Danny is Co-chair of the firm's Real Estate Practice. He is an accomplished commercial real estate attorney who focuses his practice on traditional real estate matters, such as acquisitions, dispositions, and financings. His practice also encompasses complex investment structuring involving joint ventures, preferred equity, participations, syndications, co-investments, parallel vehicles, private REITs, and discretionary funds.
Prior to joining Mintz, Danny was a partner at Pircher, Nichols & Meeks, where he guided clients on all sides of the table through sophisticated transactions across North America. He also served on the continuing education committee and as a hiring partner, and helped to organize an annual real estate joint ventures challenge for law students and business students at major universities on the West Coast. Earlier, as an associate at a global law firm, he focused on mortgage and mezzanine loan originations and securitizations.
In addition to his practice, Danny serves as a lecturer in law at USC’s Gould School of Law, where he teaches the real estate joint ventures course and regularly guest lectures for the real estate transactions and finance course. He also frequently speaks about commercial real estate topics in webinars and at conferences and contributes articles to real estate and legal publications.
While in law school, Danny received USC’s Shattuck Award for leadership and the Order of the Laurel and the Palm for leadership and service. In the years since, he has served the USC Gould Alumni Association in various capacities, including on its Executive Committee, and remained an active member of the USC Gould community with current and former roles as an alumni mentor and ambassador, law firm representative for the annual fund, and reunion committee co-chair.
Danny grew up in Los Angeles and resides in Santa Monica. He is an avid surfer and enjoys spending family time at the beach, in Mammoth, and at local campgrounds.
Experience
- Represented Northwood Investors in the acquisition of 900 Corporate Pointe in Los Angeles, CA from Symantec, and the related mortgage and mezzanine financing from Blackstone and formation of a private REIT holding company.
- Represented a private equity fund manager in the formation of a joint venture with a studio developer and manager, and represented the JV in the acquisition of a development parcel near downtown Los Angeles, CA, as well as the construction financing from a life insurance company and the management agreements with the sponsor.
- Represented Eagle Property Capital Investments in the formation of several programmatic joint ventures and related discretionary investment funds to acquire workforce housing, including the contributions of existing assets to new partnerships and related loan approvals from agency lenders.
- Represented Arc Capital Partners in its equity investment with DJM to recapitalize Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, CA.
- Represented a real estate company in the formation of a GP fund with $50m of capital commitments from institutional investors, to provide sponsor equity for an existing programmatic joint venture and a new discretionary real estate investment fund.
- Represented The Roxborough Group in the acquisition of the Quadrant Willows office complex in Seattle, WA from Equus Capital Partners, and the related mortgage financing from a global bank.
- Represented Northwood Investors in the sale of 2041-2115 Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, CA to Northwestern Mutual.
- Represented a foreign pension fund in the acquisition of the majority of the buildings in a trophy office campus in Los Angeles, CA, in a deal structured as the purchase of REIT shares for the office component and the purchase of a fee interest in the parking garage. The transaction involved acquisition financing from a life insurance company, the formation of a private REIT holding company, and an amendment to the campus CC&Rs to facilitate improvements to both common areas and exclusive spaces.
- Represented a family office that acted as the passive capital partner in a Qualified Opportunity Zone Business (QOZB) joint venture to develop a mixed-use project in Hollywood, CA, including negotiation of the construction contract and management agreements with the sponsor.
- Represented a non-bank lender in the origination of fixed-rate and bridge loans used for securitization and other secondary market transactions. The loans were backed by a broad range of collateral across the country, including retail, office, hospitality, multifamily and manufactured housing, and mixed-use projects.
viewpoints
New for 2024: Compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act Necessary for Many Mintz Clients
February 1, 2024 | Alert | By Will Perkins, Steve Ganis, Daniel Gaquin, Daniel Guggenheim, David Adams
Reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are in effect beginning January 1, 2024. Under the CTA, many US entities will be required to provide the personal information of their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a division of the US Treasury Department.
