Mark S. DePillis

Mark S. DePillis is Team Leader of Ballard Spahr's Construction Team. He focuses on real estate development, secured lending, design and construction contracting, and retail and office leasing.

Mark advises developers of condominium and mixed-use projects through all phases of project development, including acquisitions, partnership agreements, financing, negotiation of design and construction contracts, and condominium formation and documentation. Mark represents banks, investment funds, and other commercial lenders in acquisition, construction, and mezzanine lending and New Markets Tax Credit transactions. He also represents national retailers and developers in retail development and leasing transactions. Mark negotiates design, construction, and design-build agreements on behalf of owners and developers of office, laboratory, industrial, and institutional projects.  

Mark is a LEED Accredited Professional as certified by the United States Green Building Council.

Representative Matters

• Serves as outside counsel to the Independence Visitor Center Corporation, a nonprofit corporation created to redevelop Independence Mall in Philadelphia; recent projects include development of the new Independence Visitor Center and the new Liberty Bell Center and related infrastructure and landscaping improvements on Independence Mall
• Represents Ivy League university in all aspects of design and construction procurement and structuring of insurance programs for massive campus expansion project
• Represents developer of a 280-unit luxury, mixed-use condominium tower in Center City Philadelphia in condominium documentation, HUD registration, construction financing, design and construction contracts, and agreements with a national luxury hotel operator for condo management and hotel-type concierge services
• Represents developer of a 300-unit, mixed-use condominium development in Center City Philadelphia; representation includes modifying existing partnership agreement, construction contracts and agreements, condominium documentation, HUD registration, and construction financing
• Represented developer in the conversion of an industrial building into 85 luxury condominium units; handled all aspects of the development, including acquisition, partnership formation, construction financing, condominium documentation, design and construction contracts, and unit out-sales
• Represented PNC Bank and PNC Community Partners, Inc. in New Markets Tax Credit financing of a new shopping center in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh
• Represented Comcast Corp. in the negotiation of interior design contracts for 800,000-square-foot world headquarters office tower in Philadelphia
• Represented nonprofit developer in redevelopment of Independence Mall in Philadelphia in partnership with the National Park Service, including the design and construction of the Independence Visitor Center, which serves Independence National Historical Park, the City of Philadelphia, and the eight-county Philadelphia region; the new Liberty Bell Center, home to the Liberty Bell and which includes educational and informational exhibits on the history and importance of the Liberty Bell; and a new café and landscaping improvements
• Represented the Philadelphia Orchestra in leasing of the Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
• Represented developer in design-build agreement for medical office tower for Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
• Served as principal member of the legal team that represented Philadelphia Phillies in development of Citizens Bank Park
• Represented mezzanine lender in various financings throughout the United States, including the Marriott Vanderbilt in Nashville, the Radisson Metrodome Hotel in Minneapolis, the Delta Orlando Hotel in Orlando, the Festival Bay Mall in Orlando, and the Gulfside-Dadeland mixed-use project (400 condominium units, 121,000 square feet of retail space, and a 1,000-space parking garage) in South Miami

Professional Activities

American Bar Association, Forum on the Construction Industry

Philadelphia Bar Association, Real Estate Section, Executive Committee

International Council of Shopping Centers

General Building Contractors Association (the Philadelphia branch of the Associated General Contractors of America)

Recognition & Accomplishments

Chambers USA, real estate law, 2007-2017

The Best Lawyers in America, real estate law, 2013-2021

The Legal 500 US, real estate and construction – construction (including construction litigation), 2011-2012

Publications

Co-author, Pennsylvania chapter of Lien Law On-Line, an online 50-state survey of mechanics lien law

Speaking Engagements

Mark writes and lectures extensively on construction-related issues. Most recent engagements include:

Speaker, "Leveraging Energy and Infrastructure as a Strategic Asset in Higher Education," Ballard Spahr webinar, September 28, 2017 

"Demolition of Structures in Philadelphia: Recent Regulations and Practice Tips," Ballard Spahr breakfast briefing, Philadelphia, October 30, 2014

Faculty, "Development Agreements and Construction Contracts: The 'Me' in 'Team'," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Solving Legal Issues Across the Life Cycle of the Successful Real Estate Development Project, Philadelphia, April 28, 2014

Community Activities

Upper Merion Township (Montgomery County, Pennsylvania) Zoning Hearing Board, member

Upper Merion Township Economic and Community Development Committee, past member

Radnor Township (Delaware County, Pennsylvania) Planning Commission, past member

Widener Memorial Foundation in Aid of Handicapped Children, Trustee

Participant, "Principal for a Day" program of the Philadelphia School District (served as Principal for a Day at the Widener Memorial School in Philadelphia)

Boston College Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1990)

Tufts University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1987)

Massachusetts

Pennsylvania