NEW YORK – Jan. 10, 2024 – Despite high interest rates and other headwinds that put pressure on asset valuations and deal flow, Greenberg Traurig’s Global Real Estate Practice had a strong year in 2023, finding new ways to serve clients and help them grow amid the uncertainty.
Over the past year, the 700-attorney-strong real estate practice guided clients through major projects and transactions covering the spectrum of property asset classes, from transportation and digital infrastructure to sports stadiums, and growing niche sectors such as senior housing and student apartments in markets around the globe.
“Greenberg Traurig lawyers proved resilient and creative in 2023 as clients continually turned to us to help anticipate change, reduce risk, and adapt to new market conditions worldwide,” said Michael J. Baum, co-chair of the Global Real Estate Practice and senior vice president of the firm. “I am particularly proud of how our lawyers and staff worked together as a team and collaborated with the firm’s multidisciplinary practices locally and globally to navigate the challenges of the past year and deliver key successes for clients.”
The team saw significant client demand across a broad range of real estate transactions and matters, including asset management, fund formations, joint ventures, litigation, property development, infrastructure, and restructurings.
To enhance and diversify the practice’s capabilities, the team strengthened its legal bench in major U.S. markets, such as California, Florida, New York, and Texas, and expanded globally with new locations in Dubai, Riyadh, and Singapore.
“Our successful representations in 2023 ran the gamut from advising institutional asset owners and managers on strategic acquisitions and dispositions for their portfolios, to helping New York’s transit system expand and modernize,” said Stephen L. Rabinowitz, co-chair of the firm’s Global Real Estate Practice. “Today’s ever-evolving marketplace requires us to be more nimble in how we serve our clients, and time and again, Greenberg Traurig has answered the call, pivoting to help clients identify and seize new opportunities.”
In 2023, Greenberg Traurig’s real estate team counseled on a wide array of international and cross-border transactions, including assisting Wing Group and Griffin Capital Partners in the acquisition of a 60% stake in Berlin-based developer Bauwert AG and BlackRock in advising a joint venture between British Airways Pension Scheme and a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund to develop Tribeca King’s Cross, a £1 billion life sciences project in London.
“With offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, the firm is better positioned than ever before to provide holistic counsel to clients in a wide range of international and cross-border transactions,” said Christian Schede, co-chair of the Global Real Estate Practice and founding chairman of the firm’s office in Germany. “Our extensive global resources and capabilities, coupled with our uniquely collaborative culture, enable us to guide clients through each phase of a project’s life cycle and beyond, including all issues related to the flow and deployment of capital into real estate around the world.”
In 2023, the team handled notable transactions across the globe for major clients, including AIR Communities, Blackstone, Bridge Investment, Brookfield, Creation Equity, CBRE, Greystar, Cerberus, Invesco, Kayne Anderson, Kimco, Mast Capital, Related, Seagis, SL Green, Swire, Tishman Speyer, Walton Street, and Witkoff Group.
“Through the ups and downs of credit cycles and different market conditions, clients continue to rely on Greenberg Traurig to provide forward-looking legal counsel focused on their individual needs and objectives,” said Richard J. Giusto, co-chair of the firm’s Global Real Estate Practice. “As we begin 2024, we are optimistic and committed to helping our clients sustain and grow their businesses in a rapidly changing environment.”
Among the major transactions handled by Greenberg Traurig’s Global Real Estate Practice in 2023, the team represented:
- Apartment Income REIT (AIR Communities) in a more than $1 billion joint venture transaction with a global institutional investor to recapitalize a 3,093-unit portfolio of 10 multifamily properties throughout the United States.
- Cantor Fitzgerald Income Trust, Inc. (CFIT) in a $1.25 billion continuous follow-on public offering of common shares to invest in and manage a diversified portfolio of income-producing commercial properties and other real estate-related assets.
