Real Estate

Acquisitions and Dispositions

We serve clients globally in the acquisition and disposition of real estate assets and instruments. We represent purchasers and sellers of a variety of all real property asset types, classes, and indirect interests in those assets – office, R&D, residential buildings and complexes, shopping centers, hotels and golf courses, industrial properties and parks, undeveloped land parcels and master-planned communities. We also represent clients in the purchase, sale, and financing of commercial real estate debt – performing and distressed – CMBS and balance sheet mortgage and mezzanine loans, loan participations, B notes, and preferred equity interests. Recent experience includes:

• Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Fairfax Financial Holdings, and other purchasers: Advised Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Fairfax Financial Holdings, and other purchasers on the acquisition of a $5.4 billion real estate construction loan portfolio from Pacific Western Bank (PacWest).
• Tenet Healthcare: Advised Tenet Healthcare, a healthcare services company, as special real estate counsel on the $2.4 billion sale of three South Carolina hospitals and associated assets to Novant Health, a network of hospitals, clinics and outpatient facilities.
• Jamestown Properties: Advised Jamestown on the $2.4 billion sale of Chelsea Market to Google, the second largest full single-asset sale ever in New York City.
• KKR: Advised KKR in the approximately $2.1 billion acquisition of a portfolio of 18 multifamily assets from Quarterra Multifamily and its approximately $1.64 billion acquisition of a 19-property student housing portfolio from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), a real estate investment platform.
• Welltower Inc.: Advised Welltower in the $1.58 billion acquisition of Holiday Retirement’s 86-Property Seniors Housing Portfolio and in the $1 billion sale and transition of 147 skilled nursing facilities into a new joint venture between Welltower and Integra Health.
• Hackman Capital Partners, LLC: Advised Hackman Capital Partners in its partnership with Square Mile Capital Management for the $1.85 billion acquisition and financing of CBS Studio Center and its associated operating business from ViacomCBS and in the acquisition and financing of Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York, working with various stakeholders to obtain consents from government entities such as the NYC Economic Development Corporation and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Real Estate Finance

Our highly regarded real estate finance team provides our clients – institutional and non-institutional lenders, private investors, REITs, funds, and other borrowers and operators – with substantial expertise in debt and equity real estate financing transactions of all types in a multitude of global jurisdictions. Recent borrower representations include:

• Fontainebleau Development and Koch Real Estate Investments: Advised a joint venture between Fontainebleau Development and Koch Real Estate Investments, as borrower on its $2.2 billion construction loan to complete Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a 67-story hotel, gaming, meeting, and entertainment destination coming to the north end of the Las Vegas Strip.
• Strategic Hotels & Resorts: Advised Strategic Hotels & Resorts as borrower on a $1.8 billion mortgage financing of a portfolio of hotels.
• RXR Realty: Advised RXR on the modification and restructuring of its mortgage and mezzanine loans totaling $1.2 billion on 1285 Avenue of the Americas in New York, NY.
• WPG: Advised WPG (formerly Washington Prime Group), a privately owned REIT and developer of retail properties, and Strategic Value Partners, on WPG’s $1.005 billion securitized mortgage financing of a portfolio of 38 open-air shopping centers located in multiple states.
• IQHQ: Advised IQHQ, a life sciences real estate developer, as borrower, on its $355 million construction mortgage and mezzanine financing for a $576 million life sciences campus in South San Francisco, California.
• Brookfield Office Properties: Advised Brookfield Office Properties on the £885 million financing of the office tower at 100 Bishopsgate in London.
• Canary Wharf Group: Advised Canary Wharf Group on a $539 million loan from investment firms Cain International and Starwood Capital Group to fund its Wood Wharf Phase 3 residential development in east London.
• Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Trinity Investments: Advised Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Trinity Investments, as borrower, in a $515 million refinancing secured by the Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Ka’anapali, Maui, Hawaii.
• Edged Energy: Advised the Edged Energy data center platform, as borrower, on a $942.11 million credit facility for development of a 100 MW single-tenant data center in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Hackman Capital Partners: Advised Hackman Capital Partners in its $750 million refinance of Culver Studios, a fully operational multimedia production studio with supporting office and other ancillary space.

We are also the “first call” for premier lending platforms due to our outstanding track record with countless multimillion-dollar loan transactions to accomplish market-leading projects covering all asset classes. We represented several major industry players for their proprietary real estate lending transactions including Apollo, Blackstone, CIM, Deutsche Bank, KKR, Mesa West Capital, MSD, and Related.

Joint Ventures

Our real estate lawyers advise on complex real estate joint venture and strategic alliance transactions delivering sophisticated judgment, technical excellence, and creative solutions to each transaction entrusted to us. We represent some of the world’s preeminent corporations, financial sponsors, and investment banks in complex, high value joint venture transactions. These range from contractual collaborations and strategic alliances to formal joint ventures. The team has also helped clients exit and terminate their joint venture arrangements on the most favorable terms. Recent representations include:

• Related Argent: Advised Related Argent in a joint venture with Invesco Real Estate in relation to the first major phase of an £8 billion development at Brent Cross Town.
• Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc.: Advised Hudson Pacific, a publicly traded REIT, in the $1.65 billion recapitalization of its Hollywood Media Portfolio, pursuant to which Blackstone was brought in as a 49% partner. The portfolio comprises three Hollywood studios and five on-lot or adjacent Class A office properties, totaling 2.2 million square feet and in its entry into Manhattan’s first public-private partnership venture to build a purpose-built studio campus at Pier 94.
• Stockbridge Real Estate Funds: Advised Stockbridge Real Estate Funds on its joint venture with Worthe Real Estate Group for the acquisition and development including the leases and original construction financing of the build to suit 800,000 square foot office campus for Warner Brothers in Burbank California.
• Welltower: Advised Welltower, a health care infrastructure REIT, on the sale of its existing partner’s joint venture interests in 147 skilled nursing facilities to a new partner, with a new joint venture agreement, master lease, and restructuring of existing partner’s joint venture and master lease for 58 assisted living facilities.
• Divco West Properties: Advised Divco West Properties on the $678.4 million joint venture for the acquisition and development of life science buildings in Somerville, Massachusetts.
• Hackman Capital Partners, LLC: Advised Hackman Capital Partners in its partnership with Square Mile Capital Management for the $1.85 billion acquisition and financing of CBS Studio Center and its associated operating business from ViacomCBS.

Construction and Development

Our team has deep experience with construction projects of all sizes and types for projects including high-profile retail, industrial, storage, and similar facilities, as well as hotel, gaming, and resort properties. We help clients navigate the industrial, commercial, financial, and political issues that are inherent in the development, financing, construction, and operation of major facilities around the world.

In addition, our lawyers are involved in all aspects of real estate asset ownership and management, including property management contracts and related matters, insurance and insurance coverage matters, contracts for architects and other design professionals, general contractor and construction management agreements. Recent representations include:

• New York Belmont Retail Partners: Advised New York Belmont Retail Partners in a master ground lease and three sub-ground leases for land owned by Empire State Development as part of the Belmont Park Redevelopment Project, which includes the development of UBS Arena, home of the NHL’s New York Islanders, and ongoing development of a retail center and garage located in Elmont, New York as the first Bicester Village destination retail center in the United States of Value Retail.
• Oakland A’s: Advising Oakland A’s Major League Baseball team in its efforts to develop a new stadium and ancillary development, first in Oakland and now, with the team’s announced relocation plans, in Las Vegas.
• The Kroenke Group: Advising the Kroenke Group, owner of the former St. Louis Rams football franchise, in leading the development team implementing the multi-billion dollar sports and entertainment complex on 298 acres in Inglewood, including SoFi Stadium and the YouTube Theatre.
• Related Santa Clara: Advising Related Santa Clara, a Related Companies venture, in successfully obtained entitlements for a 9 million square feet mixed-use development on over 200 acres in Santa Clara, including development of a significant portion of the property under a ground lease with the City of Santa Clara.
• Murphy’s Bowl LLC: Advising Murphy’s Bowl in the land acquisition and pre-development strategy for the $1.2 billion Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center (IBEC), also known as the Intuit Dome, as the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team as well as a fourth major concert venue in the City of Inglewood.
• Brookfield Properties: Advising Brookfield Properties in its redevelopment of the Stonestown Galleria shopping center in San Francisco into a new mixed-use development with over 3,000 new housing units.
• Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc.: Advising Hudson Pacific in their historic revitalization of the San Francisco Ferry Building, built in 1898, that included negotiating the ground lease and development agreement with the Port of San Francisco and on the lease of Pier 94 on the Hudson River from the New York City Economic Development Corporation for redevelopment and lease as new studio space.
• Lendlease Development: Advising Lendlease Development, an Australian real estate investor, in its joint venture agreement with Google for the master planning, entitlement and development of three mixed-use communities in the San Francisco Bay area, including Google’s office space and up to 15 million square feet of residential, retail, hospitality and other civic uses.

Leasing

Our lawyers have experience with all types of real estate leases, including sophisticated high-rise office leases, “big box” and other “mega” leases covering hundreds of thousands of square feet, retail leases, and major industrial and warehouse leases, including multiple leases for individual clients in many locations globally. We are well versed in negotiating and drafting ground leases, sale-leasebacks, and credit-lease financings.

As we have represented both sides of the table, we serve as a resource for both tenants and landlords. We have considerable expertise in leasing of facilities for use for trade shows and exhibitions, restaurants, performing arts venues, and general retail uses. Recent representations include:

• Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc.: Advising Hudson Pacific in their historic revitalization of the San Francisco Ferry Building, built in 1898, that included negotiating the ground lease and development agreement with the Port of San Francisco and on the lease of Pier 94 on the Hudson River from the New York City Economic Development Corporation for redevelopment and lease as new studio space.
• Jamestown: Advised Jamestown in all leasing at Chelsea Market during it’s 10-year period of ownership, including the anchor lease to Google, to Oxygen Media and Food Network (studio space), Anthropologie (retail) creation of food court and retail shopping center on the ground floor, and subsequent sale to Google.
• Sherwood Equities, Inc.: Advised Sherwood Equities’ Universal Branding Group on a multi-decade lease for nine marquee billboards at Two Times Square and 1600 Broadway to Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm.
• New York Belmont Retail Partners: Advised New York Belmont Retail Partners in a master ground lease and three sub-ground leases for land owned by Empire State Development as part of the Belmont Park Redevelopment Project, which includes the development of UBS Arena, home of the NHL’s New York Islanders, and ongoing development of a retail center and garage located in Elmont, New York as the first Bicester Village destination retail center in the United States of Value Retail.
• KKR: Advised KKR in a lease of appx 230,000 RSF with Related at 30 Hudson Yards, in a complicated sublease structure for space ultimately owned by two different condominium unit owners.