Practice Areas

  • Real Estate

Admissions

  • Colorado
  • Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals of the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals of the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • United States Tax Court

Wade Warthen
Partner
Phone: 303.623.4338

Email: wwarthen@messner.com

Office: Denver
Download Bio

With over 25 years of experience, including positions as in-house counsel at a Denver-based REIT and at the country’s second-largest privately held corporation, Wade concentrates his practice on commercial real estate transactions of all types, including leases and amendments for landlords and tenants; purchases and sales from contract through closing; loan documents and financing arrangements; construction contracts; title, survey, and due diligence evaluations; boundary, access, and easement issues; development, land use, and zoning concerns; lien rights; and real estate regulatory compliance.

  • Juris Doctor: University of Illinois College of Law, 1992
    • Head Teaching Assistant and Instructor of Business Law, College of Commerce and Business Administration; 1990-92
  • Bachelor of Arts (Political Science/Business): University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1989
  • NAIOP Commercial Development Association, Membership Committee Chair
  • American Bar Association, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law
  • Colorado Bar Association, Real Estate and Energy and Natural Resources Sections
  • Denver Bar Association
  • NAIOP Colorado Chapter, Member of the Year, 2014
  • NAIOP Colorado Chapter, Economic Forecaster of the Year, 2014
  • Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association, Barbara S. Jacob Award, 2011
  • President, Delta Upsilon Fraternity, University of Illinois, 1989
  • Mortar Board Senior Honorary, University of Illinois, 1989
  • Senior 100, University of Illinois, 1989
  • Sachem Junior Honorary, University of Illinois, 1988
  • Atius Sophomore Honorary, University of Illinois, 1987
  • Eagle Scout, B.S.A., 1985
Representative Matters
Publications and Speaking Engagements

How Does the Dodd-Frank Act Affect Commercial Lending?, Colorado Real Estate Journal, September, 2011

Medical Marijuana: Leasing Issues from a Commercial Landlord Perspective, Colorado Real Estate Journal, March, 2011

Landlords and Tenants Increasingly Turn to Submetering, Colorado Real Estate Journal, September 3, 2008.

Community Involvement
  • National Sports Center for the Disabled, Volunteer Ski Instructor, 2006 – Present
  • Rock Valley Kiwanis Club President, 1997
Professional Experience
  • Darling Milligan Horowitz (June 2014 – September 2015)
  • The Nelson Law Firm (December 2011 – June 2014)
  • Franke Greenhouse List & Lippitt, LLP (November 2006 – September 2011)
  • Fisher Sweetbaum Levin & Sands, P.C. (October 2004 – November 2006)
  • Kissinger & Fellman, P.C. (January 2002 – September 2004)
  • Arc Holdings, LLP (March 2000 – November 2001)
  • Koch Industries, INC. (March 1997 – February 2000)
  • Hinshaw & Culbertson (June 1992 – February 1997)