Overview

The original asset, real estate often serves as the cornerstone of progress and achievement. However, ownership of and investment in real property is wrought with potential pitfalls that can cost time and money. Drawing on our deep understanding of the competitive pressures of today’s market, the real estate lawyers at McDermott provide clients a complete service offering for their real estate acquisition, operation, leasing, financing and development needs.

Our professionals handle matters spanning from the structuring of large, complex acquisitions through development and ultimate disposition. We advise a diverse group of clients, including developers, lenders, operators, private owners and real estate investment trusts (REITs), and frequently represent landlords and tenants in all facets of office, commercial, retail and industrial leasing transactions. Additionally, we counsel hospitality clients in all aspects of their businesses. Backed by the world’s leading health care law practice, we also have extensive experience handling real estate matters for companies in the health industry.

We take an interdisciplinary approach, providing a comprehensive offering that includes transactional, portfolio management and leasing counsel. McDermott provides top-notch advice in all areas of real estate law as well as related legal issues, including litigation for construction and real estate disputes, environmental land assessments, labor and employment guidance for hotels and resorts, financing for renovations and expansions, and tax guidance for deal structuring.

A global team, we are immersed in our local markets. Our lawyers have worked on iconic commercial projects that have helped shape the Manhattan landscape, as well as the luxury hotels lining South Beach. Some of our clients include Ian Schrager Company, Hotel Association of New York City, RFR Holding LLC, Blackstone Group and NorthStar Capital. In Europe, our German real estate team is a market leader, advising developers on large-scale acquisitions, operators with retail property management, and private investors with their hospitality portfolios.

Competenze Correlate

Germany

Our real estate law team in Germany provides advice on the full spectrum of real estate transactions (including asset and share deals), joint ventures, financings, project development, leasing and inventory management in all of the top markets throughout the country. In addition to our German clients, we have counseled real estate businesses (including owner-operated companies), institutional investors, private equity funds, asset managers, insurers, pension funds, real estate consulting companies, family offices and financial institutions from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Austria and other countries. JUVE Handbook, The Legal 500 Deutschland and Chambers Europe regularly name us as a top practice and praise our lawyers for our “legal and commercial know-how” and our “quick, clear and practically oriented legal advice.”

Hotels and Hospitality

McDermott counsels clients in the hotels, hospitality and themed-entertainment space in all aspects of the acquisition, development and operation of their real estate assets. We advise hospitality clients on the full range of issues, including the structuring and implementation of hotel management agreements and the leasing or management arrangements for food and beverage operations. Our team regularly assist clients in solving the most challenging problems by bringing a cross-disciplinary team comprising corporate, tax, labor and employment, IP, government strategies and environmental lawyers to provide sophisticated and holistic legal advice. We have had the pleasure of working with some of the most respected real estate developers in the hospitality industry in the United States, including in New York, and are widely known as the go-to firm for luxury and boutique hotel developments.

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“THE LAWYERS HAVE VERY QUICK COMPREHENSION, CAN EASILY SUPPORT SEVERAL TRANSACTIONS AND HAVE VERY FAST REACTION TIMES, BUT WITH THE HIGHEST ACCURACY."

Chambers Europe 2019

THE TEAM PROVIDES “A WELL ABOVE-AVERAGE SERVICE WITH EXCELLENT OUTCOMES”, PRAISED FOR ITS “EXCELLENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MARKET AND OTHER BUSINESS-RELATED MATTERS.”

The Legal 500 EMEA

CLIENTS STATE“…KNOW-HOW AND LEGAL KNOWLEDGE IS REALLY AN INVALUABLE SKILL-SET.”

Chambers USA 2019

CLIENTS HIGHLIGHT "THE DEPTH AND WIDTH OF THE TEAM ARE IMPRESSIVE AND IT CONSISTENTLY DELIVERS THE HIGHEST QUALITY."

Chambers Europe 2019

Tier 1: Real Estate Within New York City - US New Best Lawyers Best Law Firms 2019

Results

Europe

Constellation Hotels Holding Ltd SCA in the acquisition of Coroin Limited, owners of landmark London luxury hotels Claridge’s, the Connaught and the Berkley
Art-Invest, a real estate investment and development company, on the acquisition and acquisition financing of the Allianz headquarters in Cologne
The Blackstone Group with multiple hospitality and hotel portfolio transactions and ongoing real estate needs in Germany, including the acquisition of 29 hotels in Germany and The Netherlands from ACCOR, the acquisition of eight business hotels from Dr. Peters Group, and numerous sales of hotel properties

SEB Investment, a real estate investment company, on the sale of a pan-European office portfolio, including assets in Amsterdam, Brussels, Hamburg, London, Milan, Paris and Rotterdam
SIGNA, one of Europe’s leading real estate specialists, with various property acquisitions, financings, leasings and sales, including the KaDeWe in Berlin, Hamburg Alsterhaus, Munich Alte Akademie and Oberpollinger, as well as the acquisition of the Karstadt retail business of Karstadt Premium, Karstadt Sports and Karstadt Warenhaus from Nicolas Berggruen
Tristan Capital Partners, a real estate investment management boutique firm, on the sale of various German properties out of Tristan’s Highgate, Oakwood and Sequa funds
Strategic Value Partners, a global alternative investment firm, with the sale of a nationwide real estate portfolio of nine properties and five individual selloffs of locations in Germany
Stable, a leading-edge player in the development of retail real estate and fashion outlet centres, on the procurement of planning permission and intended development of the Outlet Centre Wittenburg in cooperation with the Dutch Van der Valk Group
Mitsubishi Electric Europe, a leader in the manufacturing and sales of electrical and electronic products and systems, with the acquisition and development of a new headquarters building in Ratingen near Düsseldorf
CBRE on its takeover of the technical consultancy companies Preuss and VALTEQ

United States

Chelsea Hotels, a boutique hotel collective, as primary counsel for its transactional real estate needs, including multiple acquisitions and financings such as the acquisition of the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan, the McCarren Hotel, formerly Hotel Williamsburg in Brooklyn and The Tides in Miami Beach
The Ian Schrager Company, an owner, developer and operator of iconic hotel and residential properties, with the acquisition, financing and related legal needs of multiple developments including the historic Ambassador East Hotel in Chicago, rebranded as PUBLIC Chicago, and the development of a new PUBLIC hotel on Chrystie Street in Manhattan
RFR Holdings with numerous acquisitions, joint ventures, developments and financings of hotel, commercial and retail properties including the W South Beach Hotel, the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan, the iconic 375 Park Avenue and Lever House office buildings in Manhattan, the Atlas Plaza retail in Miami and a retail building on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach
Morgans Hotel Group, a global leader and innovator of the lifestyle hospitality sector, with the acquisition, development and financing of iconic properties, including the Delano and Shore Club in Miami Beach, the Morgans, Paramount and Royalton in New York, and the Mondrian in Los Angeles, CA, South Beach, FL, and Soho, NY
Akelius, a developer of residential apartment buildings, with numerous developments throughout New York