Dania Duncan Moreno
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Dania Duncan Moreno

Partner

214-740-1434

Having studied and practiced law in Mexico and the United States, Dania brings sophisticated cross-border experience to her real estate and corporate practice. She draws on deep transactional expertise and cultural insights to help clients handle the myriad legal issues involved in high-volume portfolio transactions for luxury brands, developers, REITs and major asset managers.

Dania focuses her practice on both domestic and cross-border real estate and corporate transactions. Licensed in Texas and Mexico, she regularly handles hospitality, retail, industrial and residential projects throughout Mexico. In Texas, she focuses on retail and industrial projects. She has broad experience representing international and U.S. companies on all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including leases (retail, office and industrial), purchase and sale agreements, development agreements, construction contracts, management agreements and related due diligence matters. She advises clients in connection with corporate matters including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and financing transactions in a broad range of industries.

Dania has represented real estate investment trusts (REITs), timeshare companies, real estate developers, lenders, hospitality industry clients and asset managers in multimillion-dollar deals, as well as in regulatory matters and responses to the Consumer Protection Agency.

Practices

Industries

Representative Experience

  • Represented a global real estate asset manager in the disposition of approx. 700 hectares in Mexico. This was a complex $27 million transaction split between two sellers and the purchaser.
  • Advised a digital infrastructure specialist on the acquisition of property in Mexico to be used as a power feeding equipment location for a submarine cable boosting digital growth and broadband connectivity in the United States and Mexico.
  • Advised global beauty brand in the amendment of its distribution center facility in a complicated negotiation.
  • Represented a U.S.-based telecommunication company in the due diligence and acquisition of several real estate assets for its operations in the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
  • Represented a U.S.-based, full-service asset management firm in the acquisition and development of its Mexican real estate portfolio in the retail, industrial and hospitality industries with a net asset value average of $800 million and, later, in the divestiture of the portfolio.
  • Oversaw as lead real estate counsel the domestication process of several Mexican entities into U.S. entities, managing the entire real estate portion of the transaction, including dealing with more than 60 developed and operating properties located in four different states and the creation of more than 20 vehicles to own the properties.
  • Served as lead real estate counsel to a leading U.S. public timeshare company in the registration of their timeshare product in Mexico. The process involved working with the client’s legal and tax departments to address the many corporate and tax implications that the timeshare sales would trigger in both the U.S. and Mexico.
  • Participated in the restructuring of a U.S.-based REIT’s Mexican portfolio to allow tax savings in excess of $80 million.
  • Served as lead counsel to a U.S.-based, full-service asset management firm in the sale of an industrial park located in Mexicali, including extensive due diligence, as well as remediating the property due to environmental issues and addressing several water rights matters prior to the sale.
  • Handled the response to a Consumer Protection Agency inspection visit and temporary closure of timeshare sales related to several Mexican resorts owned by a leading, U.S.-based public timeshare company. The response challenged the visit before local authorities based on its lack of merits, provided proof of registration, and argued a lack of proper procedure during the inspection visit.
  • Served as lead counsel in the acquisition of several Mexican companies, including resolving several tax, labor and employment, and corporate inconsistencies.
  • Represented a U.S.-based, full-service asset management firm in the sale of their Mexican portfolio.
  • Represented a real estate conglomerate in the tax restructuring of its exclusive luxury vacation housing community in Los Cabos, Mexico.
  • Led due diligence for a major development in Los Cabos, Mexico.
  • Assisted in the development of legal strategies for a U.S.-based real estate client dealing with low-income residential real estate in the center of Mexico.
  • Participated in the purchase and development of a housing joint venture in Mexico on behalf of the real estate division of a major U.S.-based oil company.
  • Represented a U.S.-based, full-service asset management firm in the transition of its shopping centers, with more than 250 leases, from its current property manager to a third party.
  • Advised a U.S.-based developer in connection with property issues related to the formalization of easements that involved ejido land along the U.S.-Mexico border.
  • Served as Mexican counsel to a U.S.-based, full-service asset management firm in its prospective acquisition and debt restructuring of a Mexican entity in the hospitality industry.
  • Co-led the acquisition and sale of one of the most exclusive and luxurious hotels in Los Cabos, Mexico.
  • Advised a U.S.-based real estate developer in the acquisition and development of a luxury hotel and residences project in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.
  • Represented a subsidiary of a U.S.-based REIT in the divestiture of a joint venture.

Noteworthy

  • Named a Dallas Hispanic Bar Association "Women of Distinction," 2022
  • Listed in the inaugural edition of Who’s Who Legal: Hospitality 2020
  • Listed, Latin Lawyer, "Latin Lawyer 250 - Practice Recognition: Real Estate & Tourism," 2020
  • Team Member, Chambers USA Award for Excellence, Real Estate, 2017–2018
  • Listed, The Legal 500 United States, Real Estate, 2012
  • Spanish (native)

Activities and Memberships

  • Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW)
    • Leadership Team
  • City of Dallas Economic Development Corporation
    • Board Member
  • Dallas Hispanic Bar Association
    • Board Member
  • Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation
    • Board Member
  • Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC)
    • International Task Force, Member
  • Executive Women of Dallas
    • Member
  • Our RED
    • Founding Member

Publications

  • "Nearshoring in Mexico and the Convenience of Guaranty Trusts," ACC Dallas-Fort Worth Newsletter, co-author.
  • "Implication for ‘end of outsourcing’ in Mexico," Hotels Magazine, co-author; May 2021.
  • "Women Doing Business in Latin America," Texas Lawyer, co-author; July 31, 2019.
  • "Spotlight on Mexico: Recent Elections and Their Impact on the Timeshare Industry," American Resort Development Association Developments Magazine, co-author; September 2018.

Presentations

  • “D&I: A Journey and a Destination,” U.S. Mexico Bar Association Annual Conference; October 27, 2022.

Credentials

    Education

    • LLM, University of Illinois College of Law, 2007
    • JD, University De Monterrey, 2001

    Admissions

    Bar Admissions
    • Texas
    • Mexico

Languages

  • Spanish

News/Events

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