US > Real estate and construction > Florida: transactions and finance
Index of tables
Florida - transactions and finance
-
1
-
2
-
3
Leading individuals
-
- Nancy Lash, Greenberg Traurig LLP ‘Excellent negotiator, extremely talented at drafting complex documents’
- Rich Bezold, Akerman Senterfitt ‘Very responsive, thorough and knowledgeable’
- Jeffrey Deutch, Broad And Cassel ‘Superior intelligence and professionalism.’
- William Walker, White & Case LLP ‘He has a wealth of knowledge and experience in real estate.’
PRACTICE: Few will dispute Greenberg Traurig LLP’s dominant position in Florida’s real estate market. With seven offices across the state and close to 100 lawyers, there are few firms that can match its Florida coverage. Clients consider the practice to be ‘excellent on all fronts’, while its Miami office is ‘the best in the city.’ The state of the market means the practice is working on more workouts and restructurings of distressed real estate transactions and assets. The team, praised for its ‘political knowledge of local city and county governments’, represents a broad spread of clients, but has a particularly strong developer clientbase in South Florida.
Recent transactional highlights include advising the Seminole Tribe of Florida on a $700m note and bond financing for a major casino development. The firm also acted for Hilton Hotels on the development, financing and management agreements for the 1,000-room Hilton Hotel and the 500-room Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Bonnet Creek, Orlando.
CLIENTS: Greenberg Traurig LLP’s impressive list of clients includes the Orlando Utilities Commission, Feltrim Developments, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Winter Organisation, The Related Group of Florida, Burger King, Swire Pacific Holdings, Wachovia National Bank and Mellon United National Bank.
INDIVIDUALS: Clients consider partner Nancy Lash to be an ‘excellent negotiator, extremely talented at drafting complex documents, very focused and productive.’ Firm president and real estate expert Matthew Gorson also enjoys a superb reputation. Other recommended partners include Miami’s Richard Giusto and Orlando’s Orlando Evora.
PRACTICE: Akerman Senterfitt’s ‘excellent’ practice offers its clients ‘strong coverage’, as well as an ‘extremely good and responsive’ service, whose ‘knowledge and experience in these areas are well known and respected.’ The firm has an enviable spread of offices across Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach, offering the full range of services, including development, acquisitions, financing and leasing and a strong litigation practice.
A major highlight was representing the Miami Dolphins and South Florida Stadium Corporation on the $1bn sale of the privately owned and operated Miami Dolphins Stadium, together with adjacent properties, for a mixed hotel and leisure development. The practice also advised Fifth Third Bank on a retail bank branch roll out, involving hundreds of sites across Florida, and also represented El-Ad National Properties on the mortgaging of a portfolio consisting of 11 properties, via stock purchases and realty purchases worth $300m.
CLIENTS: Fifth Third Bank, PB Capital, El-Ad National Property, North American Properties, Konover South, Equity One, Sports Authority, Parmenter Realty Partners, AMB Property, Miami Dolphins and Farm Credit Association of Central Florida all list as clients.
INDIVIDUALS: The practice boasts a selection of first-class lawyers, including the ‘very responsive, thorough and knowledgeable’ Miami-based group chair Rich Bezold, and the ‘terrific’ Fort Lauderdale-based partner Eric Rapkin, who is praised for his ‘responsiveness and quality of work’. Clients also recommend the firm’s ‘excellent’ head of retail leasing and development, Theresa McLaughlin.
Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP
PRACTICE: Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP’s highly rated Miami-based practice is recommended by clients for its ‘outstanding’ lawyers. The practice advised on several innovative real estate transactions, such as for the Miami-based homebuilder Lennar, which acquired a 20% ownership interest and 50% voting rights in its real estate joint venture with Morgan Stanley, by selling it 11,000 home sites for $525m. Another highlight in 2008 included advising MBeach1 on an $85m construction loan for the redevelopment of a mixed-use site in 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami. The firm covers the full range of real estate matters, and has an active distressed property group.
