Real Estate

New York City Real Estate Transactions

We help clients negotiate and close commercial real estate deals that protect their interests and move them forward.

Led by Ira Nesenoff, our real estate team has played a prominent role in some of the most high-profile commercial real estate transactions in New York City. With more than 40 years of experience negotiating and closing complex transactions, he has earned the respect of leading real estate professionals and a reputation as a consummate dealmaker.

Our Clients

We take pride in the diversity of our practice, advising first-time investors in New York commercial real estate as well as veteran billion-dollar developers. Representative clients include:

• Individual real estate entrepreneurs and investors
• Start-up real estate companies
• Real estate management and leasing companies
• Developers
• Syndicators
• Lenders
• Private equity firms
• Investment banks

While the majority of our work is on New York metropolitan area transactions, we have a growing practice representing clients in projects elsewhere in New York state, in New Jersey and states across the country.

About Real Estate-related Disputes 

In addition to our substantial practice in real estate transactions, we also help clients to resolve real estate disputes. Clients include including construction companies, engineers, developers, owners, operators, and condominium and co-operative boards. We have in-depth experience in the following areas:

• Construction claims, including defect, delay, and payment matters
• Development disputes
• Foreclosures
• Brokerage disputes
• Condominium and co-operative conflicts
• Landlord-tenant matters

Landlord-tenant Conflicts

We combine strategic counseling, strong advocacy, and practical experience in our work representing clients in commercial and residential landlord-tenant disputes. Clients include management companies, managing agents, developers, and owners. Our practice covers New York City and surrounding areas, and includes:

• Prosecution of non-payment
• Prosecution of holdover proceedings
• Commercial evictions
• Material lease default obligations
• Illegal sublet and non-primary resident claims
• Rent Stabilization Code disputes

Condominium and Co-operative Conflicts 

Litigation between neighbors over co-op corporations and condominiums can be explosive, emotional, and complex. Our attorneys understand what is at stake in condo and co-op disputes, and are skilled advocates and communicators in resolving highly charged conflicts.

We have represented co-operative and condominium sponsors, condominium owner corporations, co-operative tenant associations, and individual tenants in connection with a range of issues, including disputes between board members, state agency proceedings, and unauthorized construction and other tenant violations.

Our Services

We have extensive lead and co-counsel experience negotiating, facilitating, and closing a wide range of transactions, including those involving:

• Acquisitions, sales, financing and leasing
• Commercial, residential, and mixed-use development
• Purchase and sale of net leased properties
• Real estate contracts
• Securitized and other mortgage loan transactions
• Mezzanine loans
• Acquisition, construction and project loan financing facilities
• Operating agreements
• Complex capital structures
• Ground lease transactions and financings
• Office, retail and industrial leasing transactions
• Asset-based lending
• Partnership agreements
• Loan workout and restructuring agreements
• Real estate syndication documents
• Secured and unsecured lending transactions
• Complex due diligence investigations and title matters

We also provide comprehensive support to real estate clients in litigation matters, including construction, landlord-tenant, and partnership disputes as well as foreclosures.

Our Approach

Our focus is not on volume of transactions, but on the outcome for each and every client. We commit ourselves to being accessible and responsive, and to using our considerable practical experience to close deals that count.

While the specifics of any transaction are critical, we believe that many lawyers lose sight of the ultimate goal: making the deal. While we are detail-oriented and always look to protect client interests, we do not get caught up in the technical issues to the detriment of the transaction. We understand that buying or selling a piece of real property is your ultimate goal, and we develop strategies to help get you there.

Our involvement often extends beyond the scope of legal representation in a given transaction. We aim to help our clients grow and evolve wherever possible, and frequently connect clients with key individuals in our substantial network of finance, legal and real estate professionals.