Real Estate Practice Group

We have an established, full-service Real Estate Practice Group, with financial, transactional and litigation expertise. The department frequently works closely with brokers, accountants and other financial advisors on matters involving both commercial and residential properties. We also represent institutional and private lenders in negotiating, structuring and documenting loan transactions.

Our Firm’s litigation capabilities have proven invaluable in resolving real estate disputes in administrative, governmental, trial and appellate forums.

Lewitt Hackman’s California Real Estate Attorneys have structured and documented numerous purchases and sales of real property, including seller-financed and multi-party transactions and tax deferred exchanges. These transactions have involved many diverse types of properties nationally and globally, including commercial and industrial buildings, shopping centers, apartment buildings, condominium developments and income properties, as well as hotels, motels, restaurants, hospitals and medical buildings.

Our Firm’s involvement often entails all aspects of the transaction, from the initial negotiation and preparation of documents through the financing, construction, syndication and closing phases.

Developer, broker and investor clients are counseled and assisted in the acquisition of apartment buildings. We also advise our clients on ongoing matters relating to condominium and cooperative projects, including the creation, restructuring and interpretation of declarations of covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&R’s) and representation of developers and homeowners’ associations in negotiations and disputes.

Lewitt Hackman’s Real Estate Law Practice Group handles:

• Acquisition and Sale, Development and Construction
• Commercial Financing
• Commercial Leasing
• Debt Financing and Lending
• Environmental Law
• Real Estate Litigation
• Tax
• Zoning and Land Use

The diverse experience of our Real Estate Attorneys in tax, corporate and general business matters as well as litigation related thereto, assures full service representation with respect to real estate ownership by individuals, partnerships or corporations. We have also been actively involved in limited partnerships and other types of syndications, often involving multi-owner developments.

Lewitt Hackman has become experienced in environmental issues and the way in which they impact leases, loans, sales and other real property transactions, and each party thereto.

Our Firm also advises clients on all forms of commercial leasing, including leasing of shopping centers, office buildings and other investment properties. Leases are significant and Complex Financial Transactions for both landlords and tenants, including major environmental and insurance issues. Our capabilities extend to negotiating and drafting, analyzing and negotiating sale and leaseback contracts, ground leases and other types of leases on behalf of both landlords and tenants.

Clients are often assisted in connection with the acquisition, sale or lease of their personal family residence. Services typically involve analysis of the economics of the transaction, compliance with recent disclosure statutes and regulations and analysis of financing and tax consequences.

Lewitt Hackman attorneys have considerable experience in representing individual, partnership and corporate borrowers in a multitude of loan transactions. Such services relate to all phases of the transaction – negotiation and documentation of the loan package, resolution of collateral, survey and title matters, environmental issues and coordination of complicated multi-party closings in escrowed and non-escrowed transactions. We have represented insurance companies and other institutional lenders in negotiating, structuring and documenting loan transactions from the lender’s perspective. We have also advised our clients on the formation, offerings by, acquisition of assets by and ongoing operation of REIT’s.