Duane Morris has an experienced international real estate practice, offering a full range of services related to acquisitions and dispositions; leasing; financing; hospitality; multifamily/healthcare; land valuation litigation; and development and land use. Our attorneys provide our clients—including property developers, lenders, investment managers and REITs—guided assistance through all phases of a transaction or project. We are able to handle a broad range of sophisticated and complex real estate transactions, leveraging our extensive skills and experience in virtually all types of real estate and development matters.

An integrated interdisciplinary approach to our clients’ needs is the cornerstone of our practice. Teams composed of attorneys across practice areas and the firm’s geographic scope—from our real estate, capital markets, finance, construction, tax and other practices—provide seamless, value-added representation. Our experience encompasses all areas of acquisition, disposition, leasing and lending, including new development, office, retail, residential, assisted-living and other healthcare facilities. In addition to handling the routine issues involved in real estate matters, we find creative solutions to complex and seemingly unsolvable dilemmas that require solid working relationships within the industry and a high level of understanding of the nuances of deals, regulations, profitability, leverage and liability protection.

The reputation of the Duane Morris Real Estate Practice Group is built on an understanding of the real estate industry and how real estate businesses function. Duane Morris is ranked by both Commercial Property Executive and Law360 as among the top real estate law firms headquartered in the United States. In addition, Duane Morris real estate attorneys include those who have been recognized in Chambers USA, hold the distinguished CRE professional designation from The Counselors of Real Estate, and are Accredited Professionals under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System.

Our attorneys have a broad background in the real estate industry and have worked as registered architects, licensed mortgage brokers, certified public accountants, urban planners and licensed real estate agents. Several Duane Morris attorneys are members of, actively involved in, and hold leadership positions in Urban Land Institute, International Council of Shopping Centers, NAIOP, CRE Finance Council, International Association of Attorneys and Executives in Real Estate, Appraisal Institute, community development corporations, and various national and local professional associations and trade organizations.

Range of Services

Acquisitions, Dispositions and Financing

Duane Morris real estate attorneys have extensive experience structuring, negotiating and documenting acquisitions and dispositions, commercial loan transactions and other credit accommodations, with particular emphasis on construction and permanent financings and workouts, and commercial acquisitions and sales of the following:

  • Retail projects, including shopping centers and drug/convenience stores;
  • Hotels, along with their associated management and franchise agreements;
  • Mixed-use projects;
  • Office/warehouse/residential buildings;
  • Skilled-nursing, assisted-living and senior-housing facilities; and
  • Hospitals, dialysis clinics and community health centers.

In addition, we counsel financial institutions in connection with public and project finance transactions and matters involving commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transactions; lenders and loan servicers in connection with litigation, condemnation, workouts, foreclosure, restructuring, reorganization, loan sale, receivership and commercial real estate matters; and owners/developers in the acquisition, financing, holding and disposition of commercial real estate.

Commercial and Retail Leasing

We advise both landlords and tenants on a broad array of commercial, industrial and retail leasing matters. Representative clients have included international staffing companies, a national provider of post-secondary degrees, owners of hospitality projects and private real estate companies. Our experience includes a variety of lease transactions, such as operating leases, ground leases, subleases, build-to-suit leases and sale-leaseback transactions.

Multifamily/Student Housing

Duane Morris attorneys represent property owners, developers and lenders in connection with the financing, acquisition, development and construction of multifamily condominiums, apartment buildings, townhomes, planned communities and housing projects. We assist clients on matters related to site assemblage and acquisition, planning board and zoning board approvals, environmental issues and construction contracts.

Further demonstrating the wide scope of our real estate attorneys’ capabilities is our experience providing counsel to owners and managers of student housing in acquiring and financing student housing. This includes drafting and negotiating purchase and sale documents, joint venture agreements with institutional partners, co-invest documents and revolving lines of credit; obtaining new debt or assuming existing loans on all projects and ongoing legal issues in the ownership and management of the housing assets; and drafting all commercial leases for projects that contain a retail component. We also have assisted clients in matters that involved obtaining military housing.

