Real Estate

National

Arent Fox handles all types of acquisition, disposition, development, leasing, construction and financing projects for a broad range of national clients, including large institutional investors, investment banks, real estate investment trusts, pension funds, private equity groups, construction companies, asset and property managers, landlords and tenants and developers. We represent clients in one-off transactions and large multi-jurisdictional portfolio financings of multifamily housing, office buildings, hotels, senior-living facilitates and retail and leisure properties.

We have developed a national network of underwriters, investors, lenders, brokers, environmental firms, surveyors, local counsel, architects, construction companies, title insurance companies and other real estate professionals. We are able to coordinate and leverage these relationships to provide clients with efficient, knowledgeable service in a broad range of transactions.

Washington, DC Region

Arent Fox represents a significant segment of the real estate community in the greater Washington metropolitan area, and we serve as lead project counsel for a number of well-known local developers. We represent numerous banks and financial institutions in their lending activities. We also have strong ties to the Washington, DC government, cultural institutions, and businesses. Our diversified real estate practice, which has been a core practice of the firm for more than 60 years, has involved every segment of the real estate industry as well as a diverse group of clients not in the real estate industry but with a particular need relating to the development, use or leasing of real property.

New York City Region

Arent Fox handles a wide variety of real estate transactions in New York City with a special emphasis on large and complex development projects involving developers, government entities and nonprofit organizations. We represent owners and lenders in transactions involving urban renewal plans, land-disposition agreements and long-term net leases of municipally owned development sites. We have extensive experience with the various tax-exemption and tax-abatement programs that are often available for these types of transactions and the local zoning laws and restrictions on use and transferability.

We are also experienced in the structuring of “fee-above-a-plane” transactions, commercial condominiums and other regimes used to establish multiple ownership of mixed-use buildings. The projects we have worked on have included multifamily housing, museums, schools, concert halls and cinemas, sports arenas, transportation facilities, health care facilities and office, retail, industrial and hotel facilities.

International

Arent Fox has special expertise in multinational real estate transactions. We counsel foreign clients who are investing in the United States and advise US clients who are engaging in real estate activities overseas. Arent Fox experts are conversant in a variety of foreign languages and can handle transactions in complex multinational legal environments. We have developed an extensive global network of high-quality law firms with local insight and contacts to assist clients.

Multifamily Housing

Arent Fox represents clients in all phases of the development of multifamily housing projects, including acquisition, finance, development, construction, management, disposition and dispute-resolution issues. We are a lead counsel to Fannie Mae, the largest credit enhancer of tax-exempt multifamily revenue bonds in the country. We also represent many other owners and lenders in the multifamily housing financing arena. Our practice includes transactions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and we have been engaged to represent clients in overseas multifamily housing projects. Our expertise includes construction loans, mezzanine financing, tax-exempt financing, low-income housing tax credits, securitized financings and use of HUD programs.

Hospitality

Arent Fox represents clients in all aspects of the hospitality industry in the United States and worldwide. We counsel developers on hotel and resort acquisition and development, including land-use matters, licensing issues, negotiations with municipalities, labor and employment agreements and intellectual property matters. We advise the leading franchisors in the industry and numerous franchisees on the creation and expansion of franchise and distribution systems, as well as on franchise-related transactional and regulatory matters. We are experienced in equity funding and debt financing arrangements for hospitality projects, including construction loans, mezzanine loans, take-out financing, sale-leaseback transactions, preferred equity, joint ventures and other equity infusion structures. We also have special expertise in securitized transactions and bond-financed projects.

Long-Term Care and Senior Living

Arent Fox represents sellers and purchasers in some of the largest real estate transactions in the long-term care and senior living industry. The interdisciplinary nature of our practice in this area helps clients address the real estate, health care, regulatory and other components of long-term care and senior living transactions. We handle conveyancing, land use (including development) and title issues affecting senior living clients’ properties. We advise and negotiate master leases on behalf of tenant and landlord clients for long-term care and senior living facilities and the management agreements for such facilities. We also assist clients in structuring and negotiating financing transactions for long-term care and senior living facilities, including acquisition, financing and refinancing transactions.

Construction

Arent Fox has extensive experience drafting agreements for real estate construction projects, including architectural services, professional services and construction and design/build agreements. We represent owners, developers, contractors, designers and architects in a broad range of projects, including large downtown sports arenas, baseball stadiums, hotels, office buildings, multifamily residential rental and condominium projects, convention centers, waste-to-energy plants, shopping centers, theaters, museums and factories. We have expertise in transactions involving multiple parties, and we handle complex legal structures involving public and private financing and public/private partnerships.

Our strong construction litigation team handles the full range of construction disputes. We represent contractors, architect-engineers and owners in the prosecution and defense of construction claims on the full range of range of projects, including bridges, courthouses, hospitals, industrial process facilities, office buildings, sports stadiums, highways, shopping centers, power plants and subway stations.

Leasing

Arent Fox has expertise in all types of leasing and building-owner transactions, including office and retail (from “big box” to boutique) leasing, industrial leasing, ground leasing, master leasing, General Services Administration leasing, subleasing, refrigerated warehouse leasing, data center leasing, sale/leaseback transactions, single tenant/headquarter building leasing and bondable lease transactions. We understand the complex interplay among real estate, finance, tax, corporate, government contracts, technology and telecommunications laws as we assist clients with specialized leasing and end-user transactions. We advise building-owner clients through all phases of building ownership, including acquisition, financing, development, construction and landlord leasing representation. We draft and negotiate easements and agreements with architects, engineers, construction managers, general contractors, leasing agents, property managers and other service providers. We also offer leasing portfolio review and abstracting services.

Litigation

Real estate is one of the core practices of Arent Fox and one of the key strengths of its Litigation Practice Group. We pride ourselves not only being vigorous advocates, but also creative and diligent problem solvers. Thus, members of the real estate litigation team work closely with our transactional lawyers to keep transactions on track, avoid unnecessary litigation expense, and protect and defend bargains that have been struck. In short, clients can expect deals to be handled creatively, effectively, and efficiently.

Our clients are some of the most demanding and sophisticated in the field. We represent major global investment banks, residential and commercial lenders, office and retail REITS and REMICs, shopping center owners, national and international office and retail tenants, architects, securitization syndicators, and title insurers, among others.

Arent Fox represents real estate clients in state and federal trial and appellate courts, often serving as coordinating or supervising counsel. We frequently handle arbitrations and mediation as private alternatives to resolving disputes.

We have litigated the broad range of real estate matters, including complex partnership disputes, claims between sellers and buyers, securitization disputes, real estate security litigation, takeovers of real estate companies, class actions, mortgage practices, business practices, architect liability, commercial leasing, ground leasing, title insurance, lender liability, and lien and title issues.

We also have litigation expertise in areas closely related to real estate. Working with our Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Group, we have appeared in bankruptcy courts across the country, handling everything from lease termination and rejection issues to large-scale reorganizations and restructuring.

In a wide array of environmental matters, we frequently counsel real estate clients with respect to asbestos, mold, and soil and groundwater contamination issues and, when disputes over these issues occur, represent those clients in litigation.

We also have substantial experience advising real estate clients on compliance with state and federal housing discrimination and disability laws, such as the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and we know our way around administrative agencies, such as HUD, in addition to the courts.

But we are not just gladiators in the arena of litigation. We are also business-savvy lawyers who apply our experience to the shaping of transactional documents, conducting independent investigations to prevent litigation, and providing second opinions to ensure litigation is conducted well.

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