CLIENTS: Clients include Dupont Property Holdings, Sea Oaks Investment, Merrill Lynch, Argent Ventures, WCI, Fortune Development, Ireland Company and Cabi Developers.
INDIVIDUALS: Managing partner John Sumberg and fellow name partner Brian Bilzin are both highly recommended for their expertise in distressed property workouts, acquisitions and sales, real estate finance and development. Real estate chair James Shindell also enjoys a top-notch reputation, as does distressed property expert Marjie Nealon.
PRACTICE: Carlton Fields has close to 40 lawyers spread across Tallahassee, West Palm Beach, Miami, St Petersburg and Tampa, the latter of which remains the hub for much of the practice. The firm offers its clients, which includes retail, residential and leisure developers, a broad service that includes land acquisition and finance, and distressed asset workouts. The team has a particularly strong niche in condominium and resort development.
CLIENTS: Major recent clients include HSBC, KeyBank, Wachovia Bank, WCI Communities, Beazer Homes, KB Homes, RReef Management and Lennar Homes.
INDIVIDUALS: Clients recommend several key partners, including the highly-rated chair of the real estate practice, Edgel Lester, as well as the versatile Tampa-based George Meyer, Ruth Barnes Kinsolving and Sandra Porter. Miami-based partner David Drobner also enjoys a very strong reputation.
Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A.
PRACTICE: Based in Orlando, Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A.’s highly rated practice is particularly strong on the finance side, and acts for a range of banks and borrowers on acquisition loans, development loans, and shopping centre, office building, restaurant, hotel and other single user retail loans.
CLIENTS: Major clients include Wachovia Bank, Orange County Healthy Facilities Authority, University of Central Florida Foundation, Orlando Performing Arts Center and CNL Income Properties. The practice also boasts a strong list of clients in the hotel and resorts development sector, including Marriott International, Wyndham International, Starwood Vacation Ownership and Gaylord Palms.
INDIVIDUALS: The team has several major names, including well-respected partners Michael Ryan and Gary Kaleita, who is praised for his expertise in hotel and resort development. Managing partner Nicholas Pope also enjoys a strong reputation and advises a string of big name clients including Apollo Real Estate Investors and Xentury City Development.
PRACTICE: With offices in Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando, Foley & Lardner’s Florida real estate practice forms a core part of the firm’s overall US offering. As such, the firm’s 30 Florida-based real estate lawyers handle both state-wide and big ticket national transactions.
CLIENTS: The practice acts for an impressive mix of financial institutions, developer and leisure clients including Wachovia and Regions Bank, Textrong Financial, Pacific Life Insurance, the Bethany Group, St Regis Paper, Regency Centers and the Meadowbrook Golf Club.
INDIVIDUALS: Tampa-based partner Fred Ridley is the national vice-chair of Foley & Lardner’s real estate group, and is particularly well known for his strong niche in the hospitality, resort and golf sectors. Other highly rated partners include Tampa’s Stephen Szabo and Orlando’s multi-talented Paul Rosenthal. Jacksonville-based partner David Cook is recommended for his expertise in retail and mixed-use development and finance.
PRACTICE: Gunster Yoakley & Stewart’s real estate group is very popular with clients who praise it as ‘always very responsive and provides quality advice for reasonable fees. We can turn a project to them without having to worry that it will be mishandled or that runaway legal fees will ensue’. With 11 partners working mainly out of Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami, it isn’t the largest practice in Florida, but its quality of work more than matches its bigger rivals. Recent examples include advising United States Sugar Corporation on the $1.75bn sale of 300 square miles of land to the South Florida Water Management District. The team also represented MSKP III, Babcock Property Holdings and Kitson & Partners on several key matters, including the sale of the 70,000 acre Babcock Ranch to the State of Florida for $350m.
CLIENTS: Key clients of the practice include Las Olas Yacht Club Associates, US Sugar Corporation, Kitson & Partners, Babcock Property Holdings, Huizenga Holdings, RBS, Royal Palm Management. Trammell Crow Company and DR Beachfront Real Estate.
