Real Estate Counsel

About the Role

We are seeking a practical, business-minded Real Estate Counsel to join our Legal team. This role offers the opportunity to work on sophisticated commercial real estate matters across a dynamic portfolio, with a focus on retail leasing, development, operations, and related transactions. You will collaborate with teams that value sound judgment, creativity, speed, and practical common sense. We are looking for someone who enjoys challenging the status quo, improving processes, and using smart tools—including AI and technology—to work more efficiently and effectively. This is an opportunity to grow your career, help modernize the way legal work gets done, and have some fun along the way.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted legal partner to the leasing, development, operations, and asset management teams on a broad range of commercial real estate matters involving the Company’s shopping center and mixed-use portfolio.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial real estate and business agreements, including letters of intent, leases, subleases, SNDAs, purchase agreements, consulting agreements, vendor contracts, construction contracts, development agreements, architectural and engineering agreements, and related documents.
• Partner with leasing and development teams to structure, negotiate, and close transactions, identifying legal and business issues and helping drive practical resolutions aligned with Company objectives.
• Provide proactive legal advice on landlord/tenant matters, tenant defaults, lease interpretation, operational issues, insurance and indemnity provisions, contract requirements, and dispute avoidance.
• Advise local management and internal business teams on day-to-day legal issues affecting the Company’s properties, including tenant operations, collections, compliance requirements, and miscellaneous real estate matters.
• Support acquisitions, dispositions, development projects, and other strategic real estate initiatives as needed.
• Assist with contractor and subcontractor agreements and other project-related documentation.
• Participate in the development, interpretation, and implementation of Company operating policies and procedures.
• Provide guidance to real estate paralegals and business teams on title, survey, due diligence, and closing matters.
• Help maintain corporate compliance procedures and records, including ensuring appropriate approvals for leases, transactions, and contracts.
• Coordinate with and manage outside counsel where appropriate, balancing efficiency, cost, and business needs.
• Handle other legal matters and special projects, including data privacy matters, as they arise in support of the Legal Department and the Company’s business objectives.

Requirements

• Member of the California Bar in good standing.
• 4+ years of experience practicing real estate law, including drafting and negotiating retail leases and related commercial real estate documentation.
• Strong academic credentials and excellent legal judgment. Big Law firm or boutique real estate firms and in-house experience preferred but not required.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, analytical, and oral and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly and concisely.
• Practical, solutions-oriented approach with the ability to balance legal risk, business objectives, and operational realities.
• Strong initiative, follow-through, and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong analytical and project management skills.
• Collaborative team player with a positive, can-do attitude and strong work ethic.
• Ability to communicate diplomatically and effectively with senior executives, internal clients, outside counsel, tenants, and other external stakeholders.

About Us

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is driven by an entrepreneurial foundation of talented and ambitious employees who embrace change, strive for innovation, and know when to venture into uncharted terrain. Teams within URW are collaborative and thrive by working together to seize opportunity and solve challenges. Employees receive mentorship and guidance while being empowered to drive their initiatives, embracing their individuality and unique backgrounds.

URW’s flagship destinations are interwoven into the community fabric, and we give employees the power to be impactful in their work and lead meaningful change in our communities through volunteering, DE&I programming, and leading ESG efforts. URW is an innovator and trendsetter in experiential entertainment and is making bold moves to be a brand that creates inspiring consumer experiences in-person and digitally. Breaking beyond conventional beliefs, URW is surprising and delighting customers by reinventing being together and creating memorable moments. Our company purpose – to Reinvent Being Together – is about reimagining how individuals and communities come together, socialize, and enjoy dynamic experiences alongside one another in entirely new ways.