Somos Group Leadership

Kira represents public and private sector clients in real estate development through all phases of the due diligence, acquisition, design, planning, permitting, and environmental compliance process. She has led complicated projects across varying sectors, flexing her expert ability and strategic approach to managing multiple consultants and stakeholders in a dynamic setting. Kira has advised clients on local, state, and federal land use and environmental laws, including the California Environmental Quality Act, National Environmental Policy Act, California Subdivision Map Act, and California Housing Accountability Act. Her work includes some of the most transformative planning and research projects in urban communities spanning the commercial, residential, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. Kira also represents developers and management in traditional labor law issues, including union negotiations.

 

Her experience includes advising lenders, prospective buyers, and owners on development opportunities, risks, and value-based strategies through due-diligence investigations; negotiating and obtaining complex land use entitlements such as General Plan Amendments, Zone Changes, Development Agreements, Vesting Tentative Tract Maps, and Conditional Use Permits; and appearing before governmental agencies, commissions, and legislative bodies.

 

Kira has been an engaged leader in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community for over a decade. Among her many accomplishments, she serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Little Tokyo Service Center; the Board of Governors of the Japanese American Bar Association (serving as President in 2021); Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Politics Committee of the U.S.-Japan Council; Board of Directors of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center; and Co-Chair of the Politics Subcommittee of the Next Generation Japanese American Leaders Initiative of the Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles.