Profile
Eric Rowen is the Co-Chair of the Real Estate Litigation Practice and the Chair of the Western Region Real Estate Litigation Group. He focuses his practice on litigation involving real estate, real estate financing, commercial real estate leasing, real estate related bankruptcies, and trusts holding vast real estate assets. Mr. Rowen has deep experience with litigation and pre-litigation counseling involving securitized loan portfolios, loan and loan portfolio workouts and restructurings, construction financing, bond financings, partnership and joint venture disputes, complex eminent domain, lease disputes, entitlements (including CEQA), title issues, title insurance, and real property related environmental matters (such as federal and state superfund and private cost recovery actions). He has broad bench and jury trial, law and motion, and deposition experience in federal (including bankruptcy), state, and appellate courts, and in arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution arenas, as well as in probate and other specialized courts dealing with trusts and estates.
Concentrations
- Litigation
- Real Estate
- Real Estate Financing
- Commercial Leasing
- Workouts
- Bankruptcy Litigation
- Complex Eminent Domain
- Contaminated Real Property Cost Recovery
- Trust and Estate Litigation
Capabilities
Experience
- Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig as Co-Chair of its Global Real Estate Litigation Practice Group and Chair of its Western Region US Real Estate Litigation Practice, Mr. Rowen served in a similar capacity for two other top tier law firms. Mr. Rowen also served as President of ParkMedia LLC, a real estate aggregation and media company subsidiary of Apollo Management, L.P., and Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P.
- Represented L.A. Downtown Investment, LP, in connection with lien priority litigation involving more than $260 million in lien claims arising out of the Oceanwide Plaza LLC default; successfully defended the lien priority of LADI’s almost $200 million in senior funding for vertical construction of a three tower, 35 to 50 story high-rise, multi-family, hospitality, and retail mixed use project.
- Represented Arena Origination Co., LLC (Arena Investors) in litigation challenging multiple senior secured liens on two Bay Area high-rise, micro-unit residential conversion projects; successfully defended against claims of fraudulent transfer, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting.
- Represented Hankey Capital, LLC, in connection with UCC foreclosure of LLC interests in a major downtown Los Angeles multifamily high-rise, securing loans approximating $50 million; successfully recovered the full balance of the loans plus costs and expenses.
- Represented Arena Limited SPV (Arena Investors) in connection with numerous disputes involving shopping center loans, including foreclosure and bankruptcy adversary proceedings; after prevailing in bankruptcy adversary proceedings, successfully negotiated the transfer of title to the shopping centers at issue, payment of a $7 million deficiency, legal fees, and general release.
- Represented CBRE Global Investors, numerous managed funds and affiliates as well as fund managers related to an array of property products (multi-family, office, retail and mixed use) in a multitude of litigation matters, including several securities law, RICO and related claims involving tenancy-in-common and Delaware statutory trust securitizations, capital stack priority disputes, forward looking contract investments, joint ventures and equity participations, junior and mezzanine loan disputes, and property level management disputes.
- Represented Fortress Value Fund and its predecessor in connection with numerous matters, including joint venture and capital stack disputes, lender liability and loan recovery litigation relating to massive, multi-phased residential development projects, successor liability issues and guaranty recovery.
- Represented Gramercy Warehouse Fund in connection with several matters, including a $200 million loan enforcement action involving non-monetary, loan out-of-balance defaults in which we imposed a receiver over and later foreclosed upon and acquired a 1.3 million square foot regional mall, successfully defended lender liability and bad faith claims, and recovered $25 million on loan guaranties.
- Represented Capri Select Income II mezzanine loan fund in connection with the successful defense of lender liability claims arising out of a 75 unit, high rise, historical property, office-to-condominium conversion, and the UCC foreclosure on the $30 million equity position.
- Represented the Aspen Pacific Capital (Guggenheim) fund and numerous affiliates in workout and recovery litigation, involving an $80 million loan portfolio for 2000+ acre residential, multi-phased tract developments located in Imperial County, California, in which we also successfully defended joint venture and lender liability claims, and recovered the property.
- Represented DB Zwirn Special Opportunities Fund in connection with workout and recovery litigation involving more than $100 million in loans secured by multi-family projects located throughout the western US.
- Represented Bear Stearns and affiliates in workout and recovery litigation, involving a $120 million loan portfolio for condominium development in Mammoth Lakes and Lake Tahoe, California.
- Represented Lehman Brothers and numerous affiliates in workout and recovery litigation, including bankruptcy, involving its multi-100 million dollar portfolio of residential tract acquisition and development loans.
- Represented Colony Capital and numerous affiliates in the workout and restructuring of its assisted care nursing facility portfolio.
