Meghan Cocci

Partner

Century City
meghan.cocci@lw.com
+1.213.891.8355

PRACTICES

  • Real Estate

INDUSTRIES

  • Entertainment, Sports & Media
  • Hospitality, Gaming & Leisure
  • REITs

BAR QUALIFICATIONS

  • Arizona
  • California
  • District of Columbia
  • New York

EDUCATION

  • JD, University of Arizona, 1998
  • BBA, The University of Texas at Austin, 1995

PROFILE

Meghan Cocci, Global Co-Chair of the Hospitality, Gaming & Leisure Industry Group, represents owners, investors, and operators on their most complex and highest-value hospitality and real estate projects and transactions around the world.

A nationally recognized real estate lawyer, Meghan advises clients on a broad range of transactions and strategic matters, with a particular focus on the hospitality industry. She delivers creative and business-focused counsel to a variety of market participants, including hotel and non-hotel real estate investment trusts (REITs), private equity funds, family offices, real estate developers, and hotel brands.

Meghan's practice includes:

  • Single asset and portfolio property acquisitions and dispositions
  • Negotiation of management agreements, franchise agreements, and related matters
  • Joint ventures
  • Acquisitions and dispositions of hotel management companies
  • Strategic advice on mixed-use developments

Meghan brings more than two decades of experience advising on many of the most significant hospitality transactions in the United States and internationally, including in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Drawing on her sophisticated industry knowledge and strong working relationships with key market players, she offers strategic insights into how business and legal issues can play out in the long term.

Meghan frequently speaks on real estate topics at major hotel conferences and other industry events, including:

  • New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference (NYU IHIIC) 
  • Georgetown University Law Center Hotel and Lodging Legal Summit
  • Berlin International Hotel and Investment Forum (IHIF)
  • International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) Annual Conference
  • American Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS)

She serves on Law360’s Hospitality Editorial Advisory Board.

EXPERIENCE

Meghan's experience includes advising:

Hospitality

  • Cain International in negotiations with Aman for the operation and management of the hotel, club, and private residences proposed within the One Beverly Hills, a mixed-use urban project spanning 17.5 acres
  • A private equity firm focused on the hospitality and consumer sectors, in connection with its acquisition of a boutique four-star hotel, in Nashville, Tennessee
  • Sunstone Hotel Investors, a hospitality and lodging REIT, in the:
    • Acquisition of the Montage Healdsburg in Sonoma, California
    • Acquisition of the Four Seasons Napa Valley in Napa Valley, California
  • Highgate Hotels, a premier real estate investment and hospitality management company, in its US$2.8 billion acquisition of six hospitality portfolios from a leading global investment firm
  • Host Realty, a publicly traded REIT, on the acquisition of a complex luxury resort and subsequent sale of surrounding land parcels for residential development
  • Realty Income, a publicly traded REIT, in its US$950 million investment in Bellagio, a resort, luxury hotel, and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

Entertainment, Sports & Media

  • Mark Cuban on real estate components of the sale of the controlling interest in the Dallas Mavericks to the families of Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont 
  • Kelly Slater Wave Co., an international sports organization, and certain of its affiliates on management, licensing, and related matters in connection with a complex mixed-use real estate development that includes hotel, residential, a world-class surfing facility, along with various recreational facilities
  • Diamond Baseball Holdings in its sale of 19 baseball teams — as part of its MLB Professional Development League — to Silver Lake, a global technology investment firm 

General Corporate Real Estate

  • A  real estate solutions platform on its merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to create a combined company valued at US$3 billion
  • Realty Income, a publicly traded REIT, in its pending US$9.3 billion merger with Spirit Realty, a REIT that invests in single tenant and commercial real estate facilities