- Erie County in a $1.54 billion deal with New York State and the Buffalo Bills to build a new football stadium in Buffalo, and the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County in a historic agreement to build a new $2.1 billion stadium for the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
- Garbe Institutional Capital (GARBE) in its acquisition of GRR Real Estate Management GmbH (GRR), a leading platform for retail real estate focused on the food sector with about €2 billion in assets under management.
- Greater Manchester Pension Fund in its strategic investment into Bruntwood SciTech, a dedicated life sciences property platform valued at circa £1.5 billion.
- Heim Global in its first UK-focused residential fund with a hard cap of £1.25 billion.
- Heitman LLC in a recapitalization and continuation of its German and Dutch residential fund valued at €500 million.
- A joint venture between Creation and CrossHarbor Capital Partners in the land acquisition, development, equity and debt capitalization and ultimate sale of Airpark Logistics Center in Goodyear, Ariz. – the largest transaction involving a multi-building industrial business park in the state’s history.
- A venture between Global Student Accommodations Group and Morgan Stanley in refinancing nearly $700 million of real estate debt encumbering 26 properties in three separate portfolios with three separate lenders.
- Menora Mivtachim Group in joining with Cain International to acquire a £500 million student housing portfolio in the UK, supporting the delivery of nearly 2,400 student beds.
- New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority in various real estate, development, construction, and regulatory matters related to the development of the $11 billion Grand Central Madison Terminal, the first major railroad terminal constructed in the U.S. in 67 years.
- Pacific Life Insurance Company in its purchase of a 49.9% interest in two apartment buildings with 558 combined units in Washington D.C.’s Mount Vernon Triangle for $146.2 million.
- Redwood CP Dev LLC in a ground lease from the City of North Miami, FL, for a $750 million mixed-use project, including up to 1,568 residential units, 180,000 square feet of retail and office space, and a redevelopment of the adjacent Claude Pepper Park and Community Center.
- Related California in securing $690 million in construction financing for Tasman East, a residential development with more than 500 apartments and 191 units of senior housing in Santa Clara, CA.
- Ryman Hospitality Properties in its $800 million acquisition of the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in Texas from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.
- SL Green Realty Corp. in the sale of a 49.9% interest in Manhattan’s 245 Park Avenue office tower at a $2 billion valuation to Mori Trust, and in a $500 million refinancing loan for Manhattan’s 919 Third Avenue office tower.
- Swire Properties with all hotel and residential management, branding and licensing agreements, as well as with all other structuring, phasing and related condominium, construction, land use and development matters, for a landmark redevelopment of the Mandarin Oriental on Miami’s Brickell Key.
- Walton Street Capital, LLC in two of the largest industrial real estate transactions in Mexico’s history: the acquisition of Advance Real Estate, an industrial and logistics real estate development and operating company in México with a portfolio of 61 “Class A” industrial buildings comprising over 10.4 million square feet of gross leasable area and over 13.6 million square feet of land for industrial development, and the $662 million sale, together with real estate developer Finsa, of a 46-building industrial portfolio comprising 8.9 million square feet of total leasable space throughout México.
- Workspace Property Trust in refinancing a $1.3 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities facility and restructuring of preferred equity associated with a portfolio of 10 million square feet of suburban office and industrial space.
About Greenberg Traurig's Global Real Estate Practice: The Greenberg Traurig Real Estate Practice is a cornerstone of the firm and recognized leader in the industry. The firm’s real estate attorneys deliver diversified and comprehensive counsel for property acquisition and investment, development, management and leasing, financing, restructuring, and disposition of all asset classes of real estate. The team draws upon the knowledge and experience of more than 700 real estate lawyers from around the world, serving clients from key markets in the United States, Europe & the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The group’s clientele includes a broad range of property developers, lenders, investment managers, private equity funds, REITs, and private owners. The firm’s real estate team advises clients on a variety of matters across a broad spectrum of commercial, recreational, and residential real estate, including structured equity and debt and the hybrids.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2650 attorneys in 47 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI “Highly Recommended Law Firm” for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.