- Represented numerous lenders in the restructuring and divestiture of loan portfolios involving significant resort hotel properties. For example, represented a consortium of Japanese lenders including Mitsui Trust and Nippon Credit and their affiliates in state court, federal district court and bankruptcy litigation over their lien and ownership rights in the Embassy Suites Resort on Maui, Hawaii.
- Represented the National Bank of Canada in numerous litigation and pre-litigation matters as he helped the bank workout and divest its entire Southern California loan portfolio. Over 20 major loans were restructured and more than $100 million in cash and assets recovered over a 3 year time period.
- Represented The Enterprise (L&R Group of Companies, Inc.) in connection with a broad range of internal disputes; successfully enforcing corporate governance amendments, dissociating a 22% partner from the partnership valued in excess of $1.6 billion, and recovering more than $7 million in legal fees.
- Represented Orbis Riverside Airport Holdings, LLC, in successfully resolving a dispute over allocation of more than $50 million in property sale proceeds.
- Represented Strauss Wind, LLC, (BayWa r.e.) in disputes over construction and Commercial Operation Date delays for a 100-megawatt wind farm due to force majeure, frustration of purpose, impracticability, and impossibility due to COVID-19; successfully secured the maximum extension allowed under the development agreement.
- Represented Angiola East, LLC, (Samsung Solar Energy) in CEQA litigation over approvals for the development of a 227-acre solar project. Successfully defeated claims that Tulare County erroneously issued a mitigated negative declaration and special use permit on grounds that plaintiff failed to exhaust its administrative remedies.
- Represented E Komo Mai Holdings affiliate in connection with the bad faith refusal of its lender to fund a loan for the development and construction of the Sacramento Hyatt Hotel. Successfully negotiated the assignment of the loan and all security interests in question to our client and payment of all its costs and expenses.
- Represented Bird Rides, Inc., in its successful efforts to terminate its 70,000+ square foot corporate headquarters lease in Santa Monica, asserting Covid-19 and force majeure related claims.
- Represented Green Hills Memorial Park in connection with numerous disputes, including the successful defense of public and private nuisance and related claims as well as numerous writ proceedings challenging government permits and approvals.
- Represented GEM Realty affiliate and successfully defended claims regarding reciprocal easement and redevelopment rights involving a downtown Los Angeles mixed use high-rise, resulting in full enforcement of easement and project development without interference.
- Represented XPO Logistics Freight, Inc., in connection with a dispute over title to a $40+ million trucking facility in the East Bay. Successfully defended claims brought in state, federal and bankruptcy courts.
- Represented Friendly Franchise Corporation in connection with eminent domain taking issues arising out of the Alameda Corridor East. Secured over $1 million in loss of goodwill for partial taking.
- Represented Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc., in the defense of an action to terminate its lease of an approximately 130,000 square foot industrial property for non-payment of rent during the pandemic. Successfully defended the action and secured abatement of rent on grounds of force majeure, frustration of purpose, impracticability and impossibility due to COVID-19.
- Represented Capital Logistics & Warehousing Group, Inc., in the defense of an action to terminate its lease of an approximately 405,000 square foot industrial property for non-payment of rent during the pandemic. Successfully defended the action and secured abatement of rent on grounds of force majeure, frustration of purpose, impracticability and impossibility due to COVID-19.
- Represented Blaze Pizza Operations, LLC, in disputes with its landlord over the termination of its Old Town Pasadena lease due to force majeure, frustration of purpose, impracticability and impossibility due to COVID-19. Successfully secured the termination of the lease.
- Represented Bird Nest LLC (Katy Perry), securing the right to acquire a former convent from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles for redevelopment into a residential compound and, in the process, defeating the claims of a competing buyer (hotel developer) and cancelling the competing buyer’s recorded deed and other clouds on title.
- Represented Star Scrap Metals Co. and Metal Depot, securing double the offered real estate value, double the offered value of FF&E, multi-million dollar relocation reimbursement, and the more than twenty times the previous largest award of goodwill for any condemned businesses in the history of the State of California.
- Represented Nine Mile Hill Investment Company and Noby Venture in workout litigation in connection with 3,300 acre senior living development, including 3,700 residential units, a hospital, retail shopping center and golf course, reducing the payoff obligation by approximately 50% and securing a project-life income stream for the owners.
- Represented Maximus Capital Partners in affirming and specifically enforcing rights to purchase the largest multi-family project site in San Francisco (Mission District), and saving a $300+ million project despite public outcry over what was dubbed the “Monster in the Mission.”
- Represented an affiliate of Crescent Heights in defeating and settling a condominium owner class action asserting claims for breaches of contractor licensing laws and for breaches of lender financing law, all arising out of buyer requested unit improvements.
- Represented Skechers USA in litigation against a developer/joint venturer involving the development and lease-back of an approximately 90 acre, 1.812 million square foot facility into which the company’s manufacturing will be consolidated.
