John H. C. Barron, Jr.

Of Counsel

  • John H. C. Barron, Jr.
  • Phone: +1 202 776 7865

    Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    901 New York Avenue N.W., Suite 700 East
    Washington, DC 20001-4795
    USA

John H.C. Barron, Jr. engages in an international business practice that includes complex corporate, real estate, finance, fiduciary, economic development, foreign investment and eminent domain matters. He has extensive experience serving as general and special counsel to domestic and foreign corporations, limited liability companies, joint ventures, institutional investors, real estate investment trusts, commercial banks and other financial institutions, pension funds, public and private real estate limited partnerships, nonprofit organizations, trusts, estates and high net worth individuals. Mr. Barron represents foreign investors acquiring U.S. corporations and real estate assets as well as federal, state and local government entities in major economic development projects. He regularly represents his clients in structuring, negotiation and implementation of transactions involving formation and governance of corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, construction, redevelopment, land acquisitions and dispositions, financings, leasing, 1031 exchanges, sale/leasebacks, capital formation, mergers and acquisitions, equity investment and asset management. Mr Barron represents institutional fiduciaries in the administration of large trusts and estates, including those with substantial real estate holdings or other special assets.

Mr. Barron serves as a trustee of the Federal City Council, a member of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., director of the American City Quality Foundation and a member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference.

Admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland, Mr. Barron is a graduate of Duke University School of Law.

Representative Matters

  • Assisted in obtaining on behalf of a major financial institution a complete defense verdict, after a seven-week trial in California Superior Court in San Bernardino County, with a jury finding that the client was not liable for trade secret misappropriation.

  • Represented an affiliate of Spain-based Eurostars parent Hotusa Group in its $37 million acquisition of Downtown Miami’s historic Eurostars Langford boutique hotel, providing advice on Delaware law to the worldwide chain of over 2,000 hotels.

  • Represented a foreign-based entity in its purchase of a company owning a 9.14 acre site and building in Miami, Florida for a cash purchase price of $43,540,000, including assumption of existing indebtedness. The property is net leased for 20 years to the U S General Services Administration and houses a high-tech drug testing laboratory for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

  • Counsel to Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, a federal government-owned entity, in connection with the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington, D.C., including the flagship J. W. Marriott Hotel and an adjacent office complex and retail mall.

  • Counsel to Washington Convention Center Authority, in connection with the development and construction of a new $850 million convention center.

  • Counsel to a cooperative corporation that owns 42 acres of land fronting on the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach County, Florida, in connection with the proposed $500 million sale of real estate assets and sale of 100 percent of corporate stock through a reverse merger.

  • Corporate secretary and general counsel to a $500 million charitable foundation and a director of its real estate holding company.

  • Counsel to a major national bank, as sole trustee of a $100 million court-supervised trust. Representation includes: negotiating and closing of a joint venture for the redevelopment of a major corner near the White House in Washington, D.C., with a trophy office building; litigation regarding the disposition of trust assets; sale of a high-rise office building; and ongoing trust-administration matters.

  • Counsel to a major national bank, as co-trustee of a series of family trusts, including construction of trust instruments and applicable fiduciary duties, consultations regarding oversight of the management of a large privately held family corporation, and ongoing trust administration.

  • General counsel to a foreign-owned corporation in connection with the design, construction, financing, leasing, operation and disposition of a commercial office building and the separate sale of the offshore parent entity on a favorable tax basis.

  • Counsel to landowners whose property was condemned for a new Major League Baseball stadium.

  • Counsel to pension fund investment advisor in connection with more than $1 billion in real estate investment in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia.

  • Representation of a publicly traded REIT in connection with the proposed acquisition of a Maryland corporation owning a trophy high-rise commercial office building.

  • Representation of landowners in connection with long-term, unsubordinated ground leases for development of 300,000 square feet of retail and more than 4,500 high-rise residential rent apartment units in Pentagon City, Arlington, County, Virginia.

  • Representation of a joint venture comprised of a U.S.-based real estate developer and a UK public company in connection with the development of a high-rise mixed-use commercial, retail and residential building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

  • Representation of a major national hotel chain in connection with the development of a high-rise hotel in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.

  • Representation of a New York-based university in connection with a long-term lease of a build-to-suit high-security office complex in Virginia used for conducting classified research for the Department of the Navy.

  • Representation of a Canadian-owned sugar refinery in Yonkers, New York in connection with a major redevelopment financing from the New York State Urban Development Corporation.

  • Representation of a major national pension fund in the permanent financing for a national medical laboratory facility adjacent to O'Hare Airport in Des Plaines, Illinois.

  • Representation of a consortium of a Swiss private bank, a French bank, a U.S. institutional lender and a Dutch bank as manager on a construction/permanent loan on a downtown hotel, including complex lien litigation related thereto.

  • Representation of a lender in connection with permanent financing of multifamily housing projects in Arizona, California and New York.

  • Representation of the leading men's professional golf organization in connection with the development of the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm golf course in Potomac, Maryland.

  • Representation of lenders in connection with foreclosure on a major downtown commercial office building.

  • Representation of a major pension fund in asset management of a major retail mall.

Areas of Practice

  • Business Law
  • Real Estate Law
  • Construction
  • Estates and Trusts/Fiduciary Administration/Special Assets
  • Finance
  • Economic Development/Public-Private Partnerships
  • Foreign Investment
  • Eminent Domain

Admissions

  • Maryland
  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • Court of Appeals of Maryland

Education

  • Duke University School of Law, J.D.
    - Assistant to the Dean
    - Co-author, comprehensive study of the history of the law of wiretapping
  • University of Maryland, A.B.

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Partner, 2003-present
  • Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP
    - Partner, 1998-2003
  • Rogers & Wells
    - Partner, 1979-1997
    - Associate, 1971-1978

Professional Activities

  • The District of Columbia Bar
    - Real Estate, Housing and Land Use Section
    - District of Columbia Affairs Section
  • Maryland State Bar Association
    - Real Property, Planning and Zoning Section
    - Business Law Section
  • Member, Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
  • Member, Urban Land Institute Washington District Council

Honors and Awards

Civic and Charitable Activities

  • Trustee, Federal City Council and Member, Education Committee
  • Member, Economic Club of Washington
  • Volunteer legal services, ALS Association, National Office and DC/MD/VA Chapter
  • Community Association President
  • Director, American City Ouality Foundation

Selected Publications

  • "GSA and Its Impact on the Office Market," The Counselor, February 2012

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Panel Moderator, Presentation to People's Republic of China National Development and Reform Commission on Infrastructure Development, Washington, D.C., December 10, 2010
  • Panel Moderator, Presentation to Delegation of Public and Private Investment and Development Officials from Jiangsu Province, China, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2010
  • Roundtable Leader, "Multifamily Housing: Opportunities and Challenges in a Recovering Market," Washington, D.C., May 18, 2010
  • Panel Moderator, Presentation on Risk Management to Delegation of Commercial Bankers from People's Republic of China, Washington, D.C., November 17, 2009
  • Roundtable Leader, "Strategies for Buying and Selling Distressed Real Estate and Other Assets," Washington, D.C., April 29, 2009
  • Author and Teacher, "The Impact of Problems in the Subprime Market on Real Estate Financing - Armageddon or Opportunity", CLE Course, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2008
  • Panelist, Seminar on the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation and Public/Private Development, Chicago, Illinois