Matthew J. Bove - Coblentz Law

Matt Bove is the chair of the Real Estate practice group. He has more than twenty years of experience advising the Bay Area’s most active developers, end-users, and investors. While Matt’s practice is founded on the successful negotiation of sophisticated real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, construction, and financing, his expertise has expanded to represent clients in the development and implementation of complex public-private projects. In that capacity, he has acted as counsel to Sutter Health in its $2.5 billion California Pacific Medical Center redevelopment project of five campuses and two new hospitals spread across San Francisco; an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Mission Rock project in the redevelopment of an approximately 30-acre site south of Oracle Park; and most recently to the LA Clippers in connection with its new 18,000 seat arena in Inglewood, CA.

Matt’s clients include the owners and users of a diverse range of property types, including office, retail, industrial, residential, hospitality, luxury resort, cultural institutions, and sports venues. Matt is a business-minded attorney who strives to keep his clients’ goals at the forefront while minimizing potential transactional and market risks. His problem solving and negotiating skills allow him to efficiently apply his expertise when guiding large, complex transactions, and to effectively represent clients in a broad array of industries in transactions of all sizes.

Matt is a member of the Real Estate and Environmental Law sections of the State Bar of California, the Urban Land Institute, the Bay Area Council, and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR).

Matt received his undergraduate degree in political science from Purdue University and his law degree from the Loyola University-Chicago School of Law.

Public-Private Partnerships/Development Agreements/Disposition and Development Agreements

Represented Sutter Health in its development agreement negotiations with the City of San Francisco for its $2.5 billion California Pacific Medical Center redevelopment project, which includes five campuses and two new hospitals spread across San Francisco.
Represented an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the negotiation of a site-wide ground lease, vertical leases, and various other agreements with the Port of San Francisco for the Mission Rock project, for the redevelopment of an approximately 30-acre site south of the ballpark.
Represented the LA Clippers in the negotiation of a Development and Disposition Agreement with the City of Inglewood connection with the Clipper’s new 18,000 seat arena.

Property Acquisitions and Dispositions

Represented Flynn Properties, Inc. in the purchase of Solage Calistoga, a luxury resort in Napa Valley, and assisted in the negotiation of a joint venture between Flynn and Auberge Resorts, the acquisition loan, and the hotel management agreement.
Represented Flynn Properties, Inc. in connection with two significant transactions in San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMA) area: the acquisition, financing, leasing, and eventual sale of Pinterest headquarters at 808 Brannan Street and 572 7th Street in San Francisco; and the acquisition, leasing, and disposition of 200 Kansas Street.
Represented the buyer of 225 Bush Street, a 560,000 square foot historic office building located in San Francisco’s Central Business District that was originally the headquarters of Standard Oil, in connection with the acquisition, joint venture, property management, and loan negotiations. With a price of $350 million, this sale was one of the largest office sales in San Francisco at the time.

Leasing Transactions
Matt handles major leasing transactions for both landlords and tenants. Matt regularly negotiates significant retail leases with national tenants and represents the owners of downtown properties with their office leasing programs.

Restaurant Transactions
As a former chef, Matt has a particular interest and expertise in restaurant transactions. He regularly represents the Bay Area’s largest cultural institutions (California Academy of Sciences, Exploratorium, SFMOMA, San Francisco Zoo, Monterey Bay Aquarium) and corporate clients in their food service negotiations.

Conservation Transactions
Matt represents many large landowners in connection with conservation easement transactions. In addition to his active representation of the 270,000 acre Tejon Ranch in conservation and land use matters, he represented the Girl Scouts of Northern California in connection with the sale of conservation easements involving two active Girl Scout camp properties: the 270-acre Skylark Ranch near Año Nuevo and the 142-acre Camp Butano Creek near Pescadero to the Sempervirens Fund, a nonprofit land conservation organization. The funding will allow the Girl Scouts to renovate and keep the camps open for future generations while protecting old-growth forests and endangered species that exist on the properties in perpetuity.

Matt is listed in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the Land Use and Zoning Law category. Matt received the 2009 California Lawyer Clay Award in recognition of his expertise in the negotiation of the Tejon Ranch conservation and land use agreement. The Tejon Ranch agreement, which was entered into with some of the country’s preeminent environmental organizations, is considered a landmark achievement that balances development and conservation on the largest private landholding in California. The Tejon Ranch transaction was also named the 2008 Real Estate Deal of the Year by the California Real Estate Journal.