Real Estate

Our nationally recognized real estate team has broad experience in real estate development, financing, leasing and transactions. Our in-depth knowledge of the real estate landscape informs our advice and supports the business goals of our clients, as these recent highlights show:

Industrial

• Represented Big River Steel, LLC, in all real estate matters connected with the development of a $1.5 billion state-of-the-art steel mill constructed on approximately 2,000 acres along the Mississippi River near Osceola, Ark. The representation involved site acquisition from multiple landowners, including all real estate due diligence; establishing access to and from the site for rail and river barge transportation; protecting cultural resources (i.e., Native American historical sites); securing permits for wetland and stream channel impacts; all real estate aspects of project financing and tax incentives; and advice regarding leasing and development of outparcels.
• Represented the sponsor group and an industrial startup company, Mississippi Silicon, LLC, in structuring and securing multiple sources of financing for the development, construction and operation of a $200 million silicon metal production facility. The project involved innovative financing (substantial federal and state new markets tax credits paired with German export credit financing). We also handled all of the real estate aspects of the deal, including negotiation of the project site lease and subleases, acquisition of the site and access road, all due diligence review, negotiation of the mortgages, and satisfying lender requirements.

Healthcare

• Representing Northside Hospital, Inc., in all of its real estate matters, including real property acquisitions, development of medical facilities, physician alignment transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and management of its leasing portfolio.
• Representing a regional hospital system that owns multiple hospital campuses, medical office complexes, surgery centers, imaging facilities and infusion centers in the management, operation and leasing of all facilities and assets, as well as strategic alignment with physician practices and other healthcare providers.
• Advising regional and national owners and operators of long-term-care facilities with respect to the acquisition, development and financing of significant portfolios of skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and providing counsel with respect to financing vehicles for acquisition and development, including tax-exempt bonds, portfolio master leases and sale-leaseback transactions.
• Represented a nonprofit healthcare facility in connection with entity formation, financing and new markets tax credits associated with a rehabilitation project in downtown Lorain, Ohio.

Residential

• Representing PulteGroup’s Georgia Division in all aspects of the acquisition of property and development of residential subdivisions for the Pulte, Centex, Del Webb, Sun City and John Wieland product types. Recent developments include townhomes, condominiums, detached residences and active adult communities such as Parkside at Mason Mill, Sun City Peachtree, Stonehill at Lenox, Terraces at Oakdale, Del Webb at Chateau Elan and Del Webb at Lake Oconee.
• Representing one of the premier developers of student housing in the United States in the construction of its projects and other development issues. Currently assisting with the development of a mixed-use project in Gainesville, Fla., consisting of residential units, retail space and a hotel. We are assisting in all aspects of the transaction, including negotiation of joint venture agreements, construction contracts, financing agreements, and purchase and sale agreements.
• Representing a longtime client, one of the largest owners and managers of affordable housing projects in the Midwest, in an active expansion program. In the past 18 months, we have assisted the client in its acquisition of 13 affordable or market-rate properties in six states, totaling more than $100 million in invested value, and in the restructuring and renovation of 11 affordable housing projects using low-income housing tax credits.
• Represented a developer in connection with the nearly $40 million historic rehabilitation of an approximately 110,000-square-foot building in Pittsburgh, Pa., into a 151-unit residential rental complex. This project includes federal and state historic tax credits, state incentives, and a number of lenders and equity investors.

Hospitality

• Representing a major hospitality brand in connection with acquisition, disposition, leasing, landlord/tenant disputes and other real estate issues for its restaurants, cafes, hotels and retail stores nationally and internationally.
• Advised Hyatt Corporation in its acquisition of the Peabody Orlando, the sale of its Hyatt Residential Group to Interval Leisure Group, and its purchase of the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.
• Represented Spottswood Companies, Inc., in the acquisition, development, financing, construction and management of the Key West Marriott Beachside Hotel in Key West, Fla.; the iconic Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club in Marathon, Fla.; and the Holiday Inn Express® & Suites Marathon in Marathon, Fla.
• Represented Spain’s largest hotel chain in connection with a long-term lease for the construction and operation of its first hotel in New York City.
• Represented a global hospitality company in its sale of all of the subsidiaries constituting its timeshare and fractional ownership resort business.
• Represented a premier timeshare company in the sale of its vacation ownership business to a hospitality and vacation ownership company. We led negotiations, drafted the sale and purchase agreements, and conducted due diligence.

Restaurant

• Represented Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group in leasing several properties throughout California for its Del Frisco’s Grille concept restaurants.
• Representing a quick-service restaurant company and its affiliates in the acquisition, leasing and site development for new restaurants, and assisting in property and lease matters for existing locations throughout the United States.
• Representing a national restaurant chain in real estate matters for their restaurants in the United States and Canada, including new restaurant locations, both purchase and lease, and dealing with property issues for existing locations.

Sports and entertainment

• Represented the United States Tennis Association (USTA) in the development of what will be the national headquarters of USTA Player Development and the largest tennis training facility in the world. The 63-acre, $60 million state-of-the-art facility will serve as the “Home of American Tennis” and will be located in Lake Nona, Fla.
• Serving as lead counsel to the primary development entity and the Orlando Magic involving the redevelopment of an 8-acre site in downtown Orlando. The project is a $250 million mixed-use development involving hotel, office, multifamily and retail components and a parking structure.
• Represented an arts organization and its affiliates in the $40 million acquisition and rehabilitation of an approximately 300,000-square-foot building in downtown Cleveland involving both federal and state historic tax credits and new markets tax credits. The project involved the collaborative utilization of the building by several nonprofit educational and performing arts organizations.
• Assisted The Cleveland Play House in its move to the downtown theater district in Cleveland, Ohio. We assisted The Cleveland Play House with the sale of its existing theater and negotiated the use agreement and signage agreement for the Allen Theater among The Cleveland Play House, Playhouse Square Foundation and Cleveland State University.

Commercial and mixed-use

• Represented the developer of a $70 million, 600-acre suburban mixed-use project that included a boutique hotel, a corporate headquarters office building, a rehabilitation hospital, a memory care facility, an assisted living facility and a restaurant. We negotiated, documented and closed the land acquisition and sale; negotiated and documented infrastructure construction, development agreement and declaration of restrictive covenants; and worked with multiple municipalities to obtain necessary development approvals.
• Represented Highland Fairview Properties in the aggregation and acquisition of more than 2,000 acres in Moreno Valley, Calif., which is being entitled and developed for multifamily residential, industrial, commercial and mixed uses. The project has spanned more than 10 years and has included financing, joint ventures and the leasing of an approximately 1.8 million-square-foot distribution center to Skechers USA, which at the time was reportedly the largest single-tenant lease transaction in the country.
• Representing a developer in its acquisition of two historic buildings in Ohio City, Cleveland. The multiuse development project will include retail, commercial and residential development, as well as space for a charter school. We are assisting with the financing, including federal and state historic tax credits and low-income housing tax credits.