International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that it continues the expansion of its Real Estate & Land Use practice group in its Minneapolis office with the addition of partners LB Guthrie and David Meyer and associate Sarah Zach.
“The addition of these three excellent attorneys will expand our service capabilities in the areas of real estate development, debt and equity financing, and owner-operator representation,” said Mark Hamel, Partner and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Group Head.
Guthrie, Meyer and Zach join Marcus Mollison, Laura Graf and Anne Olson as part of six attorneys who have joined Dorsey’s Real Estate & Land Use practice group over the past two months.
“Our recent hires are evidence of our commitment to the real estate industry both nationally and worldwide. With strong client relationships and experience in development, financing, acquisitions, leasing, and dispositions, these hires enhance the visibility and reputation of Dorsey as a top real estate firm. Our Real Estate & Land Use practice now has a depth of legal experience and industry knowledge that is extraordinary. We strategically sought out this group of attorneys to complement Dorsey’s already strong reputation as a provider of real estate legal services, and are excited for the future of this group,” said Ken Cutler, Managing Partner of Dorsey & Whitney.
LB Guthrie
With over 35 years of experience, Mr. Guthrie’s practice focuses on a wide variety of real estate issues. He has handled numerous 1031 exchanges, leasebacks, bondable leases, and tax-increment financings for apartment complexes, downtown office buildings, suburban hotels, medical office and manufacturing facilities, single-family and multi-family housing developments, cooperatives, landfills, shopping centers, office parks, mixed-use developments, and telecom hotels. Mr. Guthrie has acted as:
- Counsel for the developer and landlord of 212,000 square feet of office space located at INOVA Dry Creek in Centennial Colorado.
- Counsel for end user (buyer) of the 1,000,000 square feet downtown east mixed use/office development.
- Counsel for the developer of the 250,000 – 300,000 square feet build-to-suit North Loop office development (“Be The Match” Building).
- Real Estate Counsel for $450,000,000 portion of over $1.2 billion financing of a $1.9 billion iron mine project.
Before joining Dorsey, Mr. Guthrie was a partner at Lindquist & Vennum and served for 12 years as leader of that firm’s real estate practice group. Before joining Lindquist & Vennum in 2001, he was a partner in the Maun & Simon law firm in Minneapolis, where he served as managing partner in the mid-1990s.
David Meyer
Mr. Meyer focuses his practice primarily in the areas of real estate and commercial lending. He represents developers, sellers, purchasers, landlords and tenants in all aspects of real estate law, including financing, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions of office, industrial, residential and retail properties. He also represents lenders in local, regional and multistate credit transactions, including construction and term loans, revolving credit facilities and loan workouts. Among other notable matters, Mr. Meyer has acted as:
- Counsel for the purchaser of two mixed-use office towers in Minneapolis, MN containing over 1,000,000 square feet of office space.
- Counsel for a developer in connection with a $51.5 million construction loan from a major financial institution to a joint venture constructing two office and warehouse buildings in Colorado totaling more than 800,000 square feet.
- Counsel for a national bank in its lease negotiation for nearly 500,000 square feet of office space as part of a consolidation of multiple offices.
- Counsel for multiple local and national banks and other lenders, including representation of a life insurance company on several multi-million dollar loans secured by office, industrial, residential and retail properties throughout the country.
Mr. Meyer was previously a partner at Lindquist & Vennum. He has a J.D. degree from the William Mitchell College Law School (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) and a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota. Mr. Meyer is a former member of the City of Shorewood Planning Commission.
Sarah Zach
Ms. Zach assists clients with acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and construction transactions. Her expertise includes helping regional and national developers with the buying, selling, leasing and refinancing of multifamily, industrial, office and other commercial projects. She has significant due diligence experience and provides her clients with valuable organization, insight and expertise in deals of all sizes across the United States. Among other recent matters, she has:
- Represented a Twin Cities developer in $25 million refinancing.
- Represented a national developer in $50 million multifamily development project.
- Represented a national multifamily owner-operator in $50 million acquisition and financing.
- Represented a national retailer in dozens of leasing matters across the country.
Ms. Zach was previously an associate at Lindquist & Vennum. She has a J.D. degree from the William Mitchell College Law School (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) and a B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.