Sara Ghalandari is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Land Use and Development Practice Group.
Ms. Ghalandari’s practice encompasses a wide-array of land use/development matters and real estate transactions, including zoning, planning, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), public private partnerships, and matters regarding construction access, underpinning and shoring. The primary focus of her practice is the processing of entitlements for major real estate development projects in the Bay Area and throughout California, supervising the preparation and approval of environmental documentation, and negotiating transactional documents associated with land use, project development, and construction, including agreements between private and public entities. Ms. Ghalandari also advises institutional investors and lenders on land-use related matters.
Ms. Ghalandari successfully advises her clients on the complex regulatory and political issues impacting their projects to successfully achieve their goals. Such representation encompasses a wide-range of projects, including the redevelopment of large retail centers, mixed-use and multi-family developments, sports venues, office developments, large master planned communities, hotels, and historic rehabilitation projects. For example, she has represented her clients in the following matters:
- Brookfield working on the entitlement of a mixed use development on the parking lots and some existing development surrounding the Stonestown Galleria Shopping Mall;
- The Oakland Athletics working on the entitlement of a new ballpark and mixed-use development on the Oakland Waterfront; and
- Build Inc. in the successful entitlement of a large mixed-use public/private development with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.
Additional relevant information about Ms. Ghalandari includes:
- Ms. Ghalandari was recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™ 2024 in Real Estate Law.
- She is a board member of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and has an extensive pro bono practice.
- She also currently serves as a Commissioner on the San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission.
- Ms. Ghalandari earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she was awarded the Prosser Prize, and her B.A. in Political Science with high honors from the University of California, Davis, where she was awarded a Regents Scholarship.
- Ms. Ghalandari is admitted to practice law in the State of California.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- University of California, Berkeley - 2010 Juris Doctor
- University of California, Davis - 2006 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- California Bar