Kenneth Kecskes Joins Cox, Castle & Nicholson as Partner

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, a leading full-service law firm specializing in real estate in the United States, announced today that seasoned real estate and land use attorney Kenneth Kecskes has joined the firm as a Partner. Ken brings nearly three decades of experience counseling clients on complex transactional and entitlement matters statewide.

Ken has advised clients on the development and financing of large-scale, mixed-use master-planned communities in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Kern, Placer, Solano, and Sonoma counties. He has worked on complex maritime redevelopment projects in Humboldt and San Diego. His transactional practice includes serving some of the nation’s largest corporations in their real estate needs, including clients in the agriculture, aerospace, consumer goods, homebuilding, biotechnology, data center, and energy industries.

“We’ve known Ken in the industry for years, and his deep experience in real estate transactions and entitlement strategy is a strong complement to Cox Castle’s expansive real estate platform,” said Dwayne McKenzie, managing partner of Cox Castle. “His strategic insight and long record of delivering exceptional legal counsel will further strengthen our ability to serve clients navigating complex development, investment, and regulatory challenges.”

Ken joins Cox Castle from K&L Gates where he served as a Partner. He will serve clients from the firm’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices.

“Cox Castle has long been recognized as one of California’s leading law firms serving the real estate sector,” Kecskes said. “Very few law firms in California can match Cox Castle’s deep bench strength and broad understanding of the legal and business issues facing real estate investors, developers, financiers, and corporate end-users. I look forward to working alongside such a talented team of nationally recognized and award-winning lawyers in service of our clients.”

Within the real estate community, Ken is known for his service with the Urban Land Institute, both nationally and regionally. Ken serves as chair of a national product council of ULI devoted to the development of mixed-use and master-planned communities. He has served in leadership positions in ULI San Francisco’s NEXT program for mid-career real estate professionals, and he has volunteered in Bay Area high schools for more than 10 years teaching land use planning to students as part of ULI’s Urban Plan program. Ken is also a member of the Bay Area Council.

Ken has extensive experience advising clients on land use and regulatory compliance, including California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) strategy, general plan amendments, specific plans, subdivision map processing, and discretionary project approvals. He also advises on public-private partnership negotiations, disposition and development agreements, statutory development agreements, public trust lands matters, brownfields redevelopment, and housing-related regulatory frameworks affecting development.

“Ken joins the firm at a time of robust market activity and growing demand for sophisticated real estate and land use expertise,” added McKenzie. “We are delighted to welcome him and look forward to his contributions to our clients and firm.”

Ken also supplements Cox Castle’s inbound international real estate practice, having represented clients based in Korea, China, the U.K., and continental Europe on investing in California real estate. Ken has worked with international investors purchasing triple-net leased real estate assets and participated in economic missions to Asia to promote real estate investment opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

About Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP

Cox Castle was founded in Los Angeles in 1968, with the goal of providing superior and comprehensive legal services to businesses, institutions, and individuals across all aspects of the real estate, finance, and construction industries. Cox Castle is now one of the largest full-service law firms specializing in real estate in the United States with more than 140 transactional attorneys and litigators in its Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Francisco offices.

The firm has substantial expertise in matters involving land and improved property acquisitions and dispositions; joint ventures; single and multifamily residential development; land use, entitlement, and regulatory compliance (including coastal commission and condemnation); office, industrial, retail, data centers, and mixed-use development, leasing, and management; commercial lending and institutional investment; loan workouts and financial restructuring; construction; resort and hospitality; labor and employment; risk management and insurance; environmental compliance; renewable energy and natural resources; and tax and estate planning. For more information, please visit www.coxcastle.com.