Perkins Coie Names Cole Head of National Real Estate & Land Use Practice

CHICAGO (January 28, 2005) – Perkins Coie LLP announced today that Chicago partner Alexandra Cole has been selected to lead the firm's Real Estate & Land Use practice. Ms. Cole was also subsequently appointed to the firm's Executive Committee.

The group's lawyers, located across the country, provide comprehensive real estate and development services, helping owners, lenders and corporate clients with all aspects of the financing, acquisition, development and disposition of major projects nationally and internationally. They also advise businesses on planning, development and permitting strategies, helping them prepare and defend environmental impact statements and reports under federal and state law.

"Alex commands great respect for her extensive work on major projects in Chicago, across the country and internationally," said Robert E. Giles, Managing Partner. "She is also extremely well-liked for her collaborative nature and her team orientation. Clients know that Alex will make sure they are getting the best team with the right skills when they entrust their major real estate and land use projects to us."

Some of the major projects Ms. Cole has worked on include the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the McCormick Place Expansion and Hotel, the Warsaw Financial Center, Illinois Center, Los Angeles' "Bunker Hill," and Optima Views. Her credits also include work on dozens of major hotels and resorts across the country and around the world including the Park Hyatt, Sydney, the Ritz Laguna Nigel, the Carlyle and the Mansion on Turtle Creek, as well as the merger of Fairmont Hotels and Canadian Pacific Hotels.

The group's clients include owners of large portfolios of luxury hotels and resorts such as Strategic Hotel Capital and the Maritz Wolff Hotel Equity Funds, developers of mixed-use properties and golf courses, specialized high-end lenders and FORTUNE 100 companies with large portfolios of facilities.

"We have been given the opportunity to work with dynamic, sophisticated real estate clients," said Cole. "I am delighted to be able to work with this extremely talented group of lawyers to continue to bring them comprehensive real estate and land use services wherever they may be doing business."