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Practice Highlights

  • Represent sellers and purchasers of real estate, along with other entities, in all areas of real estate transactions
  • Serve clients regionally and nationally 
  • Possess diverse and extensive industry experience

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Real Estate

Every real estate transaction is unique and requires strategic thinking, dedication and creative solutions. The ability of the lawyers in the Real Estate Group to understand the nuances of a transaction, their diverse and extensive industry and legal experience, and fostering a team approach with their clients has garnered the Group a well-deserved reputation for being deal makers whose primary goal is always the success of the client. We believe that getting involved early in the life cycle of a transaction enables us to effectively and efficiently get the transaction done and help our clients achieve their business objectives. Clients rely on our counsel, from transaction structure to documentation through closing and administration.

The hallmark of our practice is the close working relationship we have established with clients and our individualized attention to each of them. We approach each matter as a team, involving partners, associates and staff, and work with all levels of each client’s internal organization. This team approach enables us to handle matters expeditiously and efficiently without sacrificing attention to detail. We get to know each of our clients' businesses from the inside out and, in many cases, have helped our clients formulate their internal policies and procedures. We have also played an integral part in helping our clients develop their training programs and often conduct workshops and seminars for them on various subjects in the real estate arena. Our clients rely on us not only as lawyers documenting a complex transaction, but as advisors on structuring deals and as experienced problem solvers when new or unexpected issues arise. We pride ourselves on our ability to think creatively, to work effectively with opposing counsel and to implement “win-win” situations for clients in difficult transactions.

We represent sellers and purchasers of real estate, commercial landlords and tenants, community associations, title insurance companies, banks, investment funds and others in all aspects of real estate transactions.

We have established a relationship with a network of law firms throughout the country who assist in questions of local law, practice and customs to enhance our ability to serve our clients not only around the region, but around the country. We serve as local counsel for many out-of-state institutions and as their counsel for transactions occurring in the tri-state region. When necessary, we collaborate with lawyers in the firm's various practice groups for assistance in bankruptcy and insolvency issues, tax and regulatory matters, mergers and acquisitions, labor and employment, intellectual property and complex litigation.

With diverse and extensive industry experience, many of our lawyers are invited to speak at industry and association events. We are also members of, and have held leadership positions in, a number of real estate- related associations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the CRE Finance Council, the American Land Title Association, the American Resort Development Association and CREW Network.  

Mezzanine Finance

We have extensive experience in the origination, acquisition, disposition, restructuring, and enforcement of mezzanine debt and other high yield structures such as “B” notes, subordinate participations, and preferred equity. Having worked extensively with structured investments across all parts of the capital stack in both times of high growth and distress, we have the market perspective and practical experience to get real estate deals done for our clients. We have earned a particularly strong reputation in the area of intercreditor, co-lender and participation agreement structuring, negotiation and enforcement.

Our clients include leading investment funds, life insurance companies and other market participants.

Our lawyers are active in industry conferences, regularly moderating and participating in panel discussions regarding legal trends in the high yield space, including construction mezzanine lending. 

General Commercial Real Estate

We represent commercial real estate clients, including owners, sellers, purchasers and developers, as well as community associations, in a broad range of areas. We bring to bear our many years of experience to assist them in a variety of transactions and matters including:

  • The purchase and sale of improved and unimproved real estate
  • Due diligence and evaluations
  • Investigating and assisting in the remediation of environmentally impacted real estate, including taking properties through the “brownfield” process
  • Assisting in property management
  • Mechanics’ liens, code compliance and construction-related issues
  • Assisting condominium, cooperative and planned community associations in all aspects of planning, governance and operations for these communities
  • The resolution of title insurance claims

Real Estate Finance

White and Williams’ experienced Real Estate and Institutional Finance team handles transactions financing real estate projects of all types and sizes, from middle market to complex deals in the hundreds of millions of dollars. We counsel our clients, who include banks, life insurance companies and investment funds, through all phases of a transaction, from structuring and term sheet through closing and the life of the loan, on financing transactions including:

  • Acquisition and other permanent loans on all property types (including multifamily, retail, office, hotel, timeshare, industrial, warehouse, medical office buildings, dialysis centers, student housing, senior housing, assisted living, casinos
  • Construction loans and construction–to-permanent loans
  • Ground lease financing
  • Syndicated and participated loans
  • Mezzanine lending
  • CMBS
  • Multi-state/multi-property portfolio lending
  • Bridge lending
  • Private equity
  • Joint ventures
  • Credit tenant lease financing
  • Historic Tax Credits
  • New Markets Tax Credit
  • Bond financing
  • EB-5 lending
  • Tract residential real estate development loans
  • Resort development and timeshare project loans

Our lawyers have closed loans secured by property located in almost every U.S. state, Mexico, Canada, Aruba and the U.K. White and Williams stays on top of industry developments – market, legal and regulatory. We partner with clients to understand, serve and anticipate their needs, identify and mitigate risks, and close deals quickly and cost-effectively. 

Leasing

We represent clients in all types of commercial real estate lease transactions, regionally and nationally, including space leases, “big box” leases, ground leases and build-to-suit leases. The range of clients we represent in these transactions includes:

  • Retailers and other tenants in shopping center leases 
  • Shopping center owners
  • Tenants and landlords in warehouse leases
  • Real estate owners and investors, as landlords in office leases
  • Various businesses, as tenants in office leases
  • Lenders and rent receivers as landlords of foreclosed real estate projects of all kinds 

We work closely with other members of a client’s team, including brokers, property managers, architects, construction managers and environmental consultants. We also collaborate with lawyers in the Financial Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group to represent landlords or tenants in the disposition of leases in bankruptcy proceedings.

Representative Matters

  • Represented national lender in a $184 million commercial/industrial multi-property portfolio loan to a major REIT that included numerous issues in both structuring and for collateral realization

Additional matters related to Real Estate Finance

  • Represented a manufacturer in the acquisition and financing of a facility in Philadelphia requiring bank, PIDC and PIDA financing

Additional matters related to General Commercial Real Estate

  • Represented a corporate tenant in a lease for 116,000 square feet of space for its headquarters in a major Center City Philadelphia office building

Additional matters related to Leasing

  • Represented a life insurance company in origination of $35 million mezzanine loan relating to Class “A” office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Additional matters related to Mezzanine Finance

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