John Engel represents lenders, servicers, developers, landlords, and tenants in a wide variety of commercial real estate financing, acquisition, and development transactions.
John's experience includes representing lenders in structuring, negotiating, and documenting commercial real estate financings, including permanent and construction loans, bridge loans, and mezzanine loans. John has significant experience in handling complex structured lease-backed financings as both lender’s and borrower’s counsel, with a particular focus on credit tenant lease (CTL) financings for large single-tenant assets. John also counsels lenders, servicers and borrowers in servicing and post-closing matters, including loan assumptions, loan modifications, defeasances, workouts, and foreclosures.
Representative Experience
Representative Matters
- Served as borrower/developer/landlord counsel in over $1 billion of credit tenant lease financings from 2022-2026 for asset classes that included corporate headquarters, university laboratory, office and residential buildings, and municipal and governmental offices
- Represented a series of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as borrower’s counsel in Freddie Mac conventional financing transactions totaling over $1 billion
- Represented a lender in providing construction and permanent financing for the sale and leaseback of a to-be-constructed corporate headquarters
Professional Highlights
Professional Activities
Delaware State Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar
Speaking Engagements
Panelist, "CRE Loan Defeasance – The Process Behind the Curtain," Maryland State Bar Association 2016 Advanced Real Property Institute, September 27, 2016
"Structuring Credit Tenant Lease Financing: Alternatives to Traditional Real Estate Debt Financing," Maryland State Bar Association 2015 Advanced Real Property Institute, October 13, 2015
Credentials
Education
University of Virginia School of Law (J.D. 2008)
Executive Editor, Virginia Environmental Law Journal
Wake Forest University (B.A. 2005, summa cum laude)
Member, Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
Delaware
District of Columbia
Maryland