Dina E. Alexander

“We see the big picture in complex real estate deals, which enables us to successfully guide clients through the entire life cycle of their projects.”

Dina Alexander is a partner of Ball Janik LLP and Chair of the firm’s Real Estate practice, consistently recognized by Chambers USA as an industry leader. She is also a member of the firm’s Business and Corporate practice group. Dina’s work on large-scale development projects has given her the experience to advise clients on issues that arise in all stages of a project’s life cycle.  Working on land acquisition, joint venture, equity and debt financing, construction contract, condominium, leasing and sale matters, she has demonstrated the ability to guide her clients through the entire range of challenges they must overcome to bring complex projects to a successful conclusion.

Dina continues to play a leading role representing the developers of South Waterfront, a $2 billion, multi-phase, public/private project that is the largest urban redevelopment in the history of Portland, Oregon. She represented the City of Portland in the redevelopment of PGE Park (now Jeld-Wen Field) for Major League Soccer and has also worked on public/private partnership projects in California and Arizona.  Dina’s experience representing both the public and private sectors in public/private partnerships has enabled her to provide invaluable insight to clients undertaking these types of projects.

Dina has extensive experience working on complex purchase and sale transactions, including the largest apartment complex purchase and redevelopment in Portland history.  She represented the University of Portland in a complex and contentious purchase of land that provided the university with long term expansion opportunities.  She has also handled acquisition transactions in California and Washington.

Dina routinely provides strategic advice to developers on the structuring of debt and equity financing.  She has formed “blind pool” funds, handled large-scale workouts, arranged multiple securitized refinancings on behalf of borrowers, and assisted clients with the defeasance process.  She has also managed a variety of acquisition, construction and permanent financing transactions. Recently, she has helped investors acquire distressed assets. Her financing experience is rounded out by an opinion practice in each of Oregon, California and Washington.

Dina has leasing experience representing both landlords and tenants in office, retail and ground lease transactions. She recently negotiated occupancy rights for, and the construction build-out of, Portland’s new Major League Soccer stadium. She has also assisted a technology company with the lease of its space in the Puget Sound area and helped a California company relocate its headquarters to leased space in Portland’s Sunset Corridor.

Recently, Dina has structured, negotiated and begun work on what is thought to be the first senior cooperative housing project in Oregon. Her work in this emerging area involves a unique product type in the jurisdiction as well as a HUD financing program rarely used in Oregon.

In 2009, Dina earned the Portland Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award, which recognizes emerging leaders who are under age 40, have notable career achievements, and are committed to community service.

In 2008, Dina had an opportunity to work as Vice President – Development and General Counsel for Williams & Dame Development, the innovative developer of Portland’s South Waterfront and the South Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. This direct leadership experience in the real estate development business has enhanced her ability to provide strategic counsel to the firm’s real estate clients.

Prior to joining Ball Janik in 2002, Dina practiced law at Bogle & Gates, P.L.L.C. in Seattle, Washington and at Cooley Godward LLP in San Francisco, California.  She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Multnomah County Bar Association, Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) and Oregon Women Lawyers (OWLS).  She is currently co-chair of the Legislative Committee of the Oregon State Bar’s Land Use and Real Estate section.

Dina is a frequent speaker at real estate seminars.  Her past speaking engagements include:

• May 28, 2009, Deals Gone Bad, Working Out Troubled Real Estate Loans, NAIOP, Portland, Oregon.  
• September 23, 2009, Ball Janik LLP Annual Conference on Current Issues in Real Estate and Land Use, Portland, Oregon.
• August 21-22, 2008, Mixed-Use Development, CLE International, San Francisco, California. 
• May 18, 2006, Real Estate Development from Beginning to End in Oregon, Lorman Education Services, Portland, Oregon.
• June 2, 2005, Law of Easements in Oregon: Legal Issues and Practical Considerations, Lorman Education Services, Portland, Oregon.
• March 9, 2005, Land Use Land Mines and Real Estate Sinkholes, Multnomah County Bar Association, Portland, Oregon.
• September 29, 2004, Basics Of Defeasance:  The Mechanism That Allows a Borrower to Obtain a Release of Real Property Collateral from the Lien of a Conduit Loan Mortgage, Ball Janik Real Estate and Land Use Seminar, Portland, Oregon.
• April 9, 2004, Commercial Real Estate Basics, Multnomah County Bar Association, Portland, Oregon.
• October 24, 2003, Fundamentals of Real Estate, Commercial Leasing, Oregon State Bar, Real Estate and Land Use Section, Portland, Oregon.

Community Service

Throughout her career, Dina has been active in civic affairs and has handled pro bono matters.  Dina currently serves on the Board of Directors of Social Venture Partners of Portland, a non-profit organization engaged in venture philanthropy, and trains for triathlons with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.  She has mentored a law student, spoken to high school students about life as a lawyer and served on the Oregon Business Alliance’s Education Committee.  While in San Francisco, Dina mentored local high school students through the San Francisco Bar Association’s Law Academy and gave a presentation on lease issues to a group of small business owners at the West Contra Costa County Business Development Center.  In Seattle, she served, on a pro bono basis, as General Counsel for Food Lifeline, fundraised for the Corporate Council for the Arts and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

In her spare time, Dina enjoys the arts, scuba diving, triathlons and traveling.