Krista Kim is the Firm’s founder and managing partner.

Krista's practice encompasses a wide range of sophisticated real estate transactions, including commercial leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, and real estate finance.

She has extensive commercial leasing experience, handling all aspects of lease transactions for office, retail, industrial/warehouse, and R&D property on behalf of clients in technology, life sciences, financial services, and healthcare industries. In addition to drafting and negotiating leases, she drafts and negotiates subleases, assignments, lease amendments, work letters, lease guarantees, letters of credit, listing agreements, and subordination and non-disturbance agreements. She also regularly negotiates architectural and construction contracts in connection with the design and construction of tenant improvements, including laboratory space, and other commercial contracts that arise from real estate transactions.

She represents investors, developers, and end-users with the purchase and sale of commercial property, including office buildings, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, shopping centers, and vacant land. She also represents lenders and borrowers in real estate secured loans.

Krista received her B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000 and her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004. Before starting Valence in 2012, Krista practiced at a global law firm in San Francisco.

Krista is admitted to practice in California. She is a member of the California State Bar Real Property Section, the California Leasing Practice Area Committee for the California Lawyers Association, and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Representative Transactions

• Negotiating the lease of a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Milpitas, California on behalf of a robotics technology company.
• Negotiating the lease for a 230,000 square foot, multi-building office campus in San Mateo, California for a technology company.
• Negotiating the lease of a 350,000 square foot, multi-building service center in Arizona on behalf of a public company.
• Negotiating the lease for an R&D and production facility on behalf of a life sciences company, including negotiating the construction contract for a $40 million dollar build-out of the laboratory and associated improvements.
• Negotiating the lease of a 125,000 square foot headquarters office for a public company in San Jose, California, along with negotiating design and construction contracts as part of the build-out of the premises.
• Negotiating dozens of warehouse, industrial, and office leases on behalf of a public company expanding throughout the United States.
• Drafting and negotiating office leases and construction contracts in several class A-office complexes in Northern California on behalf of the landlord.

Speaking Engagements & Events

• 38th Annual Real Property Spring Conference, California Lawyers Association Real Property Law, Workspace for Hire: Office Co-Working and Workspace as Service Leasing Issues (Speaker, May 2, 2019)
• Advanced Commercial Leasing Institute, Georgetown Law School, Washington, DC (Participant, April 10-12, 2019)
• 4th Annual Northern California Women In Commercial Leasing Law Symposium, De-Constructing the Work Letter, AIA Contracts – What Every Leasing Lawyer Needs to Know (Speaker, Nov. 8, 2018)
• Contra Costa Bar Association, Real Estate Association, Negotiating Commercial AIR Lease Forms: Traps for the Unwary (Speaker, Aug. 31, 2018)