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In his practice, Jon Robins handles a broad range of finance, equity investment, and real estate activities for clients in the private equity fund, capital market, institutional lender, REIT, hedge fund, developer, owner/operator, corporate, and investor space.

For more than two decades, Jon has represented lenders and equity providers, including conduit lenders, banks, insurance companies, family offices, and private equity and debt funds in diverse matters such as the formation of joint ventures, structuring and making preferred equity investments, the origination, purchase, sale, restructuring and enforcement of mortgage loans; mezzanine and construction loans; subordinate (“B”) notes; participation and co-lender interests; and in structuring and negotiating inter-creditor, co-lender, and participation and servicing agreements. In complex and novel structures of mortgage and mezzanine loans, he often represents CMBS lenders and borrowers.

Other significant representations include lenders and borrowers in deed-in-lieu and assignment-in-lieu transactions; acquisitions by ground lease, development, leasing, repositioning and disposition of hotels, restaurants, retail centers, multi-family properties, and office buildings on behalf of private equity funds, developers, and institutions; several UCC sales to realize on defaulted mezzanine loan collateral; experience with both acquirers and targets involving the real estate aspects of corporate M&A transactions; and capital providers in receivables financing, factoring and asset-based lending, and in the workout of such transactions.

Additionally, Jon has wide-ranging experience with tenancy-in-common financing as well as financing hospitality properties. In terms of purchase and sale of distressed debt, both buyers and sellers have engaged Jon, and he regularly advises clients on both strategy and tactics to resolve default situations and enforce remedies.

Jon regularly presents on related topics.

Capabilities

Experience

  • Represented the lead lender group in originating a $200 million CMBS mortgage loan secured by multi-state portfolio of full-service hotels, with aspects representing “Top 10” loans in at least four different securitizations.°
  • Represented a global hedge fund in originating a junior mezzanine, ground-up construction loan for a mixed-use project in Brooklyn, NY, which also involved structuring and negotiating inter-creditor arrangements with senior lenders and negation of a participation agreement.°
  • Represented family offices seeking to form a joint venture and crafting the joint venture of a preferred equity investment for the ground-up construction of an urban mixed-use development primarily featuring multi-family housing in Atlanta; later played a key role in the subsequent sale of a preferred interest in that investment to a large private equity fund.°
  • Represented a major student housing provider in restructuring a $300 million mezzanine loan facility held by a sovereign wealth fund.°
  • Represented a hospitality investor in creating a joint venture and acquiring, by ground lease, a development site in Texas for the development of a dual-branded hotel.°
  • Represented a Greater Philadelphia-area borrower in a $102 million CMBS mortgage loan and $48 million mezzanine loan to acquire, renovate, and reposition a major historic Center City Philadelphia office building.°
  • Represented private equity fund in a joint venture with New England-based developers in the acquisition, redevelopment, and conversion of a large Florida shopping mall into an outlet and power center.°
  • Represented a private equity fund in acquiring a majority interest in an Atlanta multi-family property portfolio via recapitalization of the pre-existing joint venture and redemption of prior investor partner.°
  • Represented a Philadelphia-based private equity fund and its joint venture partner in selling a $35 million multi-family housing complex in North Carolina.°
  • Represented a New England-based capital company’s subsidiary of a major global corporation in an approximately $50 million receivables purchase facility for Canadian receivables from a Canadian subsidiary of a major French technology and communications company.°
  • Represented a publicly-traded, New York-based REIT in renewing and modifying the office lease of a major global law firm’s Center City Philadelphia headquarters.°
  • Represented a mezzanine lender in acquiring a Midwest hotel of a global hospitality chain by UCC sale, negotiating a joint venture agreement between the mezzanine lender and well-known operator of Midwestern hotels; supported the lender’s goal of renovating and operating the hotel upon negotiating necessary amendments and assumption of the property’s existing securitized senior debt with the special servicer.°

°The above representations were handled by Mr. Robins prior to him joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

Recognition & Leadership

  • Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate Law, 2023-2025
  • Listed, Chambers USA Guide, 2021-2024
    • Real Estate, 2021-2024
    • Real Estate: Finance, 2021-2024
  • Team Member, a Law360 "Real Estate Practice Group of the Year," 2023
  • Member, Board of Directors, Central Philadelphia Development Corp., 2024-Present
  • Member, Urban Land Institute Philadelphia, 2018-Present

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., University of Cincinnati College of Law
    • Order of the Coif
  • B.A., Colgate University
Admissions
  • Pennsylvania
  • Connecticut