Michael Westover

Overview

Mike Westover represents landowners, developers, lenders, investors and holders of other real estate interests in a wide variety of transactions throughout the United States. For more than four decades, clients have come to rely on Mike’s extensive knowledge and experience in all areas of real estate finance and transactional law.

From representing national banks and institutional lenders in sophisticated financing transactions to working with agents and participants in syndicated credit facilities, Mike has handled hundreds of complex real estate finance matters. In addition to lender representation, he regularly works with owners and developers in connection with the financing of their real estate projects, including working with some of the country’s largest apartment community developers in billions of dollars of financings. Mike’s expertise also extends into the area of credit workouts. He has extensive experience, dating back to the mid-1980s, in restructuring troubled real estate and commercial credit facilities, and in advising both lenders and borrowers in connection with foreclosures, receiverships, and other remedial matters.

Mike’s practice extends well beyond financing transactions. He regularly represents clients in joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, and development projects. Recent examples include acting as counsel to a large multinational company in the purchase of one of Denver’s largest office towers and assisting another client in the sale of one of the largest ranches in the United States.

In addition to his client work, Mike served on the firm’s Executive Committee for over 20 years, and he was the firm’s Managing Director from 1998 until 2011.

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Experience

Representative experience includes:

• Ongoing representation of one of the country’s largest owners and developers of apartment communities in all aspects of its financing activities, including construction loans, permanent loans on individual properties from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other permanent lenders, portfolio credit facilities, and unsecured credit facilities. During 2018, this involved refinancing a significant number of projects throughout the United States, including Fannie Mae and bank credit facilities in excess of $1.2 billion.
• Serve as general outside counsel to a Denver-based multifamily owner/developer in all of its legal matters, including representation in connection with acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and financings. In recent years, this has included acquisitions and sales in the states of Colorado, Florida, Texas, Oregon and Washington.
• Represented the developer of a 600 unit, Class AAA high-rise apartment project on a $135,000,000 construction/permanent loan facility.
• Acted as lead counsel to a national bank on a $60,000,000 syndicated construction loan for a high-rise mixed use project in Durham, North Carolina.
• Assisted the developer of a mixed use project in downtown Denver in obtaining $110,000,000 in senior and mezzanine financing.
• Represented a large multinational corporation in the acquisition of one of downtown Denver’s largest buildings, for a purchase price in excess of $200,000,000.
• Acted as counsel to the seller of a 300,000 acre ranch located in New Mexico

Awards & Involvement

• Best Lawyers in America: Real Estate Law (2011-2027)
• Chambers USA, Real Estate Law – Colorado (2005-2026)
• Chambers USA, Banking and Finance Law – Colorado (2026)

Jurisdiction

• State of Colorado
• American Bar Association
• Colorado Bar Association
• Denver Bar Association

Education

• J.D., Harvard Law School (1982); Cum Laude
• B.S., Brigham Young University (1979); Magna Cum Laude and High Honors

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