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- University of Michigan, A.B., with distinction
- Wayne State University School of Law, J.D., 1986
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- State of California
- State of Minnesota
- U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
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- Minnesota State Bar Association, Real Estate Section Legislative Committee, Member, 2004-present
- MSBA Certified Real Property Law Specialist
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- The Link, Board of Directors
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- The Best Lawyers in America®, 2026
- Real Estate Law
- Honoree, Minnesota Super Lawyers, 2025
- AV Preeminent® – Martindale-Hubble Peer Review Rating™
- North Star Lawyer, Minnesota State Bar Association, 2020-present
- The Best Lawyers in America®, 2026
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I enjoy bicycling. I am a frequent cycle commuter to downtown in non-winter months, and I have ridden the MS 150. I build and service all of my bicycles myself.
I have been a lifelong guitarist. I play many styles from rock to classical to jazz. I have played in several bands and continue to play actively.
The practice of law is about helping a client solve a problem. As a real estate litigator with extensive transactional experience, I enjoy pulling from my wide range of experience to craft unique, efficient, effective solutions that are driven in every case by the client’s end goal.
Craig Kepler is a real estate attorney with a great depth of experience in almost all phases of commercial real estate acquisition, development, leasing, and financing. Craig also handles land use matters, Torrens matters, property tax appeals, and condemnation matters. Craig has experience helping developers raise investment money via private placement and TIC structures. Craig is licensed in both California and Minnesota and has many years of active practice experience in both states.
Craig is also a passionate advocate for and seasoned advisor to Minnesota public charter schools. Craig draws on his broad experience to advise charters on facility matters, formation and governance, charter contract matters, and other business operations matters. Craig has been the creator of numerous innovative structures for the acquisition, financing, and operation of Minnesota public charter school facilities.
Experience
- Created the first third party tax exempt charter school ownership structure for Yinghua Academy.
- Represented a nonprofit borrower/developer on a $38,000,000 bond-financed affordable housing acquisition and development project in Minnesota.
- Represented Eagle Ridge Academy in the largest bond-financed charter school facility transaction in the State of Minnesota.
- Successfully represented a California ground lessor of a major national retail ground lease tenant against the tenant’s efforts to force the owner to pay nearly $1,000,000 in unexpected environmental remediation costs under an ambiguously-worded lease provision.
- Represented the lead lender in over $350,000,000 of participated financing of senior care facilities across the United States with a borrower that raised its equity via TIC investments.