition to being an attorney, he is also a registered architect and has an inactive California contractor’s license.

His practice includes sophisticated financing strategies for nonprofit entities utilizing tax credits and tax exempt bond proceeds. For example, Dick recently represented a nonprofit affordable ”maker space” developer in the acquisition and financing of a makerspace using New Markets Tax Credits. In another, he represented a major resort in a sale utilizing an UPREIT transaction. He also recently represented a nonprofit college in the off-balance sheet tax-exempt bond financing of a new dormitory.

Dick's transactional real estate experience involves many types of property, including land for development, agriculture, residential subdivisions, apartment projects, corporate campus projects, industrial buildings and parks, hotels, marinas, shopping centers, mobile home parks, and suburban and high-rise office buildings. In addition to complex financing arrangements, his financing representation involves working with both lenders and borrowers in connection with construction and permanent financing, including participation arrangements for many property types, as well as loan restructuring. He also provides representation relating to operational issues, including reciprocal easement agreements, commercial condominium documents, and management and real estate brokerage agreements.

He represents clients in land use entitlement matters including CEQA compliance, general plan amendments, conditional use permits, development agreements and development and disposition agreements, wetlands mitigation, subdivision improvement, and reimbursement agreements. With respect to construction, Dick's experience includes representing owners, contractors, and design professionals in connection with a wide range of projects throughout the U.S. and abroad, with extensive experience in public and private design-build arrangements for publicly owned facilities, including office buildings, cultural facilities, courthouses, and rapid transit facilities.

Dick regularly lectures and conducts client seminars on construction and general real estate law issues. He authored a chapter in the ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry’s Fundamentals of Construction Law (Second Edition). Dick authored of "The Lease as an Operational Tool" in the ULI Shopping Center Development Handbook (Second Edition) and "Construction-Related Agreements" in California Easements and Boundaries, Law and Litigation, California Continuing Education of the Bar.