Real Estate

Private equity firm—Industrial property sale

Represented a private equity firm in negotiating and selling an industrial facility in Texas to a subsidiary of a real estate company. The transaction included negotiating the termination of a Tax Abatement Agreement with the local county and the post-closing occupancy.

SJP Properties—Hain Celestial headquarters lease

Represented developer landlord SJP Properties in negotiating with food manufacturer Hain Celestial Group a lease of 40,000 square feet of space in Hoboken, New Jersey to serve as Hain Celestial’s global headquarters. The transaction included negotiating within a compressed timeframe terms for a complex early termination of a prior tenant’s lease, including restructuring that tenant’s sublease with another party. 

SJP Properties—Nokia Bell Labs lease

Represented developer/landlord SJP Properties in negotiating a long-term lease and development agreement with Nokia Bell Labs for its new 360,000-square-foot state-of-the-art research and development facility and office tower in the HELIX (Health + Life Science Exchange) innovation and technology hub being developed in downtown New Brunswick, NJ. This project represents the second building to be developed within the HELIX campus and is scheduled to break ground in 2025. 

The Birch Group—Acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in acquiring an 80-unit apartment complex for $42.85 million. 

The Birch Group—Acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in the acquisition of the 42 story, 1.4 million-square-foot office building known as the Merrill Lynch Building, located at 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey, for $346 million. To finance the acquisition, we negotiated the assumption of a $250 million commercial mortgage-backed security loan and the structuring of both a preferred equity investment and common equity in excess of $120 million.

National bank—Multifamily project loans

Represented a national bank in negotiating financing for multifamily housing projects, including (1) a $30 million construction and term loan for a project in Connecticut, (2) a $75 million syndicated loan for a multifamily and retail property in Massachusetts, and (3) a $120 million combined loan increase and conversion of a construction loan to a term loan for a project in New Jersey.

National bank—Line of credit for transit center

Represented a national bank in negotiating a $25 million line of credit to construction the first phase of a transit center development in New Jersey.

REACH Riverside—Redevelopment financing

Represented REACH Riverside Development Corporation in connection with the multifaceted redevelopment—modeled on the holistic community redevelopment principles of the nationally renowned Purpose Built Communities network—of Northeast Wilmington, Delaware’s Riverside neighborhood.

UBS AG—Campus sale

Handled the sale of UBS AG’s more than 765,000-square-foot office complex in Stamford, Connecticut.

National financial services company—Building transfer

Represented a national financial services company in handling an intra-company transfer of a 458,000-square-foot building as part of a corporate spin-off. We advised the company on title issues and tax matters associated with the transfer.

Major state public authority—Air rights lease

Represented a major state public authority in negotiating a long-term air rights lease governing the development of Phase II of Fenway Center, an estimated $1 billion mixed-use development over the Massachusetts Turnpike in the Fenway section of Boston that has been in the works for more than 10 years. The transformative air rights project required negotiations of highly complex arrangements and is one of the largest air rights project since Copley Place was built in the 1980s. Phase II includes a 90,000-square-foot air-rights deck to be built over the Turnpike and a nearly one million-square-foot tower that will house life-science tenants built atop the deck. We also handled negotiations related to Fenway Center’s Phase I, which includes a 312-unit apartment building built adjacent to a commuter rail station.

Massachusetts public agency—Residential development project

Represented a Massachusetts public agency in a public/private partnership, specifically involving the disposition by ground lease of several terra firma parcels in the Fenway area of Boston for two residential developments, including 312 apartment units, approximately 37,000 square feet of retail space, and 200 parking spaces connected to a major transit station. Acted as primary outside counsel on all the real estate and environmental aspects of the project and negotiated the ground lease that will govern the real estate development and transaction for the next 99 years.

Developer landlord—Lease

Negotiated for a developer landlord a lease with a multinational professional services company of 110,000 square feet of space at the developer’s planned mixed-use redevelopment project in Morristown, New Jersey.

The Birch Group—Office buildings acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in acquiring four Class A office buildings totaling more than 840,000-square-feet of space in Short Hills, New Jersey for $255 million. Our work included negotiating three ground leases with an investor as ground lessor to provide a portion of the capital for the acquisition.

Property management company—Sales, Acquisitions

Represented a property management company in the sale of three apartment complexes in New Jersey and subsequent like-kind exchange acquisitions of 10 restaurants and retail stores in California, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Texas using proceeds from the sales of the apartment complexes.

Major national real estate developer—Industrial building leases, sales, financing

Represented a major national real estate developer in negotiating leases of two built-to-suit industrial buildings within a planned 2.1 million-square-foot industrial park in New Jersey, which included a 725,000-square-foot distribution center leased to a major national electronics retailer, and in handling the later sales of the buildings. Secured a construction loan for the construction of the distribution center.

Electronics Manufacturer—Sale and Lease-Back

Handled the sale and lease-back of a 550,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in New Jersey.

Major insurer—Large office complex

Negotiated a joint venture agreement for the development of an 800,000-square-foot office complex. Prepared all construction and loan documents for the development.

UBS AG—Development plan

Advised UBS AG on the creation of a development plan for the world's largest trading floor. Created a common interest community to allow for the sale-leaseback of the facility without the loss of development capacity.

Multinational financial services company—Construction loan

Represented a multinational financial services company in financing a $30 million construction loan for the development of One Theater Square, a 22-story, 245-unit multi-family, mixed use apartment complex in downtown Newark, New Jersey, the first new ground-up upscale residential high rise in the city since 1960. We represented the client in related tax credit and bond financings.

Multinational financial services company—Construction loan

Represented a multinational financial services company in a joint venture with a developer involving the multi-use redevelopment of a 400,000-square-foot former department store in Newark, New Jersey, which includes a 30,000-square-foot supermarket on its first floor. We helped the client secure financing through a partnership between public, non-profit, and private groups.

Major financial services company—Loan syndication

Represented a major financial services company in financing a $117 million syndicated loan for a university housing project in Philadelphia and in the post-closing syndication of the loan.

Major financial services company—Loan syndication

Represented a major financial services company in financing a $200 million syndicated permanent term and construction loan secured by a portfolio of more than 50 industrial buildings.

Large technology company—Headquarters lease, global leasing

Negotiated two leases for a large technology company’s 600,000-square-foot, two-building headquarters in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts and advise on the company’s global leasing portfolio.