Healthcare

Duane Morris real estate attorneys represent national, regional and local developers, investors, lenders, medical institutions, physicians’ groups, and other owners and operators of healthcare-related real estate in the acquisition, disposition, development, financing (taxable and tax-exempt), leasing and licensing of medical office buildings; continuing care, independent living, skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care facilities; hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; dialysis clinics; treatment centers; urgent care facilities; and medical research and laboratory facilities.

Education

In the education sector, Duane Morris represents developers, investors, lenders, educational institutions, and other owners and operators of real estate with a wide range of services, including the acquisition, disposition, development, financing (taxable and tax-exempt), leasing and licensing of student housing and other education-related assets, and a variety of other educational institution-related facilities, such as classrooms and libraries.

Land Valuation Litigation

Duane Morris national land valuation litigation lawyers regularly counsel private property owners, lenders, loan servicers, governmental entities, quasi-governmental entities, major oil companies, gasoline retailers, public utility companies, banks, dealerships and retailers in eminent domain and land valuation matters. Representative matters include, among others, pipeline acquisitions, redevelopment and infrastructure-related takings. With experience representing both condemnors and property owners in all phases of eminent domain proceedings, we have handled highly complex takings cases involving a wide range of property uses and projects.

Development and Land Use

Duane Morris attorneys represent a wide spectrum of land developers and property owners in multiple jurisdictions at the local, state and federal levels. Our land use attorneys are experienced in planning, zoning, subdivisions and use permits. In addition, we coordinate all the disciplines involved in land development, including federal and state environmental and coastal regulation, climate change, air quality, discharge permits, water quality, water supply, endangered species, critical habitats, vested rights, development agreements, exactions, affordable housing and redevelopment. Our commercial, residential and industrial projects range in size from master planned communities of thousands of acres to smaller, intensive urban infill development.

REITs

Duane Morris represents institutional clients deploying capital across the country and around the world. Our Real Estate, Tax, ERISA and Capital Markets attorneys form a seamless interdisciplinary team to represent investment managers and traded/nontraded REITs in the acquisition, financing, management and disposition of office, multifamily, raw land, industrial, retail and hospitality assets. We help our clients structure, negotiate and close upon both direct investments and joint venture investments with operating partners to place equity or debt to work in core, value-add and opportunistic real property investments in ground-up or rehab projects in greenfields, brownfields and urban-infill; one-off and programmatic acquisitions, rehabs and financings; as well as investment through mezzanine, participating debt and other debt structures. We are sensitive to the regulatory needs of domestic and offshore investors, pension investors, college endowments, foundations and sovereign wealth funds. We advise on structuring investments made through commingled funds, separate accounts, public/non-publicly traded REITs, private REIT funds, domestically controlled REITs, C-blockers, TRS structures, income stripping vehicles, pension-controlled REITs, fractions rule partnerships and, where necessary, REOC or VCOC structures and other methods of addressing the ERISA prohibited transactions rules, including categorical and special exemptions. We are versed in addressing issues of concern to offshore investors, including ECI, FIRPTA and other tax investment and repatriation rules, whether through domestically-controlled REITs, C-blockers or the use of debt. We assist in identifying and mitigating the effects of bad REIT income, bad REIT assets, UBTI, dealer property and fractions rule violations. We are also experienced with UP-REIT and Down-REIT structures and the use of OP Units and other non-cash currencies to effect acquisitions.

For More Information

For more information, please contact George J. Kroculick or any of the practice members referenced in the Attorney Listing.

