Spencer Eldred co-leads the Affordable Housing and Community Development (AHCD) Practice Group and is widely recognized for guiding public agencies, developers, nonprofits, and institutional investors through complex regulatory landscapes and high-value real estate transactions. Spencer brings a practical, solutions-focused approach to projects spanning affordable housing, health care facilities, master-planned communities, renewable energy, and mixed-use redevelopment.
His experience includes structuring tax credit and bond financings, advising on public-private partnerships, negotiating entitlements, and representing clients in acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, and community benefit agreements. He frequently counsels governments, universities, and developers on strategies that balance compliance with innovative development goals, ensuring projects advance successfully while delivering long-term community value.
Representative Experience
Acquisitions and Dispositions
- Represented developers of the expansion of a major Los Angeles area hospital
- Represented a major REIT owner in a property portfolio deal across multiple states that included several hundred unique properties
- Represented a transit authority in a public-private partnership for the development of affordable housing on public land
Lender Representation
- Represented the lender in the financing of a national hotel brand adjacent to the LAX International Airport, along with an adjacent parking structure
- Drafted loan agreements worth several hundred million dollars for a major residential project in Southern California
- Conducted due diligence for affordable housing bond deals in Southern California worth several hundred million dollars
- Represented the lender in the deed-in-lieu sale of major downtown Los Angeles skyscraper
Leasing and Property Management
- Represented a national developer on the formation of ground leases for a public-private partnership for the expansion of the UC Davis Sacramento campus
- Negotiated the settlement of lawsuit over the continued ability of homeowners, who lease land, having the ability to finance their residential units due to a break in a continued leasehold because the landlord’s lease to the homeowners terminates prior to when the successor lease is able to begin
- Represented a regional hospital in complicated leasing issues as the hospital is redeveloped in phases, requiring staged relocation of essential tenants, easements and interests on uncertain timelines
Affordable Housing and Community Development
- Representing Santa Clara County Housing Authority in acquiring the affordable housing portfolio of a local nonprofit. Our work has consisted of negotiating terms sheets, the exclusive negotiating agreement for the full portfolio, purchase and sale agreements, and due diligence. We have also assisted in negotiating a Management Agreement to take over the management of the organization as a whole prior to each acquisition
- Representing Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Authority on the Central City II RAD conversion, which will receive Section 8 Project-Based Voucher assistance, including public housing units converting to RAD and Section 18
- Represented Fresno Housing Authority in the closing of five RAD public housing conversion transactions
Professional Highlights
Recognition & Accomplishments
The Best Lawyers in America, "Ones to Watch," – Land Use and Zoning Law, Real Estate Law (Los Angeles), 2023-2025; Environmental Law (Los Angeles), 2024, 2025
Board Memberships & Community Service
Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member, Los Angeles Regional Open Space and Housing (LA ROSAH) Collaborative
Credentials
Education
The University of Chicago Law School (J.D. 2014)
Ellman Scholarship
Duke University (B.A., cum laude, 2010)
University Scholars Program
Ellman Scholarship
Duke University (B.A., cum laude, 2010)
University Scholars Program
Admissions
California