Practice Areas » Real Estate

Developing a major real estate project in today's environment resembles putting together a jigsaw puzzle without a border of straight-edged pieces. To cope with this environment, our lawyers utilize their decades of development experience.

In the formative stage, we plan preemptively for issues that would otherwise be obstacles -- zoning, permitting, municipal services, highway access, and the like. As the project progresses, our lawyers master the details of the project development agreements, making sure all the pieces fit together.

No project works without a financing plan. We are thoroughly familiar with the closely-knit fraternity of real estate financiers. Furthermore, our longstanding ties to local, state and regional economic development agencies often enable us to add a favorably priced financing component.

After the dust settles, our lawyers put the finishing touches on the project. We help develop and implement leasing and management programs that contribute to a project's long-term success.

Some recent projects include:

• The two largest commercial lease build-to-suit projects in the greater Pittsburgh region in 2007 and 2008. Projects in Washington County and Allegheny County involved development agreements, ground leases, tenant leases, LEED certification, and syndicated financing.

• Represented acquirer of approximately $650,000 real property parcel in White Oaks, West Virginia for development of hotel project.
• Mixed use new-construction involving both commercial and residential condominiums.
• Zoning and land-use counsel in City of Pittsburgh involving Constitutional issues.
• Re-use of existing commercial facility involving complex resolutions to subdivision and land-use issues arising from dividing commercial data-centers, call-centers, and related facilities.
• Office lease/build-outs in Western PA and outside of the region.