- Represented the nation’s largest health care REIT, HCP, Inc., and affiliates in multi-district litigation and arbitration with its largest hospital operator; the company terminated seven major acute care hospital facility leases across the US valued in the aggregate at more than $1.8 billion, and we successfully defended tort and contract claims arising therefrom, resulting in the termination and/or restructure of the entire hospital lease portfolio.
- Represented Morgan Stanley and affiliates in major commercial lease disputes, involving significant land subsidence issues affecting a major office complex in San Diego, California.
- Represented LA Pacific in state, federal court and bankruptcy litigation crossing two states, including several matters before both the California and Nevada Supreme Courts, relating to claims for fraud and rescission over the acquisition and development of a $1.8 Billion Las Vegas casino; secured a $150+ million judgment against the former seller for tortious interference with a property sale.
- Represented the Ring Group as a general partner and a plaintiff in litigation to dissolve a partnership owning one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious apartment complexes valued at over $300 million.
- Represented the Lennar Corporation and a number of its affiliates in litigation and pre-litigation over entitlement rights, contractor disputes, subsidence matters and ancillary infrastructure issues, including cable system ownership and transfer rights. In one matter, renegotiated the development agreement for a three hundred, single family home development after convincing the local jurisdiction that subsequently adopted fee ordinances and building moratoria were inapplicable to the development and facially unconstitutional.
- Represented the Porter Ranch Development Company in litigation over the application of recorded lot size limitations, successfully defending claims that would have reduced the development by two-thirds and rendered the $110 million project economically unfeasible.
- In multiple litigation matters filed in federal district, state and bankruptcy courts, Mr. Rowen successfully defended several Koos Group affiliates in wide ranging disputes over the ownership of the Hilton Waikoloa Hotel & Resort.
- Led the defense of the City of Los Angeles in litigation and bankruptcy proceedings involving municipal bond financing for the nation's largest Section 8 supported housing project; the plaintiffs were institutional bondholders seeking to recover over $60 million in damages; the case was litigated vigorously, thrown out three times, and settled for less than one-half of one percent of the plaintiffs' claim.
- For numerous years, served as outside general counsel and principal litigation counsel for California's third largest residential developer, Baldwin Builders. Among many engagements, led the successful defense of litigation seeking to recover more than $140 million in company debt secured by approximately 5,000 single family homes located in numerous development sites throughout Southern California.
- For Village Properties, led litigation against the FDIC over development rights, securing the largest settlement from the FDIC in its history; also led litigation against the Water District and Conservancy over development and water rights involving a 600 acre Westlake Village project, resulting in a substantial eight figure judgment. He also represented the client in matters involving entitlements, subsidence, access and excavation claims.
- Served as the principal outside counsel to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) for its inter-governmental negotiations and litigation. Among other things, he negotiated and documented the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between ACTA and each municipality through which the $2.4 billion railroad corridor was constructed, as well as the MOUs with the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the County of Los Angeles, and its Department of Public Works. Additionally, he negotiated the land exchange agreements among ACTA, the County and the railroads by which final ownership of Corridor related properties was determined
- Represented the children of Daisy Kuo as the sole beneficiaries of the Kuo Family Trust defeat the claims of their aunts and uncles, who convinced their severely compromised brother (the children’s father) on his death bed to change the trust and make his siblings the sole beneficiaries. Successfully defeated the siblings claims, recovered the trust and all assets for the benefit of the children, and secured payment of all fees, costs and expenses.
- Represented the sole non-contingent beneficiary of the Mark Hughes Family Trust in connection with his successful efforts to establish the bona fide nature of lien rights securing over $100 million against 157 acres of entitled real property located behind the Beverly Hills Hotel at the top of Beverly Hills, California.
- Ran litigation and was the lead negotiator for the bankruptcy estate of Sega GameWorks, LLC. Mr. Rowen negotiated the resolution of a nationwide, large-box, leased premises portfolio of retail locations by pursuing 16 separate lawsuits seeking recharacterization of large portions of GameWorks' lease obligations.
- Represented Lehman Brothers' affiliate in connection with $65 million loan and secured by an oceanfront development impacted by an endangered species and soil and ground water contamination. The developer/borrower filed bankruptcy to forestall debt enforcement efforts; however, through litigation, the bankrupt developer was forced to repay the secured loan at a significant premium, yielding an IRR in excess of 65% per annum.
- Ran litigation for the bankruptcy estate of The Baldwin Company, one of nation's preeminent luxury, hillside, residential developers, and was the principal architect of the successful one-form-of-action litigation brought against the estate's $60 million working line of credit lender.
- Ran litigation for the Pioneer Mortgage Liquidating Company, which was the liquidation instrument for the assets of the Pioneer Mortgage bankruptcy estate. He also handled preference and fraudulent transfer litigation for the bankruptcy estate itself. The Pioneer Mortgage bankruptcy was the second largest mortgage banking bankruptcy in California history, involving over $6 billion in real estate assets.
