Real Estate
Real Estate Development
Real Estate Development Attorneys
Our nationally recognized Real Estate attorneys represent sellers, buyers, property owners, developers, tenants, lenders and borrowers in virtually every type of real property-related matter. Our clients include institutional lenders, large corporations, REITs, private developers, public utilities, municipalities and individuals in connection with large and small commercial, industrial, retail and residential projects.
Our experience:
- Represented a developer in connection with the acquisition, rezoning and construction of condominiums in Manhattan.
- Represented a developer in connection with the $120 million bond refinancing of a development in Soho.
- Represented a lender in a loan for a new age-restricted cooperative conversion construction project involving deed restrictions and PILOT benefits.
- Represented a major money center bank in a syndicated credit for a $420 million construction loan with mezzanine financing and senior and junior lenders.
- Represented a major bank in a syndicated construction loan of $45 million involving industrial development agency financial assistance and Brownfield Tax Credits.
- Represented an industrial development agency in connection with the $1 billion redevelopment of Glen Cove Creek.
- Represented the Empire State Development Corporation and the Harlem Community Development Corporation as the fee owner in the redevelopment of the historic Victoria Theatre on 125th Street in Harlem. The engagement involved responsibility for the ground lease documentation, purchase and sale documentation, and condominium conversion.
- Represented a lender in connection with a $125 million hotel acquisition and reconstruction in California.
- Represented a lender in connection with construction financing of a mixed-use development project in New York.
- Represented a lender in connection with a construction loan for the acquisition and development of high-end condominiums in Gramercy Park.
- Represented the ground lessor with respect to the $400 million development of a Battery Park City site. Our work included handling the review and negotiation of the construction documents on behalf of the landowner.
- Represented a major bank in the purchase and lease-up of a vacant, newly-constructed office building in Manhattan.
- Represented the anchor tenant and lender in the construction of a Fifth Avenue ground floor retail space. This matter required extensive negotiations with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (“MTA”) to obtain approval for our client’s planned construction, as well as accommodating the MTA’s easement through portions of the premises.
- Completed a complex ground lease for a major bank that involved a leasehold mortgage loan to finance the construction of a golf course.
- Drafted, negotiated and revised a ground lease for a major midtown office building in Rockefeller Center.
- Handled an IDA transaction involving the largest office building in Nassau County.
Easements and Rights-of-Way
We continually review, draft and negotiate all types of easements and rights-of-way on behalf of either the grantee of the easement rights or the owner of the real property. Our practice includes access easements, utility rights-of-way, municipal easements, avigation easements, air rights, easements of light and air, and reciprocal easement agreements.
Land Use & Zoning
Phillips Lytle has one of the leading land use and zoning practices in New York State, appearing before hundreds of land use planning and zoning agencies across the state and having participated in major land use litigation. We regularly assist a variety of clients, from local business owners and developers to FORTUNE 500 companies, with site plan reviews; special, restricted and conditional use permits; area and use variances; rezonings; and cluster and planned unit developments. We expedite complex and controversial development matters involving numerous permits and approvals in front of regulatory agencies, sometimes in the face of significant community opposition.
We also have extensive experience in coordinating zoning reviews and Environmental Impact Reviews pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the City Environmental Quality Review, the National Environmental Policy Act, cultural resource reviews in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office, and wetland permitting in consultation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Our approach emphasizes:
- An integrated team that coordinates the roles and responsibilities of the client, consultants, contractors and other professionals.
- Cooperative outreach to all parties involved, including interested local, state and federal agencies.
- Coordination and outreach within the community to open lines of communication and minimize neighborhood opposition.
- Development of pre-application project implementation plans to establish clear and concise responsibilities and timelines.
- Simultaneous review and processing of applications by various regulatory authorities.
Title Insurance
Title Insurance is an important component in the closing of real estate sales, acquisitions and mortgage financings – especially in multi-site transactions. We maintain agency or examining counsel relationships with national title insurance companies to facilitate the timely closing of these transactions for our clients. Our expertise in examining titles, reviewing title searches and title insurance reports, reviewing surveys, and identifying and curing title problems is unmatched.
