Crain Caton & James

Overview

Sally Clark is an experienced commercial real estate transactional attorney who knows what it is like to be the client. The depth of Sally’s experience over the course of her career together with her personal tenacity combine to bring a unique ability to lead the firm’s clients through their commercial real estate transactions to close the deal.

Sally has gained a broad spectrum of commercial real estate experience having served as in-house counsel for both a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and a major Fortune 500 oil and gas company.  She drafted and negotiated commercial real estate leases for retail, warehouse and office space, and secured numerous new leases, lease amendments and lease assignments.  She frequently represented her company in disputes arising from common area maintenance charges, landlord representations and warranties, guarantees, tenant default, contractual indemnities and insurance provisions.  Sally also drafted and reviewed other contractual agreements including licenses, broker listing agreements, promissory notes, subleases, landlord subordination agreements, non-disclosure agreements and releases.  This experience has been extremely valuable to clients impacted by the pandemic.

Sally is proficient at negotiating and securing contract agreements for acquisition and disposal of commercial real estate assets, including the purchase, sale and lease of land, office buildings, refinery and industrial plant sites, pipeline terminal sites and gas station retail properties.

Experience

• Negotiated approximately 700 leases
• Procured and negotiated office space for company’s needs in Houston and Dallas
• Selected developer to build Chevron Phillips Chemical Company world headquarters in the Woodlands
• Closed numerous sales and purchases of real estate assets including sale of 132 gas stations and a multimillion-dollar sale of 23 pipeline terminals
• Collaborated with several major pipeline and energy companies to negotiate with governments to reduce or eliminate fees
• Achieved property tax savings by negotiating reduction in value of real estate assets, pipelines and mineral interests with property tax appraisal districts.
• Negotiated right of way easement agreements for pipeline right of way
• Negotiated claims against the company

Affiliations

• State Bar of Texas
• Houston Bar Association
• Junior League of Houston
• Association of Corporate Counsel, Houston Chapter
• Royal Oaks Country Club Ladies Association
• St. Francis Episcopal Church