Loeb & Loeb LLP announced today that leading land use and development attorney Allan J. Abshez has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner, together with Elizabeth A. Camacho, who has joined as senior counsel. Abshez, who was named by the Daily Journal as one of California’s Top 50 Development, Land Use, and Municipal Infrastructure Lawyers in 2014, will serve as chair of Loeb’s Los Angeles Real Estate Department.
“Allan is one of the foremost authorities on California’s development law,” said Loeb & Loeb Deputy Chairman Mickey Mayerson. “His decision to join the firm validates our strategic commitment to further strengthening our west coast real estate platform with top-tier talent and reflects our strong reputation in the L.A. market. Allan and Elizabeth bring significant knowledge and experience that will broaden our service offering to an array of clients whose work constitutes some of the most noteworthy real estate ventures in the country.”
Abshez and Camacho have practiced together for more than 20 years, concentrating on land use development law and related litigation. They represent many of the largest public and private land developers in the western United States in connection with projects spanning a broad spectrum of use sectors, including residential, retail, office and commercial, master-planned communities, educational and institutional facilities, entertainment centers, hospitals, sports stadiums, large-scale municipal infrastructure and sustainable energy projects.
The pair have significant expertise with the California Environmental Quality Act, the Subdivision Map Act, general planning and zoning law, affordable housing, historic preservation, design review, the California Coastal Act and the environmental regulations pertaining to wetlands and endangered species. Noteworthy projects in which they have played a leading role include the Farmers Market/The Grove shopping center, The J. Paul Getty Fine Arts Center, 20th Century Fox Studios masterplan, Howard Hughes Center, and high-rise condominium projects such as The Wilshire, The Remington, and The Regatta in Los Angeles. Abshez also led long range planning efforts for the University of California’s Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara campuses.
“We are excited to welcome Allan and Elizabeth to the firm. Both are extremely well regarded for their ability to nimbly navigate complex permitting and entitlement processes and, when necessary, litigate challenges to enable clients to move their development projects forward,” said Raymond A. Sanseverino, national Chair of Loeb & Loeb’s Real Estate Department. “Allan will be a fantastic asset to our practice leadership team in L.A. and he and Elizabeth will add tremendous value to our broader platform of real estate services.”
“I was very much attracted by the opportunity to be a leader in Loeb’s plan to bring together the best real estate talent in the L.A. region to meet the needs and challenges of this dynamic market,” said Abshez. “Elizabeth and I are excited to be a part of this fantastic team.”
Abshez has numerous public appointments to his credit, including planning commissioner on the City of Los Angeles Central Area Planning Commission and mayoral appointee to the City of Los Angeles Miracle Mile North Historic Preservation Overlay Zone Board and the City of Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance Oversight Committee. He also holds a variety of leadership roles within the industry and the community, including as a member of the Land Use Leadership Committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Urban Land Institute, the Board of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation, and RENEW Pershing Square.
In the course of his career, Abshez has also served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Kaufman and Broad Home Corp. He earned his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional law and Antitrust Law. He received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was Phi Beta Kappa.
Camacho serves as a volunteer attorney for the Alliance for Children’s Rights Foster Child Adoption Project and as a voluntary settlement officer for the Beverly Hills Municipal Court. She is a member of the board of the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Mexican American Bar Foundation and the Urban Land Institute.
Camacho received her J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and a B.A. from Oberlin College.
Source: www.loeb.com