INDIVIDUALS: The extremely well regarded Daniel Mackler, who has a strong following of developer clients, heads the practice out of Fort Laurderdale. Also recommended is firm managing partner William Perry at West Palm Beach, who represents homeowners associations, condominiums, as well as mining and construction companies.
PRACTICE: With offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach, there are few firms that can match Holland & Knight LLP’s presence throughout Florida, with its Miami team considered to be the strongest. The firm’s practice is especially well regarded for its work in the southern and central parts of the state. The practice has a very strong niche in the hospitality sector and regularly acts for lenders, investors and local, national and international developers, where its 80-plus team of Florida-based lawyers benefits from the support of its immense national practice.
CLIENTS: Clients include Beazer Homes, CBS, CSX, Century Homebuilders, DR Horton, Lennar Homes and Pulte Homes.
INDIVIDUALS: Miami-based partner John Halula is recommended for his real estate finance work, while Tampa’s Richard Eckhard is commended for his nationwide leasing, acquisitions and development practice. Jacksonville partner Melissa Turra is recommended for development work, particularly for condominiums. Orlando’s James Seay is recommended by developers for residential, commercial and mixed-use projects.
PRACTICE: Ruden McClosky has an impressive 11 offices spread across the state, through which there are over 30 lawyers focusing on real estate work. The practice acts for an impressive range of banks, municipalities, redevelopment authorities, as well as local, national and international developers, covering a range of matters including REITs, mixed-use projects and resort developments.
CLIENTS: Ruden McClosky acts for a good mix of local and national clients including GMAC, Cornerstone, Taylor Morrison, Turnberry Associates, Wachovia Bank, Simon Property, the Blackstone Group, Bank Atlantic Holdings, Fifth Third Bank, Centex Homes, GL Homes, Howard Group and Marshall and Ilsley Bank.
INDIVIDUALS: Tampa-based partner James Soble and Fort Lauderdale’s Barry Somerstein are recommended for development, leasing and finance work. Somerstein has recently been advising Tate Capital Solutions, an offshore investment vehicle investing in distressed loans and assets in the US. Fort Lauderdale-based partner Mark Grant is also recommended for advice to lenders and bulk buyers of condominiums.
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson PA
PRACTICE: Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson PA’s 31 lawyers are spread out across very strong offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. The practice is very well regarded in areas such as affordable housing, where it has a particularly strong niche, as well as acquisitions, financings and developments in the residential, hospitality, commercial and retail sectors.
CLIENTS: Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson PA is regularly instructed by banks and REITs, as well as local, national and international investors and developers, including Beazer Homes and Taylor Woodrow.
INDIVIDUALS: Star partners include Miami- based Robert Weissler, who is chairman of the firm’s real estate team, and particularly recommended for his track record in the hospitality sector. Fort Lauderdale’s Charles Brecker has a strong practice representing builders, developers and investors, while Miami’s Chava Genet is praised for her transactional expertise in office, retail, hotel and mixed-use properties.
PRACTICE: Working out of Miami, White & Case LLP boasts a first-class three-partner practice. While it is a smaller offering compared to most local firms, what it lacks in size it makes up for in quality of work. Unsurprisingly, the practice has been active on a number of restructurings, such as for Ocean Bank in over a dozen loan workouts worth more than $175m. It also represented Regions Bank in its $40m loan to refinance 16 charter schools operated by the Academica Group. The practice advised a Starwood Capital affiliate on the restructuring of a $77m loan on a holiday resort in Islamorada, Florida.
CLIENTS: An impressive client list includes AMB Property, Avatar Properties, Codina Group, Flagler Development, GEM Realty Capital, JMB Realty, Starwood Capital, Stiles Corporation and WCI Communities.
INDIVIDUALS: H William Walker has a superb reputation within the Miami real estate community, and regularly represents lenders and investors on major developments and transactions. Partner Lawrence Gragg also has a very good following of real estate developer clients, as does partner Steven Vainder, who is recommended for leasings, sales and financings.
