Dana S. Grimes Email & Phone Number

Indianapolis, In, Us

As SVP - Assistant General Counsel, I partner with General Counsel to provide legal guidance and support to all business units and for our overall organization. I partner with Executive and Senior Leadership team members on Company-wide initiatives and serving as an additional resource for multiple departments, including Information Technology (IT), Human Resources (HR), and People, Processes, and Accountability (PPA). I am partnering with our in-house Associate General Counsel attorneys on residential and mixed use projects, providing guidance while my team builds their industry and company knowledge. I am really looking forward to formally mentoring and coaching junior team members as they continue to develop their careers! I also serve on our Legislative, 401k, and Enterprise Risk Management Committees.Recent projects include:San Tan Valley, AZ - The Stella - 308 Select/Classic unitsFort Collins, CO - The Landing at Lemay - 344 Classic unitsColorado Springs, CO - Switch - 276 Classic unitsMonument, CO - Alta25 - 264 Classic unitsSarasota, FL - The Concord - 257 Metro unitsPensacola, FL - The Quinn - 324 Classic unitsLady Lake, FL - Standard441 - 300 Classic unitsRockledge, FL - Junction at Rockledge - 380 Select unitsVero Beach, FL - Verity - 276 Classic unitsPooler, GA - The Liliana - 360 Classic unitsStockbridge, GA - The Levi - 212 Select unitsFishers, IN - Slate at Fishers District - 242 Villa units

As VP - Senior Associate General Counsel for Thompson Thrift Residential, I partner with our acquisition and development teams during site selection, purchase/sale agreement negotiation, and all aspects of the due diligence and entitlement processes taking place prior to acquisition closing. I also seek out opportunities to practice my public speaking skills, such as by presenting our January 2023 Innovation Hour (lunch and learn session) topic of "10 Ways to Keep Your Legal Department Rocking & Rolling" and in serving as the moderator for the TT Serve session of our TT Talks series, where team members hear updates and insights from company leaders on various topics. I'm also a member of our Legislative Committee, which is tasked with keeping the company informed of changes to state/local laws as they occur.Representative projects include:Premier at West Park - Greeley, CO - 336 Classic unitsThe BLVD at Wilson Crossings - Wyoming, MI - 344 Select/Luxe unitsThe Depot - Raymore, MO - 300 Classic unitsThe Garrison - Fountain, CO - 336 Classic unitsThe Meridian at CityPlace - Woodbury, MN - 91 Luxe (townhome) unitsI also serve as Thompson Thrift Residential's legal point person on mixed-use projects, such as:Union at Fishers District - Fishers, IndianaThe Crossing at Fishers District - Fishers, IndianaThe Gilmore - Gilbert, ArizonaWe have quite a few other developments in the works! You can learn more about our properties under development here: https://www.thompsonthrift.com/properties

Indianapolis, Indiana, Us

I reported directly to the General Counsel and worked on a wide variety of acquisition, disposition, development, construction, leasing, property management, partnership, and financing matters for retail, office, and mixed-use projects.• Successfully negotiated 23 tenant leases for the new restaurant-focused Fishers District project (Fishers, Indiana), including the first Shake Shack location opened in Indiana.• Fostering relationships with national/regional tenants and franchises such as Sprouts, MOD Pizza, Athletico, Dutch Bros., Aspen Dental, Bank of America, Arby’s, Tropical Smoothie Café, WingStop, First Watch, Whataburger, Xponential Fitness, Black Rock Coffee, Chicken Salad Chick, GreatClips, and Mattress Warehouse.• Went from LOI to executed lease with Publix (Durham, North Carolina) in record time.• Lead counsel on leases for the Indianapolis and Phoenix corporate offices.• Created new team focused on mitigating damages caused by at-risk and delinquent tenants and coordinating resolution of related issues.• Expertly redrafted internal standard form lease to eliminate extraneous provisions, ensure consistency with standard industry practices, and ability to begin negotiations in the most favorable position possible.• Extensive experience with best practices for tracking and management of tenant exclusive uses and similar use restrictions.• Able to anticipate, plan for, and quickly resolve concerns specific to restaurant, health care, automotive, pet-related, and hospitality operators.• Member of 401k committee entrusted with ensuring fiduciary accountability for corporate employee retirement savings program.• Joined internal Indy Service Partner Team tasked with expanding the TT Serve program to the Indianapolis area and establishing regular opportunities for co-workers to volunteer with Outreach Indiana, who serves young adults experiencing homelessness.• “Living the Core” values of leadership, service, and excellence on a daily basis.

