Charles V. Thornton

Among Thornton's significant matters, he is working with Ivanhoe Cambridge, one of the 10 largest real estate companies in the world and a subsidiary of Canada's second largest public pension fund.

The company is investing in the U.S. market now, with an eye toward Silicon Valley multi-family residential properties, he said.

"They have acquired three apartment buildings, and now are in a contract to buy a fourth," Thornton said.

With all of those upscale jobs in the region, there is big demand for apartment projects, he said.

"They're trying to find apartments that are well located around the largest employers in Silicon Valley."

It's a sign of the times.

"There is a terrific upsurge in investor interest in real estate nationwide," Thornton said. "Everybody wants to be where the strong employment numbers are. There is a direct connection between jobs and apartment rent."

Apartments are an attractive investment, compared to office buildings, which may have a longer hold period before any value is realized, Thornton said.

"An attractive feature of owning apartments is that you can expect a steady stream of income from the time you buy them, and there is the potential for an increase in rent if they're in good locations."

This income stream is especially attractive to pension funds, he added, because of their need to service pension obligations on a regular basis.

In another significant venture, Thornton is representing a Lennar Corp.-led joint venture in the development of the former Hunters Point Shipyard and adjacent Candlestick Point in San Francisco.

The mixed-use project has been in the works for years, and is planned to include 10,500 residential units, public parks, recreational fields, retail, an arts district, research and development and office space. A new fire station and expanded police station also is supposed to be part of the development.

"It's going to be transformative," Thornton said. "These are massive projects."

And, he added, the legal issues involved in the development and financing of the project are "immense."

"It's the most complicated project I've ever worked on," Thornton said.

- PAT BRODERICK