Our Real Estate group is a signature practice at Rubin and Rudman. We excel in providing advice regarding real estate development, financing, leasing, zoning, permitting, environmental and land use, as well as in construction law. Marquee clients – including global financial institutions, pension funds and their advisors, and other investors, educational institutions, developers, owners, managers, brokers, buyers and sellers – seek us out for sound guidance from a team of seasoned real estate law practitioners.
We handle complex real estate development projects in Massachusetts and throughout the northeast. In fact, Rubin and Rudman has been at the helm of many of the most iconic and transformative real estate developments in Boston over the last half century. Those projects have included the Boston Harbor Hotel and Rowes Wharf, Center Plaza, the Langham Hotel, Post Office Square and the renovated South Station, among many others. Today, we are advising clients active in some of the City’s most vibrant districts.
We advise on zoning issues, subdivision, environmental reviews, drafting of legislation and ordinances, and legal opinions. Strategic planning, dispute resolution, sale-leasebacks, ground leases, air rights and parcel assemblage are among the major strengths of our Real Estate practice group.
In each new representation, our lawyers apply their collective knowhow and skills to negotiate and structure a deal that serves our clients’ interests, not the other parties’. In matter from complex to simple, we help our clients by being meticulously prepared for every change at every turn. We anticipate, adapt and address issues, as we focus on serving our clients’ interests. Our real estate lawyers overcome obstacles, and complete deals on terms that meet your objectives.
Areas of Strength
Acquisitions and Dispositions
We represent purchasers and sellers of properties located throughout Massachusetts, the Northeast, and the nation. Our lawyers advise a broad range of real estate investors, including commercial and residential property owners, fund sponsors, and managers of REITs. We are involved at every level, handling purchase and sale agreements, due diligence (including zoning and surveys), entity agreements (LLPs, LLCs, and JVs), lease assessments and summaries, and title reviews and policies.
When it comes time to dispose of a property, we bring to bear our broad knowhow in conveyancing, foreclosures, regulatory compliance, permit and licensing processes, environmental law filings, syndications, easements, land use restrictions and property management advice.
Financings
We have decades of experience representing the specialized interests of real estate clients in all aspects of financing commercial and residential assets. We can handle every type of financing, from senior mortgages, to second-lien financings and sale-leasebacks. Our experience representing both borrowers and lenders allows us to anticipate a counterparty’s needs and to negotiate loan and other documentation effectively.
Permitting
For the past half century, Rubin and Rudman has been in the forefront of representing commercial developers in all aspects of filings and the permitting process. We have experience with the most challenging permitting regimes, including those of the City of Boston. We strategize with our clients to advance their projects through each phase. Evidence of our work for major developers and property owners is visible throughout the city. Our lawyers have been involved in the permitting of many landmark projects for Boston’s most distinguished developers including:
- Boston Harbor Hotel and Rowes Wharf, resting on over five acres on the waterfront and known as the “Gateway to Boston”
- Center Plaza, the 700,000-square foot mixed-use project in the heart of the city, sitting between Beacon Hill and City Hall
- Langham Hotel, the Renaissance Revival style building originally constructed in 1922 to house the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and a national historic landmark
- Post Office Square, a public park in Boston’s Financial District atop an underground garage that replaced a dilapidated above-ground garage
Zoning and Planning
We strive to protect our clients’ business interests and their rights during the process to obtain zoning approvals. Our Real Estate lawyers marshal the experience and contacts to handle large and smaller projects alike, from application to hearings, appeals and, if needed, litigation. We understand that being consistent and firm in approach, yet respectful of the decision-making process, benefits all interested parties and helps to achieve positive outcomes.
Our representations in zoning and planning matters include coordinating with many other parties, such as architects, engineers, land planners, brokers, and financial and other agents, to address the full array of land use, planning and zoning issues. We often take the lead in coordinating the approach and developing strategies to win approvals. Our seasoned partners, some of whom are former federal and state regulators, advise clients at all stages of the process, including guiding them through presentations before government authorities and department staff.
Construction
We are one of the few law firms to maintain a Construction practice. Working with our colleagues in the practice group, we advise contractors, subcontractors, owners, developers, architects and engineers dealing with contract documentation, public and private bidding, multi-contractor and joint venture relationships, and construction dispute resolution.
Leasing
Our Real Estate practice group includes a thriving leasing practice, comprised of lawyers who focus on representing businesses in all of their leasing needs. We represent clients throughout New England, up and down the East Coast as well as across the country. Our leasing attorneys are fully knowledgeable about current deal terms and trends in local and regional commercial and retail markets. We negotiate and bargain hard, as we seek to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients. We draw on the skills of our other partners in the group when their specialized skills can help to obtain desired results.
As leasing counsel, we advise major commercial landlords with substantial holdings in multi-tenant buildings, business parks and complex leasing projects in downtown and suburban areas throughout New England and elsewhere. We provide local and national representation of major institutions in all aspects of office and retail leasing, including multi-site retail operations. We have developed useful and cost-effective lease forms.
Tax Abatement
Members of our Real Estate practice group can assist with the tax abatement application process. Our team has decades of experience reviewing valuations of many types of real estate. We look at appraisal methods, and all other relevant factors, to ensure that real estate valuations are calculated properly. We look for opportunities to pursue exemption applications. We represent property owners before municipal commissions, and administrative and judicial bodies, including the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. We negotiate on behalf of property owners, but, when negotiations fail to resolve differences, Rubin and Rudman has the experience to litigate real estate valuation matters to a successful conclusion.
Environmental
Our Real Estate lawyers frequently work hand in hand with their Environmental, Land Use and Zoning colleagues, including a former Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a former Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection and senior counsel for Boston’s “Big Dig” project, on environmental and land use controls on pending developments, environmental regulations and day-to-day interactions with regulators.
We help our real estate clients address both federal and state environmental regulations. We advise on the full array of environmental issues, including commercial building-related environmental issues, hazardous substance contamination, management of solid and hazardous wastes, federal, state and local wetlands and waterways matters, Clean Water Act requirements pertaining to pre-treatment systems and sewer discharge permitting, Clean Air Act requirements, and both the federal and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Acts.
Our coordinated team approach on environmental matters allows us to achieve our real estate clients’ objectives efficiently and effectively.
