Biography
Sonia J. Ransom, a land use partner in our San Francisco office, is highly regarded for her extensive experience in land use and redevelopment. She has co-chaired the firm's renowned Land Use Group, and served as Allen Matkins' marketing partner, as well as on the firm's compensation committee.
Sonia's work in land use matters includes: developing entitlement strategies and obtaining entitlements for commercial, industrial, and residential projects in numerous Northern and Southern California jurisdictions, including general plan amendments, zone changes, conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions, planned development permits, and changes in jurisdiction; leading and coordinating development teams, including architects, engineers, environmental, financial, public relations, and community relations consultants; advising clients on and developing strategy for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act; advising clients on strategic and compliance issues related to the Subdivision Map Act; and drafting and negotiating development agreements. Sonia handles a wide variety of redevelopment and public finance matters for her clients, including drafting and negotiating disposition and development agreements, owner participation agreements, and exclusive negotiation agreements between developers (or other property owners) and redevelopment agencies; developing strategies for obtaining public financing for a variety of public/private partnerships; and military base redevelopment. Sonia also advises purchasers, developers, investors, and lenders regarding existing entitlements on real property, identifying potential land use issues, and developing a strategy for obtaining entitlements if existing entitlements are insufficient.
Sonia is known for her expeditious efforts. For example, complex entitlements, which included detachment of a 40-acre site from El Segundo and its annexation into Hawthorne, took approximately one year, and the entitlement of a 330,000 square-foot store in Covina took less than four months.
A sought-after speaker, Sonia co-instructed the University of Southern California Gould School of Law's “Land Use Controls” course, and has spoken at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, as well as RealShare Apartments 2005 and 2007. She has also written a number of articles on real estate and land use issues.
Memberships
- ACRE/IE - Association of Commercial Real Estate Executives (Inland Empire), founding member
- ACREL (American College of Real Estate Lawyers)
- American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Fellow
- CREW-LA, President (2002 and 2002), board of directors (1996 – present)
- California State Bar Association
- CoreNet Global
- ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers)
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association)
- The Association of Women in Water, Energy and Environment
- The Bar Association of San Francisco
- ULI (Urban Land Institute)
Accolades
- Selected as a Northern California Real Estate Woman of Influence Honoree (2011)
- Recognized by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 25 Land Use attorneys in California (2011)
- Recognized by Real Estate Forum as a 2011 Real Estate Woman of Influence nationally (2011)
- Named one of Real Estate Southern California's “Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate” (2003-2008)
- Inducted by Real Estate Southern California into its Women of Influence Hall of Fame (one of the first three women in California to be honored and the sole attorney), November 2008
- Honored by Commercial Real Estate Women - Los Angeles (CREW-LA) as a woman in real estate who has transformed the real estate landscape of Los Angeles
Education
Sonia received a J.D. from Loyola Law School Los Angeles in 1992 and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1988.
Bar Admissions