J. David Hitchcock is a Shareholder in the Los Angeles office of Buchalter, a member of the Firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Cannabis & Hemp Industry Law Group. Mr. Hitchcock’s practice focuses on real estate acquisitions and dispositions, loan originations, loan workouts and restructurings, loan sales, secured real estate finance, joint ventures, and general real estate matters. He has extensive experience representing clients in all areas of the real estate market – private equity funds, real estate developers, core and value-add real estate owners/operators, public school districts, as well as publicly traded REITs.

Before returning to the practice of law in 2011, Mr. Hitchcock was a Vice President with an international private equity fund, in charge of a $1 billion portfolio of distressed commercial real estate mortgages and related real estate collateral. In this capacity, Mr. Hitchcock negotiated and resolved numerous defaulted loans, ran multi-state foreclosures and receiverships, managed REO, and bought and sold performing and non-performing debt. Before joining the fund, Mr. Hitchcock ran his own real estate development and mortgage brokerage company.

Mr. Hitchcock has been named one of the The Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate Law from 2019-2025. He has also been named a 2023 Visionary in the real estate category by Los Angeles Times B2B Publishing.

 

  • Purchase and Sale
    • Represented private equity fund on sale of portfolio of light industrial/flex office portfolio with a cumulative value in excess of $100,000,000 in Bay Area, CA.
    • Represented Private equity fund in the purchase, diligence, secured financing of light industrial/flex office product in San Diego, CA.
    • Represented developer in acquisition and financing of raw land for development of light industrial product and sales of over aprox. $100,000,000 of light industrial development projects for such developer in Inland Empire, CA.
    • Represented private equity joint venture in acquisition and financing of aprox. 200,000 square foot office building complex in Seattle, WA area.
    • Represented fortune 500 vehicle manufacturing company in acquisition of raw land for development of parts distribution center in Las Vegas, NV.
  • Leasing
    • Represented Private equity joint venture as landlord in a build-to-suit lease of aprox. 100,000 square foot distribution warehouse opposite major retail and logistics tenant.
    • Represented Fortune 50 entertainment company as a tenant on lease of aprox. 100,000 square foot sound stage lease in Los Angeles, CA, and separate industrial lease for aprox. 60,000 square foot props warehouse in San Fernando Valley, CA.
    • Represented Fortune 50 entertainment company as a tenant in aprox. 100,000 square foot office lease in San Francisco, CA for streaming service support.
    • Represented developer as a landlord in aprox. 90,000 square foot industrial lease in Inland Empire, CA.
    • Represented fortune 500 vehicle manufacturer in connection with lease of industrial facility for a research and development facility in Bay Area, CA.
    • Represented vehicle manufacturing company in connection with rollout of service center and retail locations in the Western United States.
  • Joint Ventures
    • Represented private equity fund in documenting a limited liability company joint venture with a sponsor for the acquisition of large multifamily apartment community in Colorado.
    • Represented private equity fund in documenting a limited liability company joint venture with a sponsor for the acquisition of multiple light industrial projects in San Diego, CA.
    • Prepared limited liability companies for client creating profit sharing program for key officers.
  •  Lending
    • Represent private money REIT in bridge financing platform on office, retail and flex industrial, with average loan size in the $20,000,000-$30,000,000 range.
    • Represented life insurance company in lending, loan modification and asset management issues on national basis, handling over $10,000,000,000 in loan assets in four years.
    • Represent regional bank in connection with construction loan program for multifamily assets in Los Angeles area.
  • Loan Workouts
    • Forbearance and work-out of $50,000,000 multi-loan mixed collateral lending relationship representing regional bank opposite Southern California based retail borrower.
    • Loan modification and forbearance of approximately $40,000,000 loan secured by shopping center in Southern California representing borrower opposite CMBS lender.
    • Assisted national lender in creating loan modification program to respond to 2020 pandemic, implementing the same in multiple states and across asset classes.

Mr. Hitchcock received his B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago in 1993. He earned his J.D. from the USC Gould School of Law, where he was Order of the Coif and an Articles Editor for the University of Southern California Law Review.

  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Real Property Section
  • USC Law and Business Forum Program Committee
  • Board of Directors for Hillsides Home for Children in Pasadena, CA
  • Helped form the Pasadena Education Network, a non-profit organization formed to promote family participation in public education in Pasadena, California