Ryan Iwasaka

Ryan Iwasaka is a member of Greenberg Glusker’s Real Estate Group, bringing energy and applying an innovative approach to both his practice and the management of one of the firm’s founding departments. 

Ryan’s involvement in the real estate industry naturally grew from being raised in Hawaii among a family filled with real estate developers and investors.  His broad-based, business-focused counsel is a direct result of that upbringing and gives him a deeper and personal appreciation of his clients’ needs and objectives.

Practice
Ryan maintains a diverse practice across the primary real estate disciplines of acquisitions & sales, leasing and finance.  His experience covers the wide range of property categories, spanning commercial, retail and industrial sites to residential, multi-family and raw land. Although he focuses on the California real estate market, Ryan regularly handles transactions throughout the United States, having closed deals in over 40 states, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Ryan routinely oversees many of the firm’s most complex and high profile commercial transactions that often involve numerous parties, integrate simultaneously closing components, and require in-depth planning for the client’s short-term goals and long-range business objectives. For example, Ryan represented a developer in the purchase of a $120 million distressed loan portfolio that was secured by nearly $200 million in mixed-collateral assets. Concurrent with the acquisition, he assisted the client with the disposition of a portion of the assets, the restructuring of loans within the portfolio, the transition of development rights associated with the balance of the property, and the overall financing of the transaction.

Additional areas in Ryan’s practice include the sale or exchange of interests in corporations, LLCs, and partnerships that own or operate real estate assets, commercial loan restructuring, and the resolution of complex title and vesting defects. Ryan is also a member of the Climate Change & Sustainability practice group through which he advises clients on employing green technology and adopting environmentally responsible practices in their development and management of real estate assets. He is also a member of the firm’s Pacific Rim Practice Group, which coordinates a multi-discipline approach to representing both Asia-based companies and U.S. businesses doing work in the greater Pacific community.

Client Counsel
Ryan’s clients range from industrial, commercial and residential developers, to global corporations, privately held companies, manufacturers, real estate investment trusts, to individuals with entrepreneurial and family-owned property interests.

Ryan represents Costco Wholesale Corporation in its acquisition and development of warehouse locations in the southwestern region of the United States. He has advised and assisted the ownership of the Oakland Athletics in their efforts to build a new stadium in northern California. Ryan also has represented other major companies such as American Golf Corporation and Realty Income in their ongoing real estate matters.

In addition to his work within the core of the industry, Ryan equally enjoys guiding non-real estate focused clients through their property related matters. For example, Ryan recently represented the nation’s largest independent public television station, KCET, in the sale of its historic Hollywood studio lot and concurrent lease in a Class A office building located in Burbank, California. The deal involved a leaseback of the Hollywood property during the build-out of the new broadcast and office facility on which Ryan also advised. Ryan also represented CandyWarehouse.com in the lease of its 33,600 square foot headquarters in El Segundo, California, which fueled an expansion of the company’s successful Internet business. Ryan works closely with the clients and applies his intrinsic knowledge of legal and business issues to such deals, enabling them to navigate each transaction’s complexities and make the critical real estate decisions that will impact their operations for years to come.

Education, Awards and Community Involvement
Ryan is a graduate of Yale Law School.  While obtaining his J.D., he concurrently received a M.A. in Political Science from the Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He was an editor of The Yale Law Journal for three years, holding the position of Articles Editor during his tenure.

Prior to attending Yale, Ryan studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He received his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and currently serves on the Board of Governors for the school’s Keck Institute of Strategic International Studies.

Ryan received the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Real Property Section Executive Committee in 2010, and was a member Section’s executive committee from 2011 to 2013. Ryan is also an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Asian Real Estate Association of America, Tri-Counties Southern California Chapter.

Working outside of the real estate industry, Ryan is President of the Japanese American Bar Association and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association serving currently on the Board of Governors for each organization.  He is also a member of the Association of American Rhodes Scholars and the Society for Science and the Public.

Professional Affiliations

Awards

Bar Admissions

Education