德茂

不动产执业 

德茂 (Duane Morris) 在国际不动产执业方面有着丰富的经验,提供与收购和弃置;租赁;融资;酒店 管理;多家庭/医疗保健、学生和军人安家;国家土地征收;房地产投资信托基金(REIT)和资本 市场相关的全方位服务。我们的客户包括房地产开发商、借贷方、投资经营方和房地产投资 信托基金。我们的律师提供的法律服务覆盖交易或项目中的所有阶段。我们精于处理各种复 杂的不动产交易,将我们丰富的经验运用于所有的不动产买卖和开发事宜。

以综合的跨领域的手段满足客户的需求是我们执业的基石。不动产、资本市场、金融、建 筑、税收等各种执业组的身处不同城市的律师们组成的专业团队让我们可以为客户提供无缝 的增值服务。我们的经验包括收购、弃置、租赁和借贷等各个领域(包括新开发、办公、零 售、居住、老年公寓和其他健康医疗设施)。除了处理不动产开发中的常见问题外,我们也 善于创造性的解决复杂的貌似不可能解决的困局。要做到这一点,需要我们对此行业有扎实 的了解,以及深刻理解不同交易、法规、盈利能力、杠杆率和债务保护之间的细小差异。

德茂 (Duane Morris) 不动产执业组的声誉深深植根于对不动产行业及其如何运作的理解。在 Commercial Property Executive 和 Law360 等出版物中,Duane Morris 都被评为美国最顶尖的不动产执业律所。 此外,德茂 (Duane Morris) 的多名不动产执业律师还同时为 Chambers USA 所认可,获得不动产顾问团 (CRE)专业认证,以及获得能源及环境筹划领导者(LEED)绿色建筑评级系统专业资质。

我们的律师在不动产行业有着广阔的工作背景,包括注册建筑师,注册按揭经纪人,认证公 共会计师,城市规划者和注册房地产经纪人。而在城市土地学会、国际购物中心协会、地产 开发协会、CRE 经济委员会,国际不动产律师和执行官协会、美国估价协会、社区发展合作 组织、以及各式各样国家和地区性的专业协会和交易组织中,我们 德茂 (Duane Morris) 的数位律师也 亦是成员、领导者或积极参与其活动。

服务范围

收购,弃置及融资 

德茂 (Duane Morris) 的不动产律师在构建、协商和记录收购及弃置、商业借贷交易和其他信贷方面有 着非常丰富的经验。特别是在以下几个方面的建筑、融资、周转、商业收购和销售方面,我 们有着特别的优势:

  • 零售项目,包括购物中心和药店/便利店; 
  • 酒店,包括相关的管理和加盟经营协议; 
  • 混合使用项目; 
  • 办公室/仓库/住宅建筑; 
  • 护理机构,辅助生活和老年公寓设施; 
  • 医院,透析中心和社区健康中心。

此外我们还向以下客户提供法律咨询服务,包括:与公共和项目金融交易,商业抵押担保 证券(CMBS)交易事务相关的金融机构;与诉讼、征地、套利投资、止赎权、结构重组、资 2 产重组、贷款出售、破产接收和商业不动产事务相关的贷方和贷款机构;对商业不动产进 行收购、融资、持有和弃置的产权人/开发商。

酒店业/旅游业

在酒店业,德茂 (Duane Morris) 代表酒店业主、运营商和管理人员,以及贷款人和开发人处理位于美 国和全球的豪华酒店和度假村、码头,超豪华公寓、混合用途项目、赌场、餐馆、会展中心 和其他娱乐场所等的融资、收购、租赁、开发和相关法规。我们也代理主要的游览景点,包 括动物园、海洋公园和水上公园。我们处理酒店管理和旅游相关项目的所有开发、管理和产 权相关事宜。酒店业和旅游业的开发商或机构投资人也向我们征求关于如何组建合资公司等 方面的法律建议。特别值得一提的是我们的不动产律师在混合用途酒店项目上的创造性经验 被推广运用到了整个行业的其他项目上。 

多家庭/医疗保健/学生及军人安家

德茂 (Duane Morris) 的律师代表产权业主、开发商和借款方处理融资、收购、开发和建造多家庭公 寓、公寓楼、联排别墅、规划社区和住房项目等事宜。我们协助客户选址和收购、获得规划 委员会和区域规划局的批准、处理环境问题和建筑合同等事宜。

