Kay Nelson is a Senior Counsel in the Tucson office and represents clients in a wide variety of financing transactions. She also represents developers and owners of real property in purchase and sale transactions and commercial leasing transactions. Kay represents clients on both sides of the transaction, including:
- Buyers and sellers in purchase and sale transactions of both raw land and improved properties
- Landlords and tenants in commercial lease transactions, including space in office buildings, shopping centers and industrial centers and build-to-suit leases
- Lenders and borrowers in lending transactions, including short-term and permanent financings, revolving lines of credit, construction loans and term loans
Kay has also advised and represented clients on real estate-related disputes, including easement and construction disputes, adverse possession claims, partition actions, and breach of contract matters. In addition, Kay has a working knowledge of tax-exempt entity issues, having formed a number of local 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entities in her community.
Earlier in Kay’s career, she spent several years working on bankruptcy matters, which culminated in representing clients on bankruptcy appellate matters in front of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. During the Great Recession from 2007 through 2009, Kay’s practice focused on workout transactions, primarily from a creditor’s perspective, advising clients on deeds-in-lieu, trustee sales, foreclosures and deficiency actions. Kay is knowledgeable about the entire lending cycle and incorporates her experience into the documents she drafts and the advice she provides to clients on real estate matters. More recently, Kay worked in-house with Mister Car Wash, Inc. supervising the management of its real estate portfolio. In that position, she was responsible for supervising a team of lawyers and paralegals who handled (i) the new-build program, (ii) the completion of sale leaseback transactions, (iii) leasing issues, and (iv) the resolution of outstanding litigation disputes.
Representative Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Represent local and regional lenders drafting loan documents for both real-estate secured and non-real estate secured loans ranging from $1 million to more than $50 million.
- Represent local and regional lenders drafting loan documents for real estate secured loans on tribal lands.
- Represent local owners and developers on the purchase and sale of real property.
- Represent local owners and developers in drafting covenants, conditions and restrictions for residential and commercial subdivisions, and various easements associated with the use of the property.
- Represent a research park on leasing transactions with Fortune 500 companies, involving both vacant land and commercial office space.
Professional & Civic Engagement
- Pima County Judge Pro Tem (2018 – 2024)
- Member of the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section of the Arizona State Bar (2018 – current); Chair (2023 – 2024)
- Member of the Pima County Real Estate Research Council (2009 – current); Board member (2021 – current)
- Kappa Alpha Theta Advisory Board (2019 – current)
- Member of the Board of Our Family Services (2012 – 2018); Vice President (2014 – 2016)
- United States Swimming and Arizona Interscholastic Association Stroke and Turn Official (2013 – 2018)
Honors & Awards
- AV Rated by Martindale Hubble
- Arizona Bar Foundation’s Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys in Arizona (2001, 2019 and 2024)
- Volunteer Lawyer’s Program Chris Nakamura Arizona Community Legal Assistance Award (2003)
- Volunteer Lawyer’s Program attorney of the month (March 2001)
