O’Melveny Worldwide

Greg Thorpe advises companies on acquisition, development, and financing of real estate, infrastructure, and natural resources projects.

In the real estate field, Greg represents developers, tenants, and lenders in the acquisition, development and financing of office buildings, hotels, casinos, retail and entertainment centers, mixed use facilities, master-planned communities and other facilities. He also has assisted developers of real estate projects in creating the leasing, financing and operating structure for a variety of real estate developments. For example, Greg advised Kennecott Land Company in the commercial and residential development of more than 90,000 acres in Salt Lake, Utah, AEG in multiple aspects of the LA Live project in Los Angeles, and ValueRock in the acquisition of shopping and retail centers in Hawaii and California.

Greg also represents parties in complex public-private development projects and projects involving significant governmental involvement. These projects include over 30 utility-scale and distributed generation energy generation facilities (conventional, wind, solar, biomass, fuel cell and other technologies), freight and passenger rail facilities, roads, water systems, seaport facilities, and public arenas, museums and entertainment venues. For example, Greg represented the project developers in creating the legal and financial structure for the Alameda Corridor Project, a US$2.5 billion rail infrastructure project in Los Angeles, and is representing the Academy Museum Foundation in the development of a new $400 Million museum in Los Angeles, the California High Speed Rail Authority in railroad related aspects of it high speed passenger rail project, and affiliates of Edison International in developing renewable energy projects throughout the United States.

In the natural resources field, Greg represents investors, developers and financiers of oil and gas, geothermal, water, and mining operations throughout the United States. Greg represented the US Department of Energy in the sale of the Elk Hills Oil Field in Kern County, California, the largest privatization ever conducted by the United States Government, represented international investors in acquiring, developing, financing and selling operating oil and gas fields and prospects, lenders and equity investors in financing oil and gas operations and in workouts of troubled loans and investments, major energy companies in the operation and sale of oil, gas and product pipelines, private equity and international investors in buying and financing mining operations involving industrial and precious minerals, and landowners and investors in acquiring water rights and developing water systems for projects. Representative clients include ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, ARCO, Nations Petroleum, US Borax, US Silica, and a number of international and domestic financial institutions and private investors.

Read More

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • California

Education

  • Loyola Marymount University, J.D., 1982: cum laude; Chief Articles Editor, Loyola Law Review (1981-82); Alpha Sigma Nu
  • University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A., 1977: cum laude

Honors & Awards

  • Recommended as a “Notable Practitioner” by IFLR1000 in Industry Sector: Energy, Industry Sector: Mining, Industry Sector: Oil & Gas, Project Development, and Real Estate Finance (2019-2021)
  • Recommended by The Legal 500 US for Project Finance (2018-2021)
  • Named a “Super Lawyer” in a survey conducted by Law & Politics Media Inc. and published in Los Angeles magazine (2013-2015)
  • Recognized by Legal 500 in the area of Energy: renewable/alternative (2012)
  • Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business - Nationwide Projects (2010-2012, 2014-2015); Energy – Transactional - California (2009); Projects & Energy: Transactional – California (2008)
  • Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business – Projects (2011-2012)
  • Public Interest Award, Loyola Law School (2012)
  • Los Angeles Business Journal, “Who’s Who of Environmental Lawyers” (2008)

Professional Activities

Member

  • Real Property Section of the American Bar Association
  • General Real Property Subsection of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Real Property Section