REAL ESTATE

Our real estate group represents the full circle of real estate players including landlords and tenants, buyers and sellers, developers, managers and owners of significant real estate portfolios. We work closely with our colleagues within the firm to provide seamless service to our clients with respect to real estate issues embedded in corporate transactions, real estate issues arising from commercial litigation, and real estate matters arising in a bankruptcy context.

Leasing
Commercial lease transactions are an important part of our practice. We represent landlords and tenants in leasing transactions which cover the spectrum of situations from 1,500 square feet office leases to office leases of hundreds of thousands of square feet. Our leasing experience includes extensive subleasing, shopping center and retail leasing, industrial leasing and garage leasing. We pride ourselves on crafting leases which speak to the particular needs of each client.

We are particularly skilled at identifying and negotiating those provisions that are most critical to a successful lease. We believe in sharing potential problems and concerns with our clients and working together with our clients to address those concerns. We are experienced and adept at representing multiple location clients in a manner that facilitates our clients’ effective management of their real estate portfolios.

Our attorneys go beyond basic drafting to analyze all the material issues raised by each lease and discuss with our clients the best approach to challenging leasing issues.

• For example, in order to avoid a major sublease default, we negotiated and closed a large complex sublease which involved splitting off a sublease into two subleases and negotiating with two separate subtenants and a landlord, all within a demanding time frame.
• For another client, we negotiate major office leases across the United States as well as efficiently negotiating office leases for their multitude of small offices nationwide.

Purchase & Sale of Real Property
We regularly represent domestic and international corporations, investors and high net worth individuals in the purchase and sale of office buildings, apartment and loft buildings and shopping centers. We guide the client to maximize its return, using §1031 “like-kind” exchanges and alternative financing and acquisition alternatives. We also represent individuals in the purchase and sale of homes, condominiums and cooperative apartments. We are able to provide continuous representation through the life of a project, to ensure that the matter closes in accordance with the time table set by the client.

Financing
We represent both borrowers and lenders in commercial real estate transactions. We have closed loans from as little as $1,000,000 to loans in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

• For example, we represented a union trust in the closing of a $165,000,000 mortgage under a demanding time frame and with competing pressures on the project.

Cooperative Apartment & Condominium Conversions
Our practice includes representation of individual and institutional sponsors interested in conversion of their apartment buildings to condominium or cooperative ownership. Our work in that area often begins with representation of the sponsor in the acquisition of the property, and ends with representation of the sponsor in the sale of the individual units, after the conversion plans have been approved.