PRACTICE: Broad And Cassel’s ‘excellent’ real estate team has 13 partners spread across its offices in Boca Raton, Orlando, Miami and West Palm Beach. The practice acts for developers, investors and lenders on the full range of real estate matters. Recent highlights include advising Bernuth Agencies on the multi-million dollar acquisition and subsequent lease of land to the Fisher Island Community Association. The team also represented Bainbridge on the expansion of its value-add apartment portfolio in Florida, which has involved the acquisition of $600m worth of properties.
CLIENTS: The practice acts for a mix of investors, developers and lenders, as well as local authorities and government agencies, including Altman, Trammell Crow Residential, Wood Partners, Compson, Battaglia, Engineered Homes of Orlando, Regions Bank, City of Coral Gables and Atlantic Housing.
INDIVIDUALS: Richard MacFarland chairs a quality team of partners that includes James Slater, Peter Schoeman and Robert Alfert, all of whom are commended for their ‘excellent, high quality services’. Boca Raton-based partner Jeffrey Deutch is praised for his ‘superior intelligence and professionalism’.
PRACTICE: Shutts & Bowen LLP has a very strong pedigree for real estate work, with over fifty lawyers working out of offices in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach. The firm has an active transactional practice, and is also recommended for development, financing, construction and litigation work. The practice’s expertise extends beyond state boundaries, as evinced by its advice to UrbanAmerica on its $485m purchase of 13 office buildings and a distribution centre across the US from the real estate fund Rubicon America Trust.
CLIENTS: The practice acts for a range of investors, banks and developers, including UrbanAmerica, Taylor Land and Development, Prudential Insurance, New National, AXA, BAC Florida Bank and Flagstone Island Gardens.
INDIVIDUALS: Shutts & Bowen LLP’s Miami-based co-chair of real estate, Keven Cowan, enjoys a superb track record on developments, financings, workouts and acquisitions, and has a particularly strong clientbase in the financial services sector. Florentino Gonzalez, also in Miami, is recommended for complex transactional and leasing matters that often take on a national dimension. Lee Nelson, head of the firm’s Tampa real estate group, is also recommended for transactional and development work, particularly in mixed-use projects, and retail and industrial parks.
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
PRACTICE: Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. has a well-regarded three-partner presence in Florida. While the team is relatively small by Florida standards, it can call upon the support of its national real estate practice, which has over 100 lawyers. The group regularly advises clients on major state-wide and national transactions, workouts, financings and developments.
CLIENTS: Major recent clients include Fifth Third Bank, HMA, The Related Group, Trammell Crow and Colonnade Properties.
INDIVIDUALS: Tampa-based partner Stephen Mitchell is active in the hospitality and leisure industry, and is also recommended for his restructuring and finance expertise. Other recommended partners include Jeffrey Butt, who divides his time between Tampa and West Palm Beach, and Miami’s Thomas Eagan, who are both strong on the finance side.
PRACTICE: 2008 saw Fowler White Boggs P.A. build up its presence in Jacksonville with two impressive partner hires: Karl Hanson from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, and James Porter from Montecito Property Company and Montecito Medical Investment Company, where he was assistant general counsel. The main hub of the practice is in Tampa, but also has strong teams in Fort Myers, Jacksonville and Tallahassee. The practice’s expertise extends beyond the transactional and development side, into financings, leasing, property management, loan workouts and restructurings. Recently it advised SunTrust Bank on a number of loan modifications and refinancings, and Quick Service Foods on the sale of several restaurant sites.
CLIENTS: The team’s clientbase comes from all corners of the market, and includes Quick Service Foods, SunTrust Bank, Kinsman Hotel Group, Columbia Restaurant Group, Thompson & Company of Tampa and Ryan Companies.
