David Lowery, who spent 37 years at Jones Day in Dallas, has left the firm and is now general counsel of Mill Creek Residential Trust, an apartment developer, acquirer and operator.
Neither Jones Day nor Dallas-based Mill Creek appear to have announced the move, although Lowery’s profile on Mill Creek’s website says he joined this month. A Jones Day spokeswoman said Wednesday that he had retired from the firm.
Lowery worked on Mill Creek’s sale last year to Arizona State Retirement System, or ASRS, and Mill Creek management for a reported $630 million. ASRS ended up with half of Mill Creek that previously was owned by Rockwood Capital, Crow Holdings and former and current management shareholders.
Jones Day partner Susan Cox in Dallas also has worked on deals for Mill Creek, including its $47.45 million acquisition of the Modern Miami apartment building from Waterton Associates in November as part of a joint venture with Rockwood.
Lowery co-chaired Jones Day’s real estate practice worldwide for more than 15 years. He also was as an adjunct professor in real estate at his alma mater SMU Dedman School of Law between 2013 and 2018.
The respected real estate lawyer started his career as a corporate and tax attorney in 1978 at Dallas firm Meyers, Miller, Middleton, Weiner & Warren, which was acquired by Jones Day in 1981.
His marquee deals have included advising TriGate Capital when it acquired 90 percent of the Comercia Bank Tower in downtown Dallas in 2015; Greystar Real Estate Partners on the sale of its apartment portfolio to a unit of the Blackstone Group for $2 billion, also in 2015; and Morgan Stanley’s hard-fought battle in 2004 to buy the Canary Wharf in London in a deal that valued the property at $11.5 billion.
Lowery was also part of the team in 2016 that advised DTE Energy on its purchase of interests in two oil and gas gathering systems from M3 Midstream and Vega Energy Partners for $1.3 billion.
At the time of Mill Creek’s sale, the company had 71 communities representing 19,100 apartments that were operating or under construction. Mill Creek and ASRS said they planned to continue to seek investments that centered on strategic, long-term opportunities.