Real Estate Finance

Overview

"They are very knowledgeable and proactive. The work is thorough and well explained, and they are always available and can carry out assignments at short notice,' says a client."

– Chambers USA 2021

Our team is deeply experienced in representing lenders and borrowers in all types of commercial real estate transactions, including complex, high-stakes projects around the country. We are creative in our approach and meticulous in addressing the details that can make or break a deal. We take a multidisciplinary approach that promotes efficiency and problem-solving to guide clients regarding a wide range of real estate projects, including condominium developments, office buildings, hotels, shopping centers, assisted living/senior care facilities, apartment complexes, industrial and commercial sites, energy sector projects, sports complexes, and medical office plazas.

With offices across the nation, our attorneys have intimate knowledge of the industry, and we provide focused, responsive service that keeps projects moving forward.

In addition to providing the transactional expertise needed to close these complex transactions, our team actively helps clients obtain funding for real estate projects from a wide variety of finance sources, including:

  • Banks and thrifts
  • Government sources
  • Life insurance funds
  • Mezzanine lenders
  • Nonprofit entities
  • Pension funds
  • Private equity funds
  • Specialty lenders

We have successfully deployed a wide range of financing options, including:

  • Bond financings
  • Credit-enhanced financings
  • Equity syndications
  • Government-insured mortgages
  • Mezzanine loans
  • Mortgage-backed securities
  • Private equity loans
  • Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
  • Real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs)
  • Repurchase agreements (REPOs)
  • Tax increment financings (TIFs)
  • Traditional bank loans
  • Warehouse lines of credit

We also represent lenders, investors, creditors, borrowers and debtors in multidisciplinary workouts and bankruptcies involving real estate and other assets.

We counsel owners, developers and sponsors of landmark projects in planning, financing and structuring their tax credit transactions (new markets tax credits, historic tax credits and low-income tax credits), helping to ensure that significant rehabilitation, redevelopment and development projects can obtain and efficiently utilize the financing needed to enable them to succeed. Along with attorneys in our new markets tax credit practice, we regularly advise on real estate transactions that qualify for the new markets tax credit program.

Select Experience

  • 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).
  • Representing a large regional hospital system in innovative development and financing transactions in the healthcare arena, including sale-leaseback transactions involving the renovation of defunct retail centers into medical office building complexes in fast-growing, suburban markets.
  • 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.
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Professionals

Name Title Office Email
Associate Columbus
Partner Houston
Associate Orlando
Counsel Orlando
Partner Philadelphia
Partner Orlando
Partner New York
Partner New York
Partner San Francisco
Counsel Columbus
Partner Orlando
Partner New York
Partner Los Angeles
Partner Cleveland
Partner New York
Associate Atlanta
Partner Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner New York
Partner Orlando
Partner New York
Partner Houston
Associate Orlando
Associate Atlanta
Associate Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner Orlando
Partner Washington, D.C.

Experience

  • 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).
  • Representing a large regional hospital system in innovative development and financing transactions in the healthcare arena, including sale-leaseback transactions involving the renovation of defunct retail centers into medical office building complexes in fast-growing, suburban markets.
  • 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.
  • 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 included both federal and state historic tax credits, state incentives and a number of lenders and equity investors.
  • Represented a developer in connection with a $30 million acquisition, construction and development of a 153-room Marriott Hotel located in the University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio. The project was financed with federal and state new markets tax credits and required leveraging of multiple layers of conventional debt, HUD 108 financing and tax increment financing.
  • Represented Trammell Crow Company in its acquisition of an office tower in Anaheim, Calif., that included complicated modification of a securities loan; negotiations with seller, lender and receiver; tax structuring; and concurrently negotiating a lease for a 134,000-square-foot lessor.
  • 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. We are assisting with the financing, including federal and state historic tax credits and low-income housing tax credits.
  • Represented Centennial Bank in connection with a $50 million revolving credit facility for an approximately 2,000-acre master planned community development in Virginia that will include nearly 4,000 homes, a town center, two schools, a golf course, a marina, a resort hotel, a corporate campus, sports fields, a train station and nearly two miles of shoreline.
  • Represented a private university and its affiliates with respect to the rehabilitation of a facility listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project cost was approximately $42 million, with significant financing through federal historic tax credits.
  • Represented a liberal arts college and its affiliates with respect to the historic rehabilitation, renovation and expansion of three residence halls. The project involved both federal and state of Ohio historic preservation tax credits.
  • Serving as sole outside counsel to a large private company that owns and operates commercial and multifamily residential properties in the Midwest for all real estate matters, including acquisitions, divestitures, refinancing and leasing of its shopping centers, residential multifamily apartment complexes and commercial property.
  • Represented a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management as lender’s counsel with regard to numerous multimillion-dollar mortgage-backed loans. We drafted and negotiated loan documents, addressed title and survey issues, assisted the client in its due diligence review of the collateral and handled all closing matters.
  • Representing Accesso Partners LLC for the past 10 years as its primary real estate counsel. We handle all aspects of its acquisitions and financing, including commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) for Class A office buildings throughout the United States.
  • Representing longtime client The Milestone Companies, a developer of commercial and residential projects, as its primary outside counsel. We handle all aspects of its real estate needs, including identifying sites, due diligence, acquisition, financing, corporate structure, leasing, operations and management ownership.

Recognition

  • Chambers USA
    • Real Estate – Georgia (2019-2021)
    • Real Estate – North & Central Florida/Florida (2014 to 2021)
    • Real Estate – Ohio (2007 to 2021)
  • The Legal 500 United States: Real Estate (2018 to 2020)
  • U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”
    • Litigation – Real Estate: National (2012 to 2020); Cincinnati (2019, 2020)
    • Real Estate Law: National (2012 to 2020); Atlanta (2018 to 2020); Cleveland (2011 to 2020); Denver (2018 to 2020); Columbus (2011 to 2020); Houston (2019, 2020); Los Angeles (2019, 2020); Orlando (2011 to 2020)
  • Recognized as one of the top law firms for client service, BakerHostetler was named to the 2020 BTI Client Service 30 for the sixth consecutive year.

Publications

Key Contacts