John S. Santa Lucia practices in the areas of real estate law and finance, primarily representing real estate investment trusts (REITs) and privately owned real estate developers in complex real estate and financial transactions, including the structuring, negotiating and documentation of purchase and sale, development, joint venture, building service and loan transactions for multi-family residential properties, office buildings, shopping centers and industrial facilities.
Mr. Santa Lucia also represents private developers on public-private partnership opportunities, with a specialization in military-housing privatization projects involving all three branches of the U.S. armed forces. To date, Mr. Santa Lucia has served as lead developer's counsel on the closing of 7 different privatized military housing projects collectively involving 13 military bases, upwards of $2 billion in financing, and close to 15,000 military housing units.
Mr. Santa Lucia has represented a large publicly traded multifamily residential REIT in numerous transactions throughout the United States, including the purchase and sale more than 120 multifamily residential projects and the formation of joint ventures for the acquisition and mixed-used development of properties.
In addition, Mr. Santa Lucia has represented a large publicly traded office REIT in numerous purchases and sales of office properties throughout the United States. He has also provided assistance to the client in connection with a wide range of investments, joint ventures and unique arrangements for the provision of services to the properties owned and managed by the client, including agreements with alternative-energy providers, elevator screen program and advertising operators, temporary office space providers, parking garage operators, and broadband service providers. These arrangements have resulted in an additional streams of revenue for the client.
Mr. Santa Lucia is admitted to practice law in Illinois and California. He is a 1988 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, where he was on the editorial board of the Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business, and a graduate, with honors, of Northwestern University.
Areas of Practice
ˇ Real Estate Law
ˇ Complex Finance Transactions
ˇ Public Private Partnerships
ˇ Corporate Law
Representative Matters
ˇ Represented an affiliate of a large, publicly traded multifamily-residential REIT in connection with the privatization, financing, demolition, renovation, development, construction and management of a 3,982-unit family-housing project on a U.S. Army base in the Pacific Northwest, including $150 million in initial financing. This was one of the initial "pilot" projects utilized by the Army to structure all subsequent projects.
ˇ Represented affiliates of a privately held real estate company in connection with the privatization, financing, demolition, renovation, development, construction and management of a 3,006-unit family-housing project on three separate U.S. Army bases in California, including a privately placed bond offering of $367 million and a subsequent refinancing of the project raising an additional $50 million.
ˇ Represented affiliates of a private held real estate company in connection with the privatization, financing, demolition, renovation, development, construction and management of a 925-unit family housing project on a U.S. Army base in Texas, including a privately placed bond offering of $85 million.
ˇ Represented affiliates of a privately held real estate company in connection with the privatization, development, construction and management of a 926-unit unaccompanied-military-personnel housing project on a U.S. Navy base in Southern California, including a privately placed bond offering of $307 million. This was the initial "pilot" project utilized by the Navy for the privatization of housing for unaccompanied (i.e., unmarried) personnel, and the first privatized military housing project involving high-rise construction. On December 11, 2007, the editors and bureau chiefs of The Bond Buyer recognized this project financing as the winner of their 2007 award for innovative nontraditional public-finance transactions.
ˇ Represented affiliates of a privately held real estate company in connection with the privatization, development, construction and management of a 1,458-unit family-housing project on two U.S. Air Force bases (one in Virginia and one in Florida), including a privately placed bond offering of $265 million.
ˇ Currently representing affiliates of a privately held real estate development company in connection with the contemplated financing, development, construction and management of a 2,400-unit family housing project to be located on a U.S. Army base in the Republic of Korea. This will be the first privately financed military housing project located outside of the United States.
Experience
ˇ Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 2010-present
ˇ Neal Gerber & Eisenberg, LLP
- Partner, 1999-2010
ˇ Rosenberg & Liebentritt, P.C.
- Vice President, 1997-1999
ˇ Heller Financial
- Senior Counsel, 1995-1997
ˇ Mayer Brown & Platt
- Associate, 1994-1995
ˇ Loeb & Loeb
- Associate, 1988-1994
Honors and Awards
ˇ Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business; "Investment Funds: REITs," 2007-2009
ˇ Listed in Chambers Global, U.S.A. Investment Funds: REITs, 2010
ˇ AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ and BV® Distinguished™ are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.
Selected Speaking Engagements
ˇ Speaker, "Public-Private Partnership," American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law, May 13, 2011