Press Release 03.18.24
Laura E. Hannusch
Senior Counsel
Senior Counsel, Houston & San Francisco
T: +1.713.276.7621
T: +1.415.983.1204
Among the top real estate dealmakers in the United States, Pillsbury partner Laura Hannusch is a recognized authority in the area of real estate law.
Laura’s practice encompasses real estate and general commercial transactions, with a focus on complex real property purchases and sales, mortgage lending, leasing, joint ventures and other entity structures. She represents buyers and sellers of office, industrial, alternative energy, retail and mixed-use properties throughout the United States. Laura negotiates ground and space leases involving a variety of facility types, structures multilayer joint ventures, and advises borrowers and lenders on real estate and mezzanine financings.
Representative Experience
- Represented Crescent Real Estate Holdings in its $950 million sale of the 10-building Greenway Plaza, a deal Bisnow called “one of the biggest Houston commercial real estate transactions in years.”
- Represented private investment fund in joint venture with foreign equity funds manager involving sale of a partial ownership interest in a 2.2 million-square-foot, multistate office portfolio valued at more than $470 million.
- Negotiated transit-oriented ground leases for San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) with multiple private and nonprofit developers.
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- Laura’s financing experience includes representing lenders and borrowers on major loan transactions. She has advised a public REIT on numerous mezzanine and participating loan transactions, including those providing financing for a portfolio of casinos in Las Vegas, a resort in Nevis, historic hotels in Santa Monica, a ski resort in California, a series of seaside hotels in Daytona Beach, Fla., an office portfolio in Seattle and a condominium conversion project in New York City.
- Laura has represented institutional lenders on numerous loans secured by California and Texas real estate property.
- Laura also represented borrowers in acquisition loans, construction loans, refinancings and loan modifications, including many securitized loans and loans secured by energy assets.
- Laura also has drafted and negotiated ground leases for hotels in California and Texas, a nuclear power plant in Texas, power plants and waste processing facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands, an ethanol plant in North Dakota, a medical office building in San Francisco and a power plant in California.
- She also has handled the real estate work for companies acquiring leaseholds and easement interests for renewable energy projects.
Professional Highlights
- Recognized by Chambers USA (2016 – 2017) and The Legal 500 U.S. (2015, 2017) for Real Estate.
- Profiled by Law360 as part of a series of Q&As with “the country's top real estate dealmakers.”
- Serves on the board of AVANCE-Houston.
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- Honors & Awards
- Recognized by Best Lawyers (published by BL Rankings LLC), Real Estate Law (2021 – 2024).
- Recognized by International Financial Law Review for Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Acquisitions – US (2018 – 2019).
Education
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J.D., The University of Texas School of Law, 1987
with honorsB.J., The University of Texas at Austin, 1984
with high honors
Admissions
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Texas
California