Dennis A. Konner
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-4086
USA
Phone: +1 212 692 1073
Fax: +1 212 253 4283
Email: dakonner@duanemorris.com

Dennis A. Konner focuses his practice on commercial real estate transactions, representing owners, developers and not-for profit entities in real estate matters, including the acquisition and sale of commercial, hotel, multifamily and mixed-use properties, the purchase and sale of commercial condominium units, permanent and construction financing, assemblage transactions and leasing including ground leasing. Mr. Konner's work also involves joint ventures, development and air rights transactions.

A member of the Real Property Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, Mr. Konner serves on the Committee for Not-for-Profit Entities and Concerns. Mr. Konner is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School.

Areas of Practice

• Real Estate Law

Representative Matters

• Represented a purchaser of contiguous buildings located in the East Village in Manhattan containing seven commercial tenants.
• Represented two affiliates of a realty company in a 1031 exchange transaction of Upper East Side Manhattan properties, both fully residential buildings, in exchange for a mixed commercial and residential property also on the Upper East Side.
• Represented the purchaser of the 6,800 square foot Malcolm S. Forbes townhouse on 12th Street in Greenwich Village Manhattan from Forbes Management Co., Inc.
• Represented the purchaser of three contiguous buildings on the Upper West Side of Manhattan consisting of 320 rooms.
• Represented the purchaser of three contiguous buildings in the Chelsea area of Manhattan less than one block from the High Line.
• Represented an affiliate of the Kalikow Group in the purchase of three neighboring properties in the Little Italy section of Manhattan for $12.625 million.
• Closed on behalf of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania the purchase of the six-story Timekeepers office building located at 307 East 53rd Street in Manhattan for $24,500,000.
• Represented related property owners in the sale of five multifamily residential buildings located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to an investment/management company for a total of $90,000,000.
• Represented a client in the purchase of a two-building assemblage on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 45th Street in New York City, resulting in 100,000 square feet of buildable area.
• Representation of Art Living NY in a lease transaction with The Paramount Group for retail space to open the New York location of the Triennale Design Museum at 40 West 53rd Street. Triennale has been located in Milan for the past 90 years and recently opened a branch in Japan.
• Representation of the Government of Singapore in the purchase of a five-story garage on East 48th Street which is to be converted into Singapore's Mission to the United Nations and used as its Consulate.
• Represented a hotel chain in the sale of four hotels in a combined transaction in excess of $325,000,000 where our client retained operation and management for 25 years.
• Over 45 development transactions that have been closed by a private equity group over a ten year period at a combined value of over $900,000,000.
• The simultaneous purchase of 34 multi-family residential apartment buildings on the upper east side of Manhattan with loans and equity in excess of $229,000,000.
• The purchase of an office building in Rockefeller Center and its conversion into a 28-story hotel and long-term lease of the ground floor to a national financial institution.
• The purchase of the former Metropolitan Theatre in Brooklyn and its conversion into a 3,600 seat church sanctuary, office space and classrooms utilizing a series of loans combined into a $59,500,000 loan secured by a mortgage on the theatre and other collateral.
• The negotiation of the ground lease for an office building that is adjacent to the World Trade Center site and its conversion into a hotel on behalf of a private hotel chain.
• The acquisition of the air rights over the Dance Theatre Workshop on behalf of a developer that used them to create new condominium units.
• The negotiation of a development agreement and ground lease to construct a 140-room hotel and conference center on the Hudson River.
• The purchase of 985 Park Avenue on behalf of a developer and its conversion into new ultra-luxury high-rise condominiums.

Professional Activities

• New York State Bar Association
  - Real Property Law Section
  - Committee on Not-for-Profit Entities and Concerns

Admissions

• New York
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Education

• Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1967

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2008-present
• Thelen LLP
  - Partner, 2006-2008
• Brown Raysman Milstein Felder & Stein LLP (merged into Thelen LLP)
  - Partner, 2006
• Ross & Cohen LLP (merged into Brown Raysman)
  - Partner, 1981-2006

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "Lease Requirements for Tenants with Data Centers," Mission Critical, July/August 2010
• Author, "The Tale of Camp Rural Retreat, or Why Real Estate Brokers Should Not Be Involved in the Preparation (or Execution) of Contracts of Sale for Real Estate Transactions," New York Real Property Law Journal, Winter/Spring 2001