Practice Areas: Real Estate Finance

McGuireWoods has more than 100 attorneys and paralegals practicing in real estate transactions and capital markets including real estate finance transactions. Our clients are often Fortune 500 companies, including financial institutions and borrowers. Because we have represented clients on all sides of real estate finance transactions, our attorneys are able to view these transactions from a broad perspective. The multi-jurisdictional scope of our practice has also enabled us to streamline our work to obtain desirable results through economies of scale. Our national and international real estate practice and our experience in non-traditional transactions and other products has provided us a reputation beyond our geographic boundaries, as well as contacts and expertise that enable us to better serve our clients. Our peers recognize our the value of our counsel: Eight of our real estate lawyers are listed as Best Real Estate Lawyers in America and six are members of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

The Real Estate Finance Group provides services in the following areas, among others:

• Real Estate Capital Markets
• Portfolio Lending
• Mezzanine Financing
• HUD Housing Programs
• Mortgage-Backed Securities
• Real Estate Investment Trusts
• Portfolio Loan Sales
• Synthetic Leases and Sale-Leasebacks
• Tenant-in-Common Transactions

Representative Lending Transactions

McGuireWoods represents a number of lenders in traditional and non-traditional real estate finance transactions, including lending programs, both regionally and nationally. Select examples are described below. We are also happy to arrange for you to contact client references upon request.

• Represent a mortgage lender nationally in its mortgage loan origination program for a life insurance company. As part of our representation, we negotiate and close commercial real estate loans in accordance with the lenders’ programmatic lending requirements. Our work includes preparation and negotiation of loan documents, due diligence review and loan closing. The loan transactions encompass a wide variety of property types in various parts of the United States. We also handle servicing issues and post-closing matters such as property releases, loan amendments and other loan-related issues.
• Served as national lease finance counsel for various lending institutions.
• Represent a national banking association in the origination of commercial mortgage loans from its Washington, D.C. and Atlanta offices.
• Closed construction-permanent loans for life companies which were between $60-$100 million.
• Managing counsel for a mortgage lending program for a client for mortgage loans secured by office, retail, hotel, warehouse and multifamily properties throughout the United States, which were then securitized. This program had more than $1 billion in loan originations on a yearly basis.
• Advised an insurance company lender in initiating its CTL-based mortgage program, establishing procedures and programs for implementation by AAL’s in-house attorneys.
• Managed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae commercial mortgage lending programs involving bonds secured by mortgages.
• Served as regional counsel for a motor acceptance corporation in its dealer loan program. These construction and/or permanent loans range from $1-$10 million in size and involve the construction of dealerships.
• We often serve as local counsel on real estate loan programs for many insurance companies and other institutional lenders.
• We routinely represent banking institutions in connection with real estate loans.
• We handle construction lending programs for some of the nation’s largest banks, closing 10-15 deals annually for each of these lenders for the last 10 years. The average deal size is $5 - $75 million. We also have experience with the conversion of construction loans to permanent loans.
• We assist clients on a multi-state basis in first lien and mezzanine structured transactions for hotels, multifamily and office properties.