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Practice/Industry Group Overview
Our team of real estate lawyers has extensive experience in virtually all aspects of the real estate transactional practice, including extensive leasing work for landlords and tenants on both a local and a nationwide basis; sale/leaseback transactions; and acquisition, financing and disposition of all forms of improved and unimproved real property, including shopping centers, industrial parks and office complexes, hospitals, hotels, manufacturing facilities, apartment complexes, public use properties (including government facilities and sports venues) and private/public partnerships. We handle all aspects of transactions, including assembly, combination and acquisition of multiple parcels of land for development; title and survey due diligence; consulting with environmental professionals; financing; permitting and zoning matters; development and management agreements; and leasing. Additionally, as part of our unified and comprehensive approach to client service, our real estate lawyers work closely with members of the other transactional lawyers firm-wide to provide real estate assistance in connection with acquisitions and dispositions of corporate assets involving real estate.
Our clients include large institutional real estate holding companies, nationally known developers, manufacturers, lending institutions, retailers and consolidators, as well as emerging local developers and entrepreneurs, and our mix of seasoned partners and experienced associates makes it possible to service both the national and local real estate client with cost effective, experienced attention and service.
Leadership in Action
Real Estate Transactions: Developing a new city
Client: A large national commercial and residential developer
Type of Matter: Mixed-use development
Our Client's Challenge: To develop 400 acres of land in a largely undeveloped city south of Houston, Texas.
The Goal: Bring all of the necessary facilities and infrastructure to the property in order to make the proposed development feasible and attractive to developers and end-users.
Our Strategy: To work with the city leaders and other landowners to provide the agreements and incentives for development.
Results: A portion of the property is under contract to a national homebuilder for the development of a master planned residential community; a portion of the property is under contract to a national commercial/retail shopping center developer for the construction of a regional mixed-use commercial/retail shopping center; and, the remainder of the property will be developed by the client with mixed-use commercial projects. A municipal utility has been formed to provide utilities to the development and the city has agreed to certain tax incentives.
Representative Experience:
- Negotiated the $51 million land purchase, created the necessary public and private entities, and crafted permitting and joint operating agreements for a 2,500-room hotel linked to the $400 million Orlando Convention Center Expansion which is the largest in the United States.
- Represented the owners of 85 acres of land east of Ovideo, Florida to be developed as the center of a new community that will be the second largest in the area, divided equally between residential and retail/commercial applications.
- Represented New York television production facilities in connection with the construction and equipping of related studios.
- Represented a major life insurance company in connection with the $145 million financing of Riverside Plaza in Chicago, Illinois. This office and retail complex is located largely within an air rights parcel, beneath which is a major railway station for Amtrak and commuter trains. Complex easement and operating agreements were reviewed and analyzed, and unique estoppel certificates and indemnity agreements were obtained. The project also involved extensive review, analysis, and summarization of numerous tenant leases within a short period of time.
- Represented publicly traded real estate entity in the purchase of ten office buildings in the greater Houston, Texas area containing 800,000 square feet of office space.
- Represented fourth generation owners who were selling their land near the Orlando Florida airport, handling the transaction as a tax-deferred exchange and increasing the land value by, among other things, clearing zoning and title matters. The land that would have sold for $17 million will now bring the owners $100 million.
- Represented The E.W. Scripps Company in connection with its construction and relocation of printing plants in Florida and Tennessee.
- Represented the Nature Conservancy and several state and federal agencies in the $81 million acquisition of 90,000 environmentally sensitive acres for the Everglades Reclamation Project.
- Represented numerous landlords and tenants in negotiating office leases throughout the country, including representing landlords in the leasing, operation and management of various so-called "trophy buildings."
- Represented a public company in the $25 million purchase of mineral property royalty interests in operating gold/copper mines in Mexico and Nevada.
- Represented a large national freight forwarding company in connection with its acquisition of six office warehouse facilities located in Texas, California, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oregon and the contemporaneous assignment of the Purchase Agreement to an investment group, subject to the existing leases in favor of our client.
About Our Real Estate Team
Baker Hostetler's real estate team has a history of getting projects developed and deals done. Our firm has the multidisciplinary strengths to solve all the complex contractual, environmental and tax problems that can arise in single-use or multi-use developments. We regularly work on multimillion dollar projects, and our team includes lawyers recognized by their peers as being at the top of their game.
About Baker Hostetler
Baker Hostetler lawyers help clients establish, maintain and protect market-leading positions across the United States and around the world. We offer clients the strength of 600+ lawyers in a full range of practices, a unique geographic platform including both the coasts and the center of the country, a deep knowledge of industry issues and a 90-year track record of excellence and achievement.
For more information about our Real Estate practice, contact:
National Contact
Harlan W. Robins
614.462.2665
hrobins@bakerlaw.com
Cincinnati
Marty R. Dunn
513.459.3098
mdunn@bakerlaw.com
Cleveland
Elaine A. Chotlos
216.861.7937
echotlos@bakerlaw.com
Columbus
Harlan W. Robins
614.462.2665
hrobins@bakerlaw.com
Denver
John L. Palmquist
303.764.4095
jpalmquist@bakerlaw.com
Houston
Michael Pappert
713.646.1371
mpappert@bakerlaw.com
Los Angeles
Gary York
213.975.1622
gyork@bakerlaw.com
New York
Jacqueline Weiss
212.589.4230
jweiss@bakerlaw.com
Orlando
Jeffrey E. Decker
407.649.4017
jdecker@bakerlaw.com
Washington, DC
William J. Conti
202.861.1726
wconti@bakerlaw.com
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