At Schwartz Conroy & Hack (SCH), our real estate transactions and financing team provides clients with deep industry knowledge and decades of hands-on experience. Headed by a veteran real estate developer and lawyer, the SCH real estate team brings decades of development, construction and investing experience to the mix, giving our clients the benefit of real-world experience in combination with legal expertise to better guide and advise them and help them avoid unforeseen or unrecognized pitfalls. We think of our real estate advisory services as “value-add” because in addition to highly creative and strategic legal solutions, we are able to introduce our clients to our carefully curated network of architects, engineers, contractors and lenders when they need development and financing resources.
We understand the demands of today’s real estate markets and craft practical, cost-conscious strategies for projects across all asset classes. We advise on a wide spectrum of matters, including:
- Purchases, Sales and Options of Property
- Due Diligence Reviews and Investigations
- Commercial and Residential Leasing
- Development and Construction Agreements
- Construction Defect Litigation
- Licenses, Easements and Access Agreements
- Land Use, Zoning and Building Code Matters and Article 78 Actions
- Foreclosures and Distressed Assets
- Entity Formation, Joint Ventures and Strategic Partnerships
- Hotels and Hospitality Transactions
- Loan Workouts & Restructurings
- Real Estate Financings, including Mortgages, Mezzanine and Preferred Equity
- Litigation Involving Real Estate Assets
- Adverse Possession, Prescriptive Easements and Quiet Title Actions
Joint Venture and Partnership Break-ups, Dissolutions and PartitionsOur Real Estate Team is led by Jacob Frydman, a nationally recognized real estate professional with more than 40 years of experience as both an attorney and developer. Mr. Frydman previously served as CEO and Chairman of United Realty Trust, a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that he founded, brought public and successfully managed. Under his leadership, SCH is well-positioned to manage sophisticated multi-million-dollar transactions throughout New York City and across the United States.
When engaging in a real estate transaction, clients need more than just legal counsel – they need a trusted partner who can navigate every stage of the process. From drafting and negotiating contracts to structuring financing and conducting rigorous title and property inspections in partnership with engineers, our attorneys guide clients seamlessly through closing.
Why Choose SCH?
Our dedicated real estate team combines transactional, regulatory, administrative and litigation expertise, with decades of real-world experience through the ups and downs of the ever-changing real estate market, enabling us to handle the most complex legal and business challenges. We bring creative problem-solving and disciplined execution to every matter, whether it involves negotiating high-stakes development deals, advising cooperative and condominium boards, representing clients before city and state agencies, or addressing New York’s intricate zoning, land-use and rent regulation frameworks.
We represent a wide variety of clients – including institutional investors, large-scale developers, boutique property owners and individuals – tailoring our strategies to each client’s unique objectives and priorities. With this breadth of experience, SCH delivers both the sophistication required for major institutional transactions and the personal attention valued by smaller clients.
Recent Representations
• Represented a New York City developer client in a $97 million mortgage and bridge loan restructuring in connection with a 200,000-square-foot office building being constructed in Brooklyn, where the lender waived over $20 million in past due interest and agreed to forego interest for the balance of the project’s expected construction period.
• Represented the fee owner in connection with the release of a wrongfully filed Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) encumbering the client’s interest in a $50 million charter school in the Bronx constructed on its land, in order to be able to refinance that property.
• Represented an international Middle East-based development company in investigating the causes of major construction defects in a newly constructed residential condominium building in New York City, and establishing a strategic plan for pursuing the contractors responsible for same.
• Represented a Chicago landlord in connection with the leasing of a 30,000-square-foot office condominium.
• Represented the manager of an LLC that owns a 250,000-square-foot logistics and distribution center in Manhattan in connection with an arbitration seeking more than $70 million in liquidated damages for breaches of the company’s governing documents by certain members.
• Represented a large co-working space provider client in negotiating a 35,000-square-foot lease for office space in Midtown Manhattan.;
• Represented a client in connection with a $44 million Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan that required the subordination of a pre-existing $92 million mortgage, which needed to be bifurcated into a $60 million mortgage and a $32 million mezzanine loan.
• Represented a large owner of New York City rent-regulated apartments in connection with two loans, which the client properly caused to be extended for five years, but which the lender refused to acknowledge. SCH sued the lender for a declaratory judgment. In retaliation, the lender initiated foreclosure actions on each property, which SCH settled by obtaining a 37% discounted pay-off of both loans and dismissal of all lawsuits.
• Represented a real estate investor who was accused of effecting a fraudulent conveyance by placing a mortgage on real property after a litigation was initiated against him.
• Represented a 50% joint venture partner who was fraudulently dispossessed of his interest in over 40 skilled nursing homes in California, generating more than $250 million annually, by the other 50% partner. SCH formulated a strategic plan that involved the threat of initiation of a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) action.
• Represented a joint venture owned by an institutional investor, an REIT and a private sponsor, in suing their lender on two New York City rent-regulated apartment buildings when the lender refused to accept the tendering of a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
For more information about how our real estate transactions and financing team can assist you with your real estate matter, contact Schwartz, Conroy & Hack, PC.