INDIVIDUALS: Real estate head Jeffrey Shannon boasts a diverse Tampa-based practice that covers transactional, development, leasing and financing matters, as well as licensing and franchise agreements. Herbert Boatner is particularly recommended for his public sector work, advising state and local governments, as well as lenders and developers on related issues.
PRACTICE: Gray Robinson PA’s dedicated Florida practice extends across 10 offices, covering the main commercial centres, as well as locations such as Key West, Lakeland, Melbourne and Naples. The 43-lawyer team has an extremely strong local clientbase, and advises across the full range of transactional, development and financing matters, both in commercial and residential real estate.
CLIENTS: Clients include Taylor Woodrow, Morgan Stanley, Mission Inn Golf Resort, B&M Construction, Builders Construction, and the Home Builders and Contractors Association of Brevard County.
INDIVIDUALS: Orlando-based partner Phillip Finch has a strong following of clients in commercial real estate, including developers, lenders, investors, landlords and tenants.
PRACTICE: Based solely in Tampa, Hill Ward & Henderson has a good 27-lawyer practice that acts for the full range of investors, lenders, developers and brokers, as well as construction industry clients, such as contractors and merchant builders. The firm is also recommended for its litigation work.
CLIENTS: The practice has a good mix of local and national clients, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bank of America, Colonial Bank, Bank of Tampa, Fifth Third Bank, Honeywell International KHS&S Contractors, Wachovia, William Ryan Homes Florida, HCA and American Land Lease.
INDIVIDUALS: Firm vice-chair and name partner, Thomas Henderson, is one of the best-known real estate lawyers in Tampa, with a top-notch track record in transactional, development and finance matters.
PRACTICE: Jacksonville-based firm Rogers Towers is a stalwart of Northeast Florida’s legal market, with offices in Amelia Island, Ponte Vedra and St Augustine. The firm’s 80-lawyer group advises investors and developers across the full range of real estate matters, and also acts for an impressive range of national and state banks, credit unions and insurance companies.
CLIENTS: Clients include Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Gate Petroleum, Dearwood Lake, St Augustine Development Corporation, Mass-Cury/Melbourne-Cury, The Mitchell Company, Wachovia Bank and the Firehouse Restaurant Group.
INDIVIDUALS: William Scheu is a major name in the northeast Florida real estate market, with a strong focus on office building and shopping centre, acquisitions, developments and leases.
PRACTICE: Smith, Gambrell & Russell’s quality Jacksonville office has two partners working full time on a range of matters for local and national clients, including big ticket financings, acquisitions and developments. The practice has been active on the restructuring side, recently advising Winn-Dixie Stores on its Chapter 11 reorganisation, involving the sale of 500 retail, distribution and manufacturing properties across nine states.
CLIENTS: The firm has an impressive list of clients in the retail, hospitality and transportation sectors, including Winn-Dixie Stores, the Fresh Market grocery chain, Standard Pacific Homes, the St Joe Company, Landcom Hospitality and Norfolk Southern Railway.
INDIVIDUALS: Highly-rated partner Douglas Stanford heads the team, and is recommended for his expertise in mortgage and asset-based financings, loan workouts and restructurings, as well as major developments in the office, industrial, retail and hospitality sectors.
PRACTICE: Tew Cardenas’ real estate group is primarily centred in Miami, although the firm does also have an office in Tallahassee. The group is strong on the transactional and development front, advising lenders, developers and investors, and is backed up by excellent land use and litigation practices. Its credentials in big ticket workouts and restructurings were proven through its work for New Florida Properties on its five-year bankruptcy process, following its ill-fated Blue and Green Diamonds condominium development in Miami Beach. This was ultimately resolved for the creditors in 2008, following the sale of over $69m worth of assets.
CLIENTS: Clients include City of Miami Beach, Hines Interests, Urbana, Songy Partners, Falcon Realty, Millennium Partners and Transwestern Investment.
INDIVIDUALS: Real estate chair Brian Tague enjoys an exceptional reputation for transactional work, which covers the full spectrum of matters including debt and equity financings, workouts and restructurings, as well as major joint ventures and developments.