Indianapolis, In, Us

I provided the highest quality representation in purchase and sale, leasing, clean energy financing, and other land use transactions with department stores, big boxes, entertainment providers, and restaurant operators such as Nordstrom, Saks, Macy's, Dillard's, JC Penney, Sears, Target, Ulta, Darden Restaurants, Bloomin' Brands, Chick-fil-A, Cheesecake Factory, Cracker Barrel, Merlin Entertainments (LEGOLAND, Sea Life, and Madame Tussauds), Bob's Discount Furniture, Pinstripes, AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, Crunch Fitness, hotels, hospitals, multi-family residential developers, partnerships, and joint ventures. Closing these deals required collaboration with lenders and CMBS servicers including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Key Bank, Prudential, Berkadia, and Midland. Niche projects involved in-depth commercial due diligence, title solutions, environmental contamination, seller financing, multi-site closings, and liquor license transfers.• Lead counsel for the completed $200,000,000 redevelopment of the La Plaza Mall in McAllen, Texas.• Lead counsel for the redevelopment of the Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia.• Exclusive in-house counsel for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) projects, facilitating the installation of energy efficient upgrades at 12 properties in Texas and California, including the largest Texas project as of 6/29/17.• Slashed outside counsel fees by analyzing 55,000+ in-house emails for privilege in one week to meet deadline in a multi-million-dollar lawsuit.• Selected from a pool of over 5,000 to join the inaugural class of Simon’s Emerging Leaders Program, a selective learning experience focusing on management and communication strategies, inter-disciplinary collaboration, and executive presentation skills.• Presented a seminar on property redevelopment strategies at the 2016 Midwest ICSC Law Conference.• Exceptional interpersonal, organization and time management skills made me the department’s “go-to” person.

Indianapolis, In, Us

Successfully balanced a caseload of 180+ delinquent accounts in stages of litigation and bankruptcy during the Great Recession while serving in a quasi-supervisory role and supporting three attorneys. I took decisive action with all aspects of debt collection efforts associated with a high-volume, fast-paced litigation and bankruptcy caseload. I enjoyed partnering with attorneys all over the U.S. to file pleadings, complete timely discovery production, and negotiate the most favorable settlement possible. Located hidden assets through online research, financial statement analysis, and tax return evaluation.• Pursued high-profile $2 million fraud/alter ego lawsuit involving multiple rounds of discovery and extensive witness preparation.• Recovered over $4 million from a bankrupt national retailer’s guarantor without filing suit.• Streamlined the paralegal drafting process by standardizing 150 documents in a template database.• Singlehandedly compiled 50-state survey of debt collection statutes into a single database for collaborative reference.• Onboarded 10 new staff members and had primary responsibility for training on document drafting, litigation file maintenance, and legal concepts.

Indianapolis, In, Us

In this role I worked hand-in-hand with the Vice President/Bankruptcy Counsel by being intricately involved in high-profile Chapter 11 retail bankruptcy filings. My efforts in preparing and filing pleadings and proof of claim documents, lease amendments, and reconciling account balances saved Simon millions of dollars in avoiding outside counsel fees and minimizing uncollectible rents. I served as a corporate representative at lease auctions and testifed in court proceedings.

Bloomington, Indiana , Us

At Carl Lamb and Associates I was the primary legal support provider and office manager for a one-owner general practice. I had direct responsibility for supervising and training five legal assistants/interns, setting office policies and procedures, and completing paralegal projects for 100+ case files while finishing a Bachelor’s degree. The highlight of this role was serving as counsel's in-court paralegal for his busy civil, criminal, family, and bankruptcy law practice.

Doctor Of Law (J.D.), Law

Bachelor Of Arts In Criminal Justice; Minors In Philosophy And Religious Studies, Criminal Justice And Corrections