Victor De la Cruz is a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office as well as a member of the Government & Regulatory Policy Division and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Group. He represents developers, institutions, individuals, and for-profit and nonprofit corporations with land use entitlements, government approvals and public contracts.
Mr. De la Cruz's practice involves the crafting of legal, political, and community-relations strategies to best assure successful approval and implementation of large-scale development projects and the resolution of public and private property disputes. He appears before agencies, boards, commissions, and legislative bodies to advocate for project entitlements and defends those entitlements in litigation as necessary. Through his real estate and land use practice, Mr. De la Cruz has obtained substantial experience with the California Environmental Quality Act, the Coastal Act, the Subdivision Map Act and other areas of law involved in the development and conservation of land throughout the State.
Significant projects that Mr. De la Cruz has worked on include the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the University of Southern California's Galen Center & Athletic Pavilion; the redevelopment and expansion of the historic Hollywood Tower; The Century, a 42-story high-rise in Century City for the Related Companies; and Casden Properties' Palazzo Westwood. Mr. De la Cruz's experience, generally, includes the development of regional malls, senior assisted living facilities, transit-oriented developments, university housing projects, big-box retail stores, commercial offices and non-urban projects involving conservation easements and regulatory permits from agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mr. De la Cruz has also represented various homeowners associations in various development, easement and CC&R disputes. Currently, Mr. De la Cruz represents Trancas-PCH, LLC on the development and preservation of 35 acres off Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. He advises a major international big-box retailer on climate change issues and associated CEQA compliance and works with one of Southern California's largest signage companies on litigation matters and government advocacy in various municipalities.
In his government practice, Mr. De la Cruz has assisted clients across a wide variety of industries on contracts and bid protests with the City and County of Los Angeles, the County of San Diego, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles World Airports, the California Department of General Services, and the California Office of Administrative Hearings. His representation of clients in these forums has included the preparation of bids and proposals (including the coordination of media and political strategies), the filing and defense of protests, and contract negotiations. Representative clients on government contracting matters include MAXIMUS, Raytheon, Delaware North Companies, ACS State & Local Solutions, Inc., and Health Advocates.
Mr. De la Cruz is a former appointee of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to the Los Angeles Relocation Appeals Board Commission and is currently on the Land Use Committee of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Housing, Land Use & Development Committee of the Central City Association.
Mr. De la Cruz is a registered lobbyist with the City and County of Los Angeles and the cities of West Hollywood and Long Beach.