- Counseled Shimizu Corporation in the restructuring of its $3.6 billion resort portfolio, and in the corporate reorganization of its US holding companies and subsidiaries.
- Represented Britney Spears in her successful efforts to terminate a 13-year long conservatorship.
- Represented Linda Kerkorian in connection with the administration of her father’s estate.
- Represent the sole non-contingent beneficiary of the Mark Hughes Family Trust against the originally named co-trustees of the trust in connection with a multitude of disputes, resulting ultimately in the suspension and removal of the co-trustees. Litigation included the successful pursuit of claims for the co-trustees’ failure to honor support obligations, improper attempts to allocate trust obligations to a custodial account, and proposed improper settlement of a Graegin (estate tax loan) transaction. The suspension and removal of the original co-trustees was affirmed in full by the California Court of Appeals.
- Represent one of two beneficiaries of the Superstein Family Trust against the other beneficiary and putative trustee, successfully invalidating death-bed trust amendments purporting to alter the otherwise equal control of an estimated $300+ million real estate portfolio of over 60 light industrial properties as well as vast undeveloped property.
- Represent the trustees of the Adaya Family Trust in litigation against certain trust beneficiaries in wide ranging disputes involving a substantial real estate portfolio owned or controlled by the trust, resulting in a settlement that fully vindicated the trustees and secured a ten figure recovery from a beneficiary.
- Represent the trustee of the Jack Hazard Trust which owns System Property Development Company, the successor to System Parking, and owner of a national real estate portfolio.
Recognition & Leadership
- Team Member, a Law360 “Environmental Practice Group of the Year,” 2022
- Team Member, U.S. News - Best Lawyers®, Best Law Firms Edition, "Law Firm of the Year," Real Estate - Litigation, 2017 and 2022
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation - Trusts and Estates, 2018-2025
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Real Estate, 2018-2021 and 2023-2024
- Team Member, a Law360 "Real Estate Practice Group of the Year," 2023
- Team Member, U.S. News - Best Lawyers®, Best Law Firms Edition, "Law Firm of the Year," Banking & Finance - Litigation, 2017
- Team Member, U.S. News - Best Lawyers®, Best Law Firms Edition, "Law Firm of the Year," Environmental Law, 2016
- Member, Winning Team, U.S. News - Best Lawyers, "Law Firm of the Year" in Real Estate Law, 2015
- Member, Winning Team, Chambers and Partners USA Award for Excellence In Real Estate (Team), 2013 and 2017
- Member, Winning Team, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Law Firm of the Year" in Bankruptcy & Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency & Reorganization Law and Litigation, 2013
- Counsel to the Independent Directors, Herbalife Nutrition, Ltd. (2020-present)
- Director, Baramy Investment, Inc., a light industrial real estate holding company (2008-present)
- Director, Stark Canada ULC, a real estate holding and opportunistic development company (2011-present)
- Chair, Economic Development Corporation for the County of Los Angeles (LAEDC) (2019)
- Executive Committee and Chair of the Legal Committee, Economic Development Corporation for the County of Los Angeles (LAEDC) (1993-2000; 2003-present)
- Corporate Counsel (functioning General Counsel), LAEDC
- Corporate Counsel, Los Angeles Public Landowner Assistance Network (LA PLAN)
- Corporate Counsel, Southern California Leadership Council
- Planning Committee, USC Gould School of Law Real Estate Law & Business Forum (2008-present)
- Board Member, USC Real Estate Symposium (2008-Present)
- Board, UCLA Real Estate Finance & Investment Conference (2003-2006)
- Cabinet Member, Real Estate and Construction Division of the Jewish Federation (2010)
- State Bar of California (Litigation Section; Real Property Section)
- Los Angeles County Bar Association (Real Property Section; Litigation Section)
- Executive Committee: Real Property Section (1997-2000)
- Chair, Real Property Section: Real Estate Litigation Subsection (1992-1997)
- Chair, Real Property Section: Title Subsection (1987-1991)
- Steering Committee Member: Real Property Section, Real Estate Litigation Subsection (1987-2000)
- Steering Committee Member: Real Property Section, Title Subsection (1983-1993)
- State Bar Conference Delegate (1986-2000)
- Executive Committee, State Bar Conference Delegation (1995-1998, 2003-2010)
- Legislative Review Committee, Litigation Section (1997-2000)
- Judicial Nominations Evaluation Committee (1999-2000)
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Century City Bar Association
- Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers Los Angeles
Credentials
Education
-
J.D., cum laude, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, 1982
- Editorial Board, International and Comparative Law Journal
- St. Thomas More Law Honor Society
- B.A., University of California at Irvine, 1979
Admissions
- California
- Nevada
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Central and Eastern Districts of California
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit