Profile
Paul Kovachev is an associate in Greenberg Traurig's Real Estate Practice in New York, where he has closed more than $15 billion in commercial real estate transactions spanning acquisitions, dispositions, financings, and joint ventures. A licensed certified public accountant (CPA) and former audit manager at two Big Four accounting firms (PwC and EY), Paul brings a combination of legal judgment and financial fluency to every matter — reading not only the documents that govern a deal, but the numbers that drive it.
Paul concentrates his practice on sophisticated real estate structures, financings, workouts, and restructurings, and on the acquisition and disposition of single assets and portfolios across all asset classes, including multifamily, senior housing, industrial, hospitality, office, and retail. He regularly represents institutional owners, developers, lenders, and investors in mortgage, construction, mezzanine, and preferred equity financings, including CMBS transactions, as well as joint ventures and REIT matters.
Drawing on his accounting and financial background, Paul also counsels New York and national real estate owners, managers, and developers in disputes arising from the ownership and operation of commercial real estate, including real estate development fraud investigations, damages analyses, and forensic financial review. His broader transactional experience includes aircraft finance and acquisitions for major U.S. airlines, project finance, structured finance and offerings, finance leases, and sale-leasebacks, as well as trust administration for high-net-worth individuals.
الاختصاص
الاختصاص
- Part-Time Law Clerk, Judges Melissa Crane and Lisa Sokoloff, New York State Supreme Court, 2017
- Audit Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young LLP, Assurance Asset Management, 2007-2015
- Chief Financial and Compliance Officer, S3 Capital Partners/Spruce Capital Partners, 2015-2017
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA) – NY & IL
- Represented the borrower, a national retail chain, in a $455.7 million CMBS loan refinancing secured by eight industrial distribution centers located in eight states.
- Represented the underwriter, a national investment bank, in a $550 million tax-exempt public-private bond financing for the acquisition of a casino, hotel, and golf resort complex in the Catskills region of New York, including the drafting of the indenture, mortgage, and preliminary official statement.
- Assisted in the preparation of the private placement memorandum for a $1 billion collateralized fund obligation offering by a global alternative asset manager.
- Represented the senior lenders and preferred members, two institutional investment firms, in the restructuring of a $194 million senior loan financing and a new $34.7 million preferred equity investment in a multifamily development in Mesa, Arizona.
- Represented two institutional real estate lenders in an assignment-in-lieu mortgage loan and preferred equity restructuring effecting the takeover of a $226.3 million industrial property comprising 11 warehouses in Mesa, Arizona, from a defaulting borrower.
- Represented the borrower in the $210 million senior and mezzanine loan recapitalization of a multifamily property in Tiburon, California.
- Represented joint venture borrowers in four senior, building, and project loan financings, aggregating approximately $213 million, provided by an institutional credit fund for portfolios of townhouse, loft, and mixed-use properties in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York.
- Represented the developer in the $195 million acquisition, building, and project loan financing for the conversion of a landmark loft building in Brooklyn, New York.
- Represented the borrowers in the $100 million loan refinancing and securitization of a commercial condominium property in Harrison, New Jersey.
- Represented a private real estate investment firm, as borrower, in approximately 20 acquisition, construction, and permanent loan financings, aggregating more than $850 million, for single-family and multifamily build-for-rent communities located throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
- Conducted and managed the due diligence and the drafting of the purchase and sale agreement for the $5.8 billion acquisition of a 15-hotel portfolio located throughout the United States by an international financial group.
- Led the negotiation and drafting of the purchase and sale agreement and all closing documents for the $1.35 billion acquisition of a portfolio of five senior housing communities in Texas by a private equity real estate investment firm.
- Assisted in the negotiation and drafting of the purchase and sale agreement for the $740 million acquisition of a portfolio of 27 student housing properties located in 17 states.
- Led the drafting of the purchase and sale agreement and all closing and Section 1031 exchange documents for the $675 million sale of a portfolio of seven assisted living facilities in Florida.
- Led the drafting of the membership interest purchase agreement and all closing documents for the $500 million sale of a 53% ownership interest in a portfolio of 25 senior living facilities located in 14 states.
- Led the $210 million all-cash acquisition closing of a multifamily apartment tower in Seattle, Washington.
- Led the negotiation and drafting of the purchase and sale agreement and all closing documents for the $190 million sale of a portfolio of four assisted living, independent living, and memory care facilities in Florida.
- Led the drafting of the purchase and sale agreements and the acquisition closings of two multifamily residential properties in suburban Chicago, Illinois, for a combined purchase price of $174 million.
- Led the negotiation and drafting of the purchase and sale agreement and all closing documents for the $111 million sale of two assisted living and memory care facilities in Massachusetts.
- Negotiated the purchase and sale agreement for the $98.5 million acquisition of an office and retail building in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan.
- Drafted the joint venture agreement and related organizational documents for the development of a 376-unit mixed-use multifamily project, with amenity space and structured parking, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
- Drafted the joint venture agreement and related right of first offer agreement for the development of a 336-unit mixed-use multifamily project in Boynton Beach, Florida.
- Assisted with the due diligence and drafting of the joint venture, recognition, and related agreements for a preferred equity investment in the acquisition of a Lower Manhattan office tower slated for residential conversion.
- Assisted with the drafting of the joint venture agreement for a $7.236 million recapitalization of a portfolio of medical office buildings located in multiple states.
التكريمات والأدوار القيادية
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, "Ones to Watch," Real Estate Law, 2025-2027
- Team Member, a Law360 "Real Estate Practice Group of the Year," 2023
- Team Member, U.S. News – Best Lawyers, "Law Firm of the Year: Litigation - Real Estate," 2022
- Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award for outstanding pro bono legal service, 2018
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Award, 2006
- Deloitte & Touche Award (Marquette University Accounting Department), 2005
- Member, New York City Bar Association, 2018-Present
- Member, Real Property Law Committee and Structured Finance Committee, 2018-Present
- Volunteer Attorney, EDNY Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project, 2024-Present
- Volunteer Attorney, Legal Aid Society, Employment Law Unit, 2018-2019
- Volunteer Attorney, New York Legal Assistance Group, Mobile Legal Help Center and Legal Clinic for Pro Se Litigants in the Southern District of New York, 2015-2019
- Volunteer Attorney, New York State Office of the Attorney General, Economic Justice Division, 2017
- Volunteer Attorney, Legal Services NYC, NYC Bankruptcy Assistance Project, 2015-2016
- Member, Ripple Effect Artists, Inc., Board of Directors, 2015-2016
- Court Liaison, Courtroom Advocates Project, Sanctuary for Families, 2015
- Mentor & Venture Capital Fund Raiser for Start-Ups, Business Mentor NY, 2015
المؤهلات المهنية
المؤهل العلمي
- LL.M., Securities & Financial Regulation, Georgetown University Law Center
- J.D., New York Law School
- B.S., magna cum laude, Marquette University
تراخيص المزاولة
- District of Columbia
- New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
اللغات
- Bulgarian, Native
- German, Conversational
- Russian, Conversational