Real Estate Development & Finance Law

Real Estate Development Law

Clients with real estate development projects rely on the advice and counsel of our attorneys for good reason. We have many years of experience advising and representing clients on new development and redevelopment projects. This encompasses projects large and small in both urban and suburban areas, including all phases of development, such as land assemblage, construction, and permanent financing. We utilize our network of local land use attorneys where it best fits the needs of our clients.

Real Estate Development Representative Experience:

 

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

Representing a client in a $70 million urban renewal and redevelopment project to construct five privately-owned multi-family housing buildings, together with street level retail and parking garage, to support the growing demand for off-campus housing among graduate students at Philadelphia University

Counseling a developer in matters surrounding the negotiation, purchase, and assemblage of vacant land, easements, and drainage rights, as well as land use approvals in New Jersey

Advising a client on converting a multi-building commercial and industrial property into business park condominiums in lieu of subdivision

Represented a developer in real estate acquisitions that involved identifying and correcting title issues; reviewing environmental assessments; land use, zoning, and site plan permits and approvals; acquiring essential easements; as well as conducting surveys and other due diligence in the development of more than 20 CVS drugstores and Wawa superstores/gas stations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Represented the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) with respect to several matters over a period of years, including land acquisitions in lieu of condemnation, due diligence investigations, site surveys and examinations, negotiations with dredging contractors, and meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers for the potential deepening of the Delaware River shipping channel to enhance the competitive and economic viability of New Jersey and Pennsylvania ports

Real Estate Finance Law

Collectively, our real estate lawyers have decades of experience handling real estate financings and the acquisition and sale of mortgage loan portfolios. During a challenging economy, investors, developers, and lenders look to us as advisors and creative dealmakers more than ever to finance projects and resolve problems in a prudent and cost-effective manner.

 

Our greatest value lies in our ability to provide advice that is not merely proactive, but also responsive to the specific business and legal needs of our clients. We give them guidance as well as practical alternatives to consider.

Real Estate Finance Representative Experience:

Represented a publicly-traded international financial institution in the workout and restructuring of a $75 million portfolio of real estate loans secured by commercial office buildings, multi-family properties, shopping centers, and industrial parks located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.

Represented a commercial finance lender and equity investor in a $60 million loan with an equity cross-collateralized loan of 16 mobile home parks located in 4 states

Represented a borrower in the $22 million acquisition financing of “environmentally challenged” waterfront real estate located in Pennsylvania, including warehouses and an office building. The loan was cross-collateralized and secured by real estate, buildings, and equipment owned by the borrower and its affiliates but located in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The risk of the variable interest rate was limited with an interest rate swap

Represented a commercial bank in the sale of loan portfolios to other financial institutions

Represented a commercial bank in the sale of defaulted loans to private investors

Advising clients on the practical aspects and costs of buying and selling properties requiring defeasance of existing financing

Successfully negotiated and closed on the lease and option to purchase of an environmentally contaminated property, including all financing; counseled the client in connection with exercising the option of declaring a default by the seller as a landlord, and utilized litigation as a tool to force the seller to settle and close on the sale of the property. The property was comprised of several acres of formerly “environmentally challenged” waterfront real estate, a warehouse, and an office building. In connection with the acquisition, our representation included complicated financing involving collateral in several states, multistate title insurance issues, cross-collateralization of assets, and an interest rate swap

Represented an international financial institution in the workout and restructuring of loans in excess of $100 million on shopping centers, office buildings, and condominium/townhouse and single-family residential projects in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Florida