Acquisitions and Dispositions
We advise clients across the real estate industry on all facets of acquiring real estate, as well as on selling property and other means of divesting and disposing of real estate assets. We regularly address the complex issues involved in undertaking successful real estate acquisitions and dispositions, including leveraged or management-led buyouts, stock and asset-based transactions, and recapitalizations.
We have earned our reputation for exceptional skill in analyzing site characteristics and documentation—surveys, plats and plans, titles, environmental reports, zoning reports, leases, and management- and other property-level agreements—to identify issues and address them with innovative solutions that protect and benefit our clients.
Backed by Ballard Spahr’s national platform and outstanding attorneys across more than 50 practice areas, we can address practically any issue that arises in a real estate transaction or investment—from environmental permitting, zoning approvals, and other regulatory matters to third-party contracting and litigation when unavoidable, including eminent domain proceedings.
We advise owners, private equity companies, REITs, lenders, and other investors on rollups and consolidations involving multifamily properties, hotels and resorts, storage centers, retirement communities, affordable housing developments, and retail or mixed-use developments. Tax lawyers in our Real Estate Transactions and Investments Group are highly experienced in ad valorem valuation and provide strategic guidance on the full range of local, state, and federal tax issues implicated in transactions involving real estate.
Leasing
We are national leaders in leasing matters, with decades of experience representing landlords, tenants, lenders, and investors in hundreds of leasing transactions. Attorneys on our Corporate Real Estate Team who focus specifically on leasing law represent some of the largest U.S. corporations in leasing space for headquarters, research centers, and other major facilities. Our Leasing Team is active in a wide variety of transactions—including build-to-suit leases, sale-leasebacks, ground leases, financing leases, and green leases. We have handled leases for virtually every type of property, from office buildings, warehouses, and industrial sites to technology centers, research labs, shopping malls, hotels and resorts, and special-use leasing matters. We also negotiate lease workouts and protect the interests of landlords and tenants in bankruptcy matters.
Joint Ventures
We structure and negotiate joint ventures, partnerships, and joint-ownership projects that combine development, investment, and operating roles across market sectors and project types. We have represented leading developers, investors, universities, insurance companies, REITs, and other market participants in forming joint ventures to acquire, develop, lease, or expand commercial, residential, industrial, or mixed-use projects.
We successfully navigate the many phases of a real estate joint venture project—from determining the proper structure and confirming key terms in the letter of intent to negotiating key documents, including the venture’s operating agreement, as well as contribution, development, and management agreements. We understand and guide our clients through issues that arise concerning the key elements of the operating agreement, including the capital structure and capital contributions, the waterfall of cash distributions, management and other fees, tax protections and planning, entity management and major decisions, dispute resolution, and transferability and exit strategies.
REITs
Our attorneys advise real estate investment trusts (REITs) on formation and compliance issues, as well as on acquisitions, dispositions, and financings. Our multidisciplinary practice combines broad technical knowledge with in-depth practical experience, and includes real estate, business and finance, and tax attorneys.
Our capabilities include REIT formation, UPREIT and DownREIT transactions, financings, SEC compliance, acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, federal, state, and local tax issues and appeals, like-kind exchanges, bankruptcies, and workouts. We have been recognized by Chambers USA since 2010 as a leading national practice for REITs.