Real Estate Joint Ventures: Stress-Testing New Challenges
July 12, 2022 | | By Daniel Guggenheim, Michael Soejoto
Members Daniel Guggenheim and Michael Soejoto co-authored an article published by Law360 covering new challenges for real estate joint venture agreements. The authors explained, "In the face of recent reports assessing the risk of a recession, and related news and trends indicating potential economic headwinds such as inflation, rising interest rates, labor shortages, supply chain constraints, capital markets uncertainty and geopolitical risks, it will be helpful for sponsors and capital partners to understand their protections and exposures under their existing real estate JV agreements".
News & Press
Three Mintz Attorneys Recognized in Lawdragon’s 2024 “500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers”
August 20, 2024
Three Mintz members practicing in three different geographic areas have been recognized by Lawdragon in its 2024 “500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers” list.
The Best Lawyers in America 2025 Recognizes 184 Mintz Attorneys across 56 Practice Areas
August 15, 2024
187 Mintz attorneys have been recognized by Best Lawyers® in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Notably, three Mintz attorneys received 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” awards, and 64 firm attorneys were included in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.
Mintz announced today that 42 of its practices and 83 of its attorneys earned recognition in the 2024 edition of Chambers USA, a guide to the country’s leading law firms. Of those included in the guide, 18 attorneys and seven practice areas were awarded Chambers’ highest ranking, Band 1. The firm obtained new listings in three practice areas and 10 of its lawyers were recognized for the first time.
Members Daniel Guggenheim, William Squires III, and Associate Joshua Rudin recently published an article in The Real Estate Finance Journal exploring some of the important issues in purchasing and resolving distressed real estate debt.
Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
For A Third Consecutive Year, LA Times Names Mintz’s Danny Guggenheim A Commercial Real Estate Visionary
July 17, 2023
LOS ANGELES – Mintz is pleased to announce that Danny Guggenheim was named in The Los Angeles Times B2B Publishing’s “Los Angeles & Orange Counties Commercial Real Estate: Trends, Updates and Visionaries” magazine for the third year in a row.
BOSTON –Mintz announced today that 39 of its practices and 81 of its attorneys earned recognition in the 2023 edition of Chambers USA, a guide to the country’s leading law firms.
Best Lawyers® recognized 108 firm attorneys in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Notably, two Mintz attorneys – Poonam Patidar and Scott M. Stanton – received 2023 “Lawyer of the Year” awards, and 28 firm attorneys were included in the inaugural edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.
Stress-Testing A Real Estate JV Ahead Of New Challenges
July 12, 2022
Daniel Guggenheim Named to 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers List
February 08, 2022
Two Mintz Members Named 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers
January 22, 2021
Mintz Welcomes 21 Lateral Members in 2020
December 29, 2020
Mintz Deepens Real Estate Practice with Trio in Los Angeles
October 30, 2020
Events & Speaking
Default Provisions in Real Estate Joint Ventures: Bankruptcy, Distressed Property, Removal of Manager
Strafford
Online Event
Structuring Programmatic Real Estate Joint Ventures: Structures, Deal Sharing and Exclusivity, Pooling Variations
Negotiating Key Deal Terms From Sponsor and Equity Investor Perspectives
Online Event
Publications
- Co-author, HVCR-What?: Managing Uncertainty Around HVCRE Loans, Commercial Property Executive (July 2017)
- Co-author, Programmatic JVs: Structural Distinctions, Key Considerations, Commercial Property Executive (July 2016)
Recognition & Awards
Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL)
Chambers USA: California - Southern: Real Estate (2022 - 2024)
Martindale-Hubbell: Rated AV Preeminent
Named a Commercial Real Estate Visionary in the Los Angeles Times B2B Publishing's Los Angeles & Orange Counties Commercial Real Estate: Trends, Updates and Visionaries magazine (2021-2023)
Featured in Best Lawyers in America: Real Estate Law (2014–2025)
Named to the Southern California Super Lawyers list (2017–2024)
Recommended by The Legal 500 United States for Real Estate (2024)
Nominated, Leaders in Law Awards, Los Angeles Business Journal (2019)
Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, Real Property Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association (2012)
Who's Who Legal: Real Estate
Involvement
- Board of Directors, Santa Monica Education Foundation
- Member, Planning Committee & Executive Board, USC Real Estate Law and Business Forum
- Member, Real Property Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Member, Real Property Law, California Lawyers Association
- Member, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, American Bar Association