Kendall DeMatteo Levan has been practicing specifically in the areas of municipal, public and redevelopment law for almost three decades and has represented a variety of public agencies including municipalities and their related entities such as housing authorities, parking authorities, public financing authorities, successor agencies to former redevelopment agencies, former redevelopment agencies, in addition to joint powers authorities, community service districts, and public cemetery districts, throughout California on a variety matters.  During this time, Ms. Levan has advised on all pertinent areas of public law and acquired a wide range of skills through her unique experiences of advising public agencies on transactional matters and governmental processes and representing public agencies in court on various criminal and civil litigation matters.  Ms. Levan has significant experience negotiating on behalf of public agencies various matters involving real estate and land use projects.

Ms. Levan is a Principal attorney with Kane, Ballmer & Berkman, and serves as Special Counsel to several of the firm’s public agency clients, with a focus of advising on governmental processes, redevelopment and real estate development projects, and fiber broadband projects.  Ms. Levan also serves as General Counsel to the Gateway Cities Affordable Housing Trust, a joint powers authority created to assist with affordable housing development within the gateway cities region of Los Angeles County.  Additionally, Ms. Levan opened the West Palm Beach, Florida office of Kane, Ballmer & Berkman and serves as its managing attorney.

Specifically, Ms. Levan provides legal services on affordable housing, mixed-use and commercial real estate development projects, real property and development project workouts, and real property acquisitions and dispositions.  Such projects include, but are not limited to, serving as a lead counsel on the City of San Diego’s sale of the former Charger’s stadium to San Diego State University.  Further, Ms. Levan advises on municipal fiber projects and has negotiated complex agreements for the use of dark fiber, level one transport services, and colocation.  In addition, Ms. Levan advises public agencies on the implementation of state regulations governing the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, the wind down of such agencies’ business and fiscal affairs, and the appropriate uses of former tax increment and property tax.  Ms. Levan advises on various other public agency matters including, without limitation, environmental review, land use, planning, zoning, mapping, capital projects, public contracting, open government, public record, conflicts of interest, and pending and potential litigation matters.

Prior to joining Kane, Ballmer & Berkman, Ms. Levan served as Senior Deputy City Attorney/Senior Deputy General Counsel with the San Diego City Attorney’s Office in San Diego, California, where she was the primary legal advisor to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego and supervised and managed the Redevelopment Unit of the San Diego City Attorney’s Office.  In addition, from the beginning of her legal career practicing public law and for a decade thereafter until joining the City of San Diego, Ms. Levan was a senior associate attorney with the law firm of Green, de Bortnowsky & Quintanilla, LLP based in Rancho Mirage and Calabasas, California, where she served as Assistant City Attorney, Assistant General Counsel, and City Prosecutor for several of the firm’s public agency clients.

Ms. Levan has been a program speaker for several organizations on public law issues, such as for the City Clerk’s Association of California on municipal law issues, the San Diego County Bar Association on redevelopment law issues, the San Diego Chapter of City Attorneys of the League of California Cities on redevelopment agency dissolution matters, the California State Bar on local government matters, the California Association for Local Economic Development on real estate development and state legislation, and the Broadband Communities Summit on municipal dark fiber networks.

Ms. Levan currently serves on the Board of Directors of the California Association for Local Economic Development (and formerly on its Legislative Action Committee), the Board of Trustees of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and the Palm Beach County Bar Association’s Local Government and Land Use Committee, and formerly served as an editor and then as Chairperson of the Municipal Law Handbook Editorial Committee of the City Attorney’s Department of the League of California Cities and on the Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee of the League of California Cities.  In addition, Ms. Levan served as pro bono counsel for CASA for Riverside County, Inc. (which assists children who are dependents of the juvenile court), a past president of the Cathedral City Rotary Club, and a member of the Inns of Court.  Ms. Levan is currently a member of the California Lawyers Association (Sections on Public Law and Real Property Law), the San Diego County Bar Association (Sections on Real Property Law, Construction Law and Animal Law), the California Association for Local Economic Development, the California Special Districts Association, the League of California Cities, the San Diego Junior League, Inc., and the Palm Beach County Bar Association.    Ms. Levan was named a 2014 Top Attorney in the Municipal & Government category by the San Diego Daily Transcript, was a finalist for the 2013 Women Who Mean Business Award from the San Diego Business Journal, and is a past recipient of the Athena Award in recognition for contributions to the business community and community service.

Ms. Levan is licensed to practice law in the states of California, Florida, and Connecticut, and before the United States District Court, Southern District, and the United States Supreme Court.  Ms. Levan is also a certified Redevelopment Professional by the Florida Redevelopment Association.

Ms. Levan received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, and her Juris Doctorate degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, California.  During college, Ms. Levan also attended Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of Florence, Florence, Italy.