A primary focus of the firm’s real estate practice is the representation of national and regional real estate developers, investors and lenders in development projects throughout the United States and internationally.

Bryan Cave’s Development Team works closely with our clients to maximize the beneficial use of real estate and its profit potential, including public-private projects involving transportation infrastructure, parklands, sports facilities and arenas and the related tax increment financing, tax credits and other public finance vehicles.  We have vast environmental, conservation, land use and zoning capacities, as well as an active development practice in Mexico based out of the firm’s Phoenix office.

Our experience includes:

• Purchase and Sale Agreements and Land Acquisition Contracts
• Ground Leases
• Preliminary and Final Plat Approvals
• Creation of CC&Rs and Homeowners Associations
• Creation and Registration of Commercial, Residential and Mixed-Use Condominiums
• Affordable Housing Projects
• Transit-Oriented and other Public-Private Projects
• Design and Construction Contracts and Agreements
• Joint Ventures and Financing Arrangements
• Land Use and Zoning Approvals
• Development Agreements with Local Municipalities
• Tax Increment Financing
• Infrastructure Development and Cost Sharing Agreements
• Supply and Power Co-Generation Arrangements

Representative Transactions

• Representation of Hudson Waterfront Associates, a consortium of Hong Kong based companies, regarding the Riverside South mixed-use project in Manhattan (also known as Trump Place), including the acquisition of the 50-acre site bordering the Hudson River and the development of seven residential towers containing more than 1,600 rental and condominium apartments, new roads and other infrastructure elements and public amenities, such as one of the largest new public parks in New York City.  Our work culminated in the $1.76 billion sale of the project, which included three residential towers, four commercial condominium units, four garages and seven unimproved sites.
• Representation of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the seat of the Episcopal Bishop of New York and the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, in both an option with Columbia University for the ground leasing of the northerly portion of the Cathedral’s Close and a long-term ground lease with AvalonBay Communities for the southeast portion of the Close.  These ground leases will result in the construction of several buildings that will contain more than 600,000 square feet.
• Representation of the St. Louis Port Authority in the long-term ground lease of county property to a leading casino operator for the development and operation of a mixed-use gaming, retail, hotel and recreational facility constituting the largest privately financed development project in the history of the State of Missouri.
• Representation of Douglaston Development in the financing of a development project covering two full city blocks on the Williamsburg, New York waterfront, to contain over 1,000 residential condominiums and 350 residential rental apartments, commercial space, a public waterfront esplanade and recreational piers.
• Representation of Global Holdings in a joint venture for the acquisition and conversion to luxury condominiums of the former Mayflower Hotel in Manhattan, now known as 15 Central Park West.
• Representation of the City of Kansas City, Missouri regarding its investment of $800 million in its downtown development and redevelopment activities, including the new Sprint Center Arena (developed in a public-private partnership with Anschutz Entertainment Group), the Power & Light District mixed-use entertainment project (developed in a public-private partnership with the Cordish Company), the City’s expansion of its Bartle Hall Convention Center and the redevelopment of the Hilton President Hotel.
• Representation of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in the ongoing development of Lindbergh City Center, a 50-acre mixed-use project located in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, Georgia and built around, and integrated with, an open-air heavy rail station and very active bus intermodal facilities. The fully developed project will consist of nearly 5 million square feet of space, including speculative office, corporate user office, retail and restaurant, hotel, rental residential and for-sale residential, and involves multiple ground lease parcels and detailed land use restrictions.
• Representation of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in the ongoing development at the transit agency’s Medical Center Station, involving a three-phase medical office building complex with over 750,000 square feet of office space allowed under a ground lease structure, plus new parking facilities and a potential site for multi-family residential development. This project required relocation of the MARTA electrical system and a complex reciprocal easement arrangement.
• Representation of a privately held hotel company in closing over $300 million in securitized credit facilities for the acquisition, construction and renovation of hotels throughout the United States.
• Representation of a developer regarding its land acquisition, land development, infrastructure improvements and home building activities in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
• Representation of U.S. Steel Corporation in the development and sale of a $300 million coke manufacturing facility in Granite City, Illinois, involving systems integrated with the adjacent steel plant, shared infrastructure and coke supply and power co-generation arrangements, as well as tax increment financing.
• Representation of Pacifica Ventures as it works with the Community Redevelopment Agency to build a Class A office building on the site for tenants targeted in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, including a ground-floor restaurant, a top-level penthouse and underground parking.
• Representation of a private equity fund in a joint venture for the development of a 400-room hotel in Oklahoma, near the Texas border, and expansion of an adjacent gaming facility operated by a federal Indian tribe, which together is one of the largest casino complexes in the United States.
• Representation of a private equity fund in a programmatic joint venture with a worldwide hotel franchisor for the development of certain brand hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
• Representation of the developer in a joint venture acquisition of Albuquerque Studios, a $74 million, 25-acre project near the Albuquerque International Airport, to become a 500,000 square foot state-of-the-art, full-service motion picture and television facility, including eight sound stages, production offices and support space.
• Representation of the City of Atlanta, Georgia in the sale and mixed-use redevelopment of City Hall East, a former Sears building and related parking lots in midtown Atlanta comprising a 23-acre site occupied by the City’s public safety departments for over a decade.
• Representation of a Mexican owner and developer of a 1,850-acre luxury resort development in Cabo San Lucas, consisting of several luxury branded hotels, vacation clubs, fractional ownership projects, resorts and spas, 36 holes of branded golf and related club facilities and more than 500 branded luxury villas and custom homes.
• Representation of a Southern California based energy company in the development of a conventional gas-fired electric generating facility and a separate solar energy facility outside Phoenix, Arizona and the development of wind farms in northern Mexico.
• Representation of an international developer of power plants in the acquisition and development of facilities in Africa, South America and the Caribbean.
• Representation of Citigroup in its acquisition of the naming rights for Citi Field, the new stadium for the New York Mets, which at the time was the most expensive naming rights transaction in history.

If you would like more information about Bryan Cave’s Development Team, please call any of our team leaders, Lars Lagerman at 602-364-7317 or Jay Levin at 404-572-6877.