Jennifer E. Renk

Jennifer Renk is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group in the firm's San Francisco office.  She also currently serves as a member of the Oakland Planning Commission.

Areas of Practice

Jennifer’s practice focuses on land use and environmental law, with particular expertise in the California Environmental Quality Act. She advises clients on the regulatory and political hurdles facing development projects across California, with an emphasis on commercial, residential, mixed-use, and high tech projects.

Over the course of her career, Jennifer has worked on a diverse range of projects, including Facebook’s Menlo Park Headquarters, Jay Paul Company’s Cityview project in Downtown San Jose, numerous mixed-use TOD projects, multi-family residential projects, and independent school projects.

Jennifer works in the firm’s San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices so that she can best serve clients pursuing entitlements around the Bay Area. She has helped clients entitle projects throughout the Peninsula, the East Bay, San Francisco, and beyond. Jennifer is a member of the Board of the Bay Housing Action Coalition, an organization dedicated to promoting housing policy and production throughout the Bay Area. 

Prior to attending law school, Jennifer worked as District Director for U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher. In that capacity, she devised the congresswoman’s district strategy, served as her primary point-of-contact in the community, and advised her on land use, transportation, and other public policy issues. Before that, she worked for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in a number of capacities.

Jennifer’s unique political experience serves clients navigating entitlement projects through highly politicized environments.

Experience

Representative Matters

Residential

• SummerHill Apartment Communities – Land use advice for multiple projects in Santa Clara, Burlingame, Mountain View, and South San Francisco.
• Wood Partners – Land use advice for projects in San Francisco, Oakland, and Millbrae.
• Hanover Company – Land use advice for projects in San Jose, Oakland, Burlingame, South San Francisco, and Contra Costa County.
• Fortbay – Land use advice for project in Mountain View.
• Miramar Capital – Land use advice for projects in Mountain View and San Jose.
• Avalon Bay – Land use advice for projects in San Jose and Dublin.
• Greystar – Land use advice for projects in San Jose and Santa Clara.
• Anton Development Company – Land use advice for project in Mountain View.
• Integral Communities – Land use advice for project in Union City.
• Trammell Crow Residential – Land use advice for projects in Oakland and Milpitas.
• Dutchints – Land use advice for projects in Los Altos and San Carlos.
• Oppidan – Land use advice for senior housing project in Santa Cruz.
• The Pacific Cos. – Land use advice for affordable housing project in Burlingame.

Office/Mixed-Use/Retail/Industrial

• Jay Paul Company –Land use advice for Cityview project in San Jose.
• Trammell Crow Company – Land use advice for Diridon project in San Jose.
• Hines – Land use advice for office project in Redwood City.
• Minkoff Group – Land use advice for office projects in Sunnyvale.
• PS Business Parks – Land use advice for projects in Hayward, Santa Clara, and San Mateo.
• Vince Muzzi – Land use advice for mixed-use Serra Station project in Millbrae.
• Fortbay – Land use advice for mixed-use Stevens Creek project in San Jose.
• Vantage Data Centers – Land use advice for numerous data center projects in Santa Clara.
• Oppidan – Land use advice for data center project in Santa Clara.
• Carlyle Group – Land use advice for office project in Mountain View.
• Dewey Land Company – Land use advice for office projects in
  Burlingame and San Carlos.
• Bohannon Development Company – Land use advice for Menlo Gateway mixed-use project in Menlo Park.
• Regency Centers – Land use advice for retail centers in San Bruno, Daly City, and Santa Clara.

Non-Profit Institutions

• Hillbrook School – Land use advice for conditional use permit amendment in Los Gatos.
• Crystal Springs Uplands School – Land use advice for new middle school campus in Belmont.
• Phillips Brooks School – Land use advice for conditional use permit amendments in Menlo Park.
• The Carey School – Land use advice for conditional use permit amendment in San Mateo.
• Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA – Land use advice for adoption facility in Burlingame.
• The Primary School – Land use advice for school campus in East Palo Alto.

Technology/Biotech

• Facebook – Land use advice for headquarters in Menlo Park.
• LinkedIn – Land use advice for headquarters in Mountain View.
• Ultragenyx – Land use advice for campuses in Novato and South San Francisco.

Honors

Northern California Super Lawyer - Land Use/Zoning, 2014-2019

The US Legal 500 - Land Use/Zoning, 2014-2016, 2020

Northern California Rising Star - Land Use/Zoning, 2009-2013

Best Lawyers - Real Estate Law, 2019-2025

Articles

Real Estate, Land Use, & Environmental Blog Posts

Events

Memberships

Chair, Oakland Planning Commission

State Bar of California

Bar Association of San Francisco

Urban Land Institute (ULI)

San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)

CREWSF