此外,医疗保健系统、提供商和运营商在协商收购、租赁和出售医院设施、紧急护理医院、 门诊手术设施、实验室资产、医疗办公楼、护理院和老年公寓设施中所产生的相关事务,也 由我们的不动产律师提供法律服务。

而我们对于业主和管理者在学生公寓的收购和融资上所提供的法律咨询更是进一步显示了我 们不动产律师出色的能力。具体包括起草和协商购买/出售文档、与机构合伙人之间的联合投 资协议、联合投资文档和循环信用额;为项目和住房资产的所有权和管理权所涉及的法律问 题上获得新的债券或承担既有贷款;以及为含有零售部分的项目起草所有的商业租约。我们 同时也协助客户处理包括军人安家的相关事务。

 国家土地征收

德茂 (Duane Morris) 的国家土地征收方面的律师在土地征收和土地评估事宜上为众多客户提供法律咨 询,包括:私人物业业主、放款人、贷款服务商、政府实体、准政府实体、大型石油公司、 汽油零售商、公共事业公司、银行、经销商和零售商等。代理事务还包括管道收购、重建和 基础设施征收。正是因为我们在代理土地征用人和产权业主两方面的土地征收处置的所有阶 段都有非常丰富的经验,我们才有能力处理一些涉及非常多的财产使用项目的高度复杂的案 例。

土地使用和开发

德茂 (Duane Morris) 所代理的客户包括非常多的土地开发商和产权业主,案例涉及的司法权既有当地 的,也有州一级的或联邦级别的。我们的土地使用方面的律师在规划、分区、再分和获得执 照方面都有着丰富的经验。此外,我们也会协调土地开发中的所有准则,包括:联邦和州的 3 环境和沿海法规、气候变化、空气质量、排放许可证、水质品质、濒危物种、关键栖息地、 既得利益、开发协议、勒索、经济适用房和重建开发。我们的商业、住宅和工业项目上至占 地数千英亩的大型规划社区,下至密集城市填入式开发。

房地产投资信托基金/资本市场

德茂 (Duane Morris) 代表的机构客户在全美和世界各地部署资本。我们的不动产、税务、雇员退休收 入保障法(ERISA)和资本市场方面的律师组成了一个紧密的跨学科团队,代表投资经纪人和交 易型/非交易型不动产信托投资基金,处理办公室、多家庭、生地、工业、零售和酒店资产方 面的收购、融资、管理和弃置等事宜。我们帮助我们的客户构建、协商和完成以股本或债权 对不动产项目进行核心、增值和择机性的直接或联合投资,包括绿地、棕地或城市填充的新 建或修复项目;一次性和计划性收购、修复和融资;也包括夹层投资、参与债务和其他债务 结构的投资。我们时刻关注针对国内和境外投资人、养老金投资人、助学基金、基金会和主 权财富基金的法规。在如何投资方面、我们会酌情建议是通过混合型基金、独立账户、公开/ 非公开交易型房地产信托投资基金、本土房地产信托投资基金、c-blocker、总收益互换结构、 收益剥离、养老金型房地产信托投资还是碎片规则合伙人形式。如果有必要,我们也会建议 采用房地产经营公司或风险投资运营公司结构或是其他方式以应对 ERISA 所禁止的交易规 则,包括无条件的和特殊豁免。对于使用境外投资机构所相关的问题,包括实际关联收入 (ECI)、外国人投资不动产税法(FIRPTA)和其他税务投资和资金汇回本国规则,我们的丰富经验 使我们可以准确使用本土房地产信托投资基金、C-blocker 或债券形式予以应对。我们协助鉴别 糟糕的房地产信托投资基金收入\资产、无关经营计税收入(UBTI)、交易房地产、违反碎片规则 的行为,也会努力减轻其所带来的负面影响。我们也非常了解伞形 REIT(UPREIT)和权益交换性 REIT(DOWNREIT)结构以及使用经营性合伙企业(OP)和其他非现金货币对于收购的影响。

