Matthew S. Gray
- Firmwide Co-Chair, Land Development Industry Group
- San Francisco
Matt provides strategic guidance to clients navigating California’s complex development process.
Matt Gray handles land use entitlement processing, environmental compliance, and real estate transactions for developers, landowners, and local agencies. He negotiates and secures approval of development agreements, general plan amendments, specific plans, zoning, subdivision approvals, and annexation of property into cities and special districts; regularly appears before planning commissions and city councils; and advises clients on compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and other federal and state regulations.
Matt develops and implements strategies for leveraging California’s housing and development streamlining laws; negotiates affordable housing agreements, mitigation fee agreements, and conservation easements; advises clients on issues relating to water supply; and uses the initiative and referendum process in the land use planning context. Additionally, he negotiates purchase and sale agreements; site development agreements; covenants, conditions, restrictions, and easement agreements; and related transactional documents in connection with mixed-use, commercial, and residential development projects.
Matt’s experience spans a variety of land use projects throughout California, including large urban redevelopment projects, military base reuse projects, mixed-use waterfront developments, renewable energy and related infrastructure projects, regional shopping centers, and master-planned residential communities.
Active in the community, Matt teaches at University of California Davis and is regularly invited to lecture on the California land use and planning law before various professional associations for planners, municipal engineers, and public works professionals. He has served on the board of directors of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and as chair of the Amicus Committee of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom.
Areas of focus
Education & Credentials
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Senior Notes and Comments Editor, Georgetown Law Journal, 1997
- University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., magna cum laude, 1993
Bar and Court Admissions
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California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Related Employment
- Bingham McCutchen, San Francisco, CA, Partner
Clerkships
- Hon. Jerome Farris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Professional Recognition
Listed in Best Lawyers in America: Environmental Law, 2013-2025; Land Use and Zoning Law, 2024-2025
Ranked by Chambers USA as "America’s Leading Lawyer" for Real Estate, 2017-2019, 2021-2024
Listed in Super Lawyers Magazine as a "Northern California Super Lawyer," 2022-2024
Impact
Professional Leadership
- American Bar Association
- San Francisco Bar Association
- Contra Costa County Bar Association
Community Involvement
- AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Past Treasurer and Board Member
- San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR), Member
- Urban Land Institute, Redevelopment and Reuse Council Member
- Lambda Alpha International - Land Economics Society, Member
Insights
News
Professional Experience
Representative Experience
- Land use and entitlement work on the Downtown West Mixed-Use Project in San Jose, which includes 7.3 million square feet of office; 5,900 residential units; 500,000 square feet of retail, hotel, arts, and education uses; and 15 acres of parks surrounding the multi-modal Caltrain/BART/High Speed Rail Diridon Station.
- Subdivision, conveyancing, and sustainable infrastructure approvals and agreements for the San Francisco Giants’ Mission Rock project, which includes 1,600 residential units; 1.4 million square feet of office, including the new global headquarters for Visa; 250,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a waterfront park fronting Oracle Park, and rehabilitation and reuse of historic Pier 48.
- Land use entitlements, public trust reconfiguration, shoreline permitting, and subdivision and infrastructure planning for the Candlestick Point/Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 redevelopment project, which includes 10,500 residential units; 3-5 million square feet of office and research and development uses; nearly 1 million square feet of neighborhood and destination retail; and 300 acres of waterfront parks, all situated along San Francisco Bay. Our representation also included preparing Proposition O, which was approved by voters in 2016 and exempts the project from the office development limitations enacted by San Francisco voters in the 1980s through Proposition M.
- Land use entitlement and CEQA compliance for the Village at San Antonio Center in Mountain View, consisting of 1.2 million square feet of vertically integrated office, retail, hotel, cinema, and related uses
- Entitlements, subdivision mapping, and related infrastructure permitting for the Schlage Lock Mixed-Use Project in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley, which includes over 1,600 housing units and about 50,000 square feet of retail use on the 20-acre former industrial infill site
- Negotiation of an exclusive negotiating agreement, term sheet, and disposition and development agreement for the Peninsula Wellness Community, a project that includes 450 units of senior housing, 100,000 square feet of medical office, and community health services in an integrated campus setting in Burlingame
- Subdivision mapping and related approvals for the redevelopment of Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island, which includes 8,000 residential units; 240,000 square feet of commercial, retail, and office; 3 hotels; and 300 acres of parks and open space on San Francisco Bay
- Negotiation of detailed term sheet for disposition, entitlement, and development of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, including representation of the prevailing developer throughout the City of Concord’s master developer selection process
- Land use entitlement and CEQA compliance for the Five Lagunas project, a mixed-use urban village consisting of 900,000 square feet of new and redeveloped retail, cinema, and restaurant uses and 1,000 new residential units in downtown Laguna Hills
- Special land use counsel to the City of Oakland regarding subdivision mapping and land conveyance strategies for the Brooklyn Basin project, consisting of 3,000 residential units, 32 acres of parks and open space, 200,000 square feet of retail, and a marina along Oakland’s waterfront
- Negotiation of purchase agreements and site development agreements, CEQA compliance, and planning and zoning approvals on behalf of a large national retail development company for retail-based mixed-use projects totaling nearly two million square feet in both Northern and Southern California
- Expansion of Broadway Plaza shopping center in Walnut Creek, CA to accommodate a new Neiman Marcus store, which involved both city approvals and a voter-approved initiative measure
- Land use due diligence and entitlement strategy for the conversion of approximately 150,000 square feet of space in historic buildings in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood to office uses for emerging technology companies
- The Hercules Bayfront project, a waterfront mixed-use development of approximately 1,400 residential units; 300,000 square feet of retail, office, and flex space; and a multimodal bus, rail, ferry transit terminal approved by initiative measure
- Land use and real estate due diligence for the acquisition by institutional investors of 1200 acres of ultra-premium vineyard properties in Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, and Sacramento Counties
- Subdivision approvals and formation of a Mello-Roos community facilities district for the 1300-unit mixed-use Central Station/Wood Street project in West Oakland, CA
- Entitlement and CEQA compliance for master-planned mixed residential/community facilities projects throughout Northern California, including the 450-unit Bordoni Ranch project in Vallejo, CA, the 800-unit Faria Preserve project in San Ramon, CA, the 500-unit Aviano Adult Community in Antioch, CA, and redevelopment of an infill surplus school site in Millbrae, CA