REAL ESTATE

The lawyers in our Commercial Real Estate practice group have a broad range of experience and expertise. We offer sophisticated legal services often associated with large law firms combined with small-firm efficiencies, which we believe provide our clients with the best of both worlds.

We emphasize relationships with our clients. We believe it is important to get to know our clients and understand their goals and business plans in order to best advise and assist them in reaching their objectives. Counseling is an important aspect of our service to our clients, as we help in assessing and evaluating both legal and business considerations.

We are licensed in North Carolina and in conjunction with local counsel have assisted our clients in transactions throughout the southeastern and southern United States. We have also acted as local counsel for out-of-state clients, lenders, title insurance companies and attorneys completing transactions in North Carolina.

As with any sophisticated real estate practice, there are many components involved and we frequently work with the firm’s Business Law and Trusts and Estates practice groups to meet the needs of our clients.

A partial list of our Commercial Real Estate practice areas includes:

Acquisitions and Sales
  • Representation of owners, developers, investors, and management companies in the acquisition and sale of:
    • Shopping centers and malls
    • Multi-family housing
    • Office buildings
    • Commercial condominiums
    • Senior living facilities
    • Manufacturing, industrial and warehouse facilities
    • Recreational amenities, including golf courses, private clubs, and marinas
    • Other commercial properties
  • Formation of ownership structures to maximize financing and tax benefits, including:
    • Partnerships and joint ventures
    • Limited liability companies
    • Special purpose entities
    • Real estate funds
Condominiums and Planned Communities
  • Acquisition, assemblage, development and preparing legal infrastructure for condominium and planned communities ("PUDs")
  • Preparation of:
    • Condominium Public Offering Statement
    • Declaration of Condominium and Planned Community
    • Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of the Property Owners’ Association
    • Representation of property owner's associations
Environmental Mitigation and Restoration
  • Real estate aspects of:
    • Stream and wetland preservation
    • Mitigation and restoration and related conservation easements
    • Dam removal
    • Mitigation banks and banking instruments.
Finance
  • Representation of borrowers in virtually all types of financing, including:
    • Conventional
    • Securitized
    • Mezzanine
    • Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae
    • HUD
    • Construction
Land Use Regulation and Planning
  • Review of planning, zoning and other land use ordinances
  • Work with engineers and surveyors regarding preparation of plats and related documents
Real Estate Development
  • Acquisition, assemblage, development and preparing legal infrastructure for:
    • Residential communities/planned unit developments
    • Related recreational amenities
    • Retail developments
    • Mixed-use developments
  • Preparation of:
    • Property owners' association documents
    • Declaration of restrictive covenants
    • Sales contracts
    • Leases
  • Construction Agreements
    • Drafting and negotiating architectural and construction agreements
Real Estate Leasing and Management
  • Representation of property managers, landlords and tenants
    • Preparation and negotiation of:
    • Retail leases
    • Office leases
    • Restaurant leases
    • Industrial/warehouse leases
    • Ground leases
    • Apartment form leases
  • Preparation and negotiation of related documents:
    • Assignments
    • Subordination, non-disturbance and attornment agreements
    • Waivers
    • Estoppels
    • License agreements
    • Franchisor addendums
    • Property management agreements
Tax Planning and 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges
  • Structuring of transactions to maximize tax benefits
  • Ensure compliance with 1031 like-kind exchange requirements
Title Services
  • Title examination throughout the State of North Carolina
  • Approved attorneys for major national and North Carolina title insurance companies