商业及零售租赁

我们向业主和租户给出在商业、实业和零售租赁等各方面的建议。我们代理的客户包括国际 人事公司、一家美国专上学位提供者、酒店项目业主和私有不动产公司。我们的经验包括一 系列的租赁交易、诸如租约操作、土地出租、转租、定建租赁和售后回租交易。

代表事例

  • 代表一贷款方重组价值 1.67 亿美元的借贷,涉及 12 州 43 家护理院的抵押贷款。
  • 代表一股权购买人处理位于弗吉尼亚州 Alexandria 市价值 8200 万美元的项目。 
  • 代表拉斯维加斯 Sands 公司在宾州 Bethlehem 市取得建设一价值 9 亿美元的酒店/赌场和零售 中心的赌场许可证和建筑资格。此场所此前为 Bethlehem 钢铁公司所有,是美国东部地区 最大的棕地场所。 
  • 代表一大型企业以 7000 万美元股权收购占地 46 万平方英尺的 East Coast 零售折扣购物中 心。其收购形式使其可以避免收购中产生的交易税。我们创造的土地租赁和分布式贷款结 构促成了主要的和夹层证券化收购融资,并且满足商业抵押贷款证券评级局的标准。 
  • 代表一加拿大商业不动产开发商以 3500 万美元从一位于德国汉堡的股票基金公司购买一大 型商业项目,并将其转卖给 ING Clarion。
  • 代表 Cogen 科技取得规划委员会和区域规划局的许可,以在新泽西州 Camden 市建设一产 能 154 兆瓦,价值 1.5 亿美元的热电联供厂。 
  • 代表 Pennrose Properties 取得规划委员会和区域规划局的全部许可,在新泽西州 Camden 市 进行 Baldwin’s Run Hope VI 住房开发。 
  • 代表 Gloucester 郡改善署,以特别顾问身份处理价值 1.5 亿美元的法院翻新和扩建工程。 
  • 以顾问身份为一财富 500 强投资银行处理一系列银团贷款、担保贷款、建筑贷款和循环信 用任务,价值 1.5 亿到 6 亿美元不等。 
  • 代表一连锁酒店以总值超过 3.25 亿美元出售旗下四家酒店,并保留经营权和管理权 25 年。 
  • 以顾问身份为一财富 100 强贷款机构将以银团房地产为担保的循环信用额度替换为多个不 同期限的非保障性循环信用额度。循环信用额度价值 2.5 亿到 4 亿美元不等。 
  • 代理客户处理与不动产相关的价值 1.35 亿美元的债券再融资。客户参与加州中央谷地的天 然气开发输送项目。此案包括极度复杂的产权保险和地役权事项。 
  • 参与芝加哥西尔斯大厦的 7.8 亿美元再融资。 
  • Participated in the $140,000,000 refinancing of a hotel in Times Square, New York, the mortgage of which encumbered ground lease, developments rights lease and fee ownership interests covering the property, together with $130,000,000 in layered mezzanine financing. 参与一位于纽约时代广场的酒店的价值 1.4 亿美元的再融资。该融资以酒店地租,发展权租约和所有权利益作抵押,并包括价值 1.3 亿美元的多层夹层融资 
  • 参与一项目,以 1 亿美元收购和建筑贷款形式为一位于曼哈顿中城区的混合用途新造建 筑提供融资。此项目包含 63422 平方英尺的开发权购置和 31272 平方英尺的包容性住宅分 区奖励,以及 6457.5 万美元的多层夹层融资。 
  • 以顾问身份为一州立大学相关组织提供服务。此组织以 1.6 亿美元开发质子研究治疗中 心,使用线性加速器产生质子为癌症患者提供标靶式放疗治疗。复杂的开发过程包括土地 租赁、项目开发协议和项目融资涉及问题及其解决。

额外信息

欲获取更多信息,请致电 215.979.1386 联系 George J. Kroculick 或致电 212.692.1018 联系 Chester P. Lee 或联系 www.duanemorris.com 此执业组名下的任何律师。

上述对任何具体案件或交易的表述不代表相同的结果在其他案件或交易中也可以达到。任何法律事项都是独特的,每个案件结果都可能不同 。