Gwendolyn C. Allen

Real Estate, Construction, Distressed Real Estate, Planned Communities and Condominiums, Real Estate Development, Real Estate Finance, Resort and Hotel

Gwendolyn C. Allen is a partner in the Real Estate Department and a member of the Real Estate Development, Real Estate Finance, Resort and Hotel, and Construction Groups and the Distressed Real Estate Initiative. She concentrates her practice in resort development and commercial real estate finance. 

Ms. Allen regularly represents developers and resort operators in all phases of project development, including land acquisition, construction, financing, timeshare registration, and sales, throughout the Rocky Mountains and the West. She represents borrowers and lenders in various types of financing. Her clients include large REITs, pension plan advisers, major life insurance companies, and various institutional lenders.

Ms. Allen's experience encompasses conventional loans secured by commercial real estate in various states, loans to 1031 exchange syndicates, mezzanine loans, cross-collateralized loans secured by properties in different states, and securitizations. She also has experience in loan workouts, foreclosures, and restructuring for distressed projects.

Representative Matters

Financing

• Represented an institutional lender in connection with workouts and foreclosures involving various loans secured by residential and mixed-use properties
• Represented a major life insurance company as senior lender in connection with a loan to a 1031 exchange syndicate; the loan was secured by office and retail property in Colorado, and the transaction involved a mezzanine loan and intercreditor agreements, as well as various trusts and specialized management agreements, to address multiple tenant-in-common interests in the collateral
• Represented a large REIT in connection with various loan transactions secured by properties throughout the country
• Represented a resort developer in connection with acquisition and development financing, including debt, equity, and mezzanine financing
• Represented an institutional lender in connection with the workout of defaulted mortgage loans secured by assisted-living facilities
• Represented major life insurance companies in connection with loans secured by shopping centers, office buildings, apartment complexes, and mixed-use facilities
• Assisted in the development of a large life insurance company's conduit loan program, including the creation of multistate forms and state-specific loan files for most of the 50 states
• Represented a large life insurance company in its small-loan program, handling more than $233.5 million in loans to be included in pools on the CMBS market
• Represented a major life insurance company with various loans secured by property in Colorado and Utah and with later loan modifications, additions of collateral for additional proceeds and partial releases of collateral for those loans
• Represented a major lender in connection with a distressed loan to a developer of residential subdivisions, including in negotiations for an attempted workout and restructuring; moving through to initiation of foreclosure proceedings approximately 350 lots; significant due diligence efforts, with a complete audit of all loan and project documents; evaluating issues related to continuing construction; meeting extensive infrastructure and other governmental requirements; and working with multiple homeowner associations and a developer-created metropolitan district

Development and Resorts/Hotels

• Assisted with fractional interest, timeshare, and club-related issues for projects in Mexico and Italy
• Represented developers in several redevelopments of existing timeshare, condominium, and hotel projects
• Represented a developer of a condominium hotel in a ski resort community, including in construction loan financing (both senior and mezzanine debt), condominium documentation, and subdivision and timeshare registration
• Represented a developer in all aspects of base-area redevelopment at a major ski resort
• Represented developers of various mixed-use condominium projects in resort areas in the Rocky Mountain region
• Represented a condominium developer in acquisition of property and the development and sale of units in Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Represented a developer of a mixed-use resort club, including in development, project documentation, management, leasing matters, and fractional interest registration
• Represented a large REIT in connection with portfolio sales of multifamily housing complexes in various states
• Represented a pension plan adviser in its continued development and disposition of approximately 145 acres of industrial and office-zoned land in the Denver metropolitan area

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
Member, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section; Chair, Hotels, Resorts and Tourism Committee; Member, Forum Committee on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law; Member, Membership Committee; Member, Continuing Legal Education Committee; Member, Real Estate Finance Group

Colorado Bar Association
Member, Real Estate Law Section

Denver Bar Association

American Resort Development Association (ARDA)

Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW)

Publications

"Distressed Real Estate: Special Challenges for Troubled Mixed-Use Condominiums," Colorado Real Estate Journal, January 2009

Co-author, "Legal Considerations in Mixed Use Developments," Colorado Lawyer, November 2006

Co-author, "Title Insurance Treatment of Zoning-Related Regulations and the ALTA Zoning Endorsement," Colorado Lawyer, June 2001

Speaking Engagements

"Water Rights: What's Hot Out West," Ballard Spahr CLE for Free: Water Law, September 30, 2009

"Distressed Hotels – Special Issues in Loan Workouts, Restructuring, and Repositioning for Hotel Properties," ABA/RPTE Hospitality Group Committee, April 6, 2009

"CCIOA from the Basics to Special Considerations: Condominium Conversions," Colorado Bar Association CLE, May 8, 2008

"Key Legal Issues in Commercial Real Estate Financing," Risk Management Association Commercial Real Estate Lending Forum, Denver, March 27, 2008

"Commercial Real Estate Financing," ABA Teleconference/Webcast Program, November 1, 2007

"Alternative Structures for Mixed Hotel Condominiums," ABA Joint Fall Session, Vancouver, British Columbia, September 28, 2007

"Playing Fair on the Playground: Operational Issues in Mixed Use Development," Community Associates Institute Spring Showcase, Denver, May 11, 2007

"Commercial Real Estate Financing," ABA Young Lawyers Institute CLE, Washington, D.C., April 27, 2007

"Hospitality, Community Recreation and Common Interest Developments Group: Ethical Considerations for the Transactional Lawyer Representing Clients Across Borders; Planning Ahead – Protecting Clients Against the Loss of Privilege Protections," ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, Fall CLE Meeting, Denver, October 20, 2006

"Issues for Associations Facing Delinquent Assessments," ARDA Rocky Mountain, Breckenridge, Colorado, September 20, 2006

"Documenting the Commercial Real Estate Loan," Lorman Education Services Workshop, August 25, 2005

"Financeable Leases – Advanced Issues From a Lender's Perspective," ICSC U.S. Shopping Center Law Conference, Palm Desert, California, October 2003

University of Kansas School of Law (J.D. 1999)
Member, Phi Alpha Delta; Member, Order of the Coif

University of Kansas (B.S.B. 1996, with distinction; B.A. 1996, with highest distinction)

Colorado 1999