10 Mar 2026
Morgan Lewis Adds Partners Nathan Fahrer and Valerie Johnston to National Real Estate and Data Center Team
"Morgan Lewis has hired partners Nathan Fahrer and Valerie Johnston from Perkins Coie to its national real estate practice, strengthening its data center development, investment and operations capabilities."
Nathan Fahrer, resident in Seattle, joins Morgan Lewis as a partner from Perkins Coie. He advises on buying, selling, financing, developing, and leasing real property across the United States, with notable experience leading major data center acquisitions, developments, and leases, including colocation arrangements. He handles a broad range of commercial leasing matters for landlords and tenants across office, retail, and industrial sectors, including confidential ground leasing matters, and counsels high-growth technology and internet clients on nationwide commercial leases. Nathan’s experience also includes work with CMBS special servicers on real property-secured loan workouts and real estate-owned dispositions, and he handles real estate-related bankruptcy matters. He will collaborate with Morgan Lewis’s power, finance, and telecommunications teams to address infrastructure, energy, and connectivity issues in large-scale data center projects.
Valerie Johnston, resident in Chicago, joins Morgan Lewis as a partner from Perkins Coie. She advises on all aspects of commercial real estate with a strong focus on acquisition, disposition, development, and financing of both vacant and developed assets. Val structures and negotiates management agreements, purchase agreements, loan documents, leases and lease amendments, colocation agreements, and construction contracts across asset classes, with particular emphasis on data centers and hotels. She provides general business advice to developers, connects clients with project and capital opportunities, and is experienced with CMBS leasing and special financing options from both borrower and lender perspectives, including NMTC and PACE financing.