Bill Seligman is a partner in McGuireWoods’ Public & Private Infrastructure and Real Estate practice, in its Los Angeles office. He serves as a co-leader of the firm’s Real Estate Finance Practice Group.
He concentrates his practice in real estate finance, where over 35 years of experience makes Bill a trusted advisor on legal and business structures. He has extensive experience in the representation of senior and mezzanine lenders, and institutional investors, in financing transactions involving all major asset classes, at all levels of the capital stack. Bill has lending experience in construction, bridge and permanent loans, for syndicated facilities, insurance companies and other portfolio lenders, and securitization execution, including for “loan on loan” and senior/subordinate financing structures. He also represents borrowers in acquisition, construction, bridge and permanent financings. In the net lease sector, Bill represents lenders, tenants, and owners in sale-leaseback transactions and other structured financings.
Bill advises bank and non-bank lenders in all aspects of the commercial real estate lending process, from designing procedures and drafting form documents for new lenders, to loan structuring and origination, and culminating either with the loan sale (via securitization, one-off or portfolio sales) or servicing functions. He represents lenders and debt holders in negotiated workouts, foreclosures (consensual and contested), deed-in-lieu transactions, loan sales, equity recapitalizations and other exit strategies for under-performing or distressed investments.
- Counsel to a non-profit organization in connection with a $232 million acquisition, and $246 million acquisition financing, for pre-development of an expansion of a major hospital facility.
- Represent a major national retailer in connection with a $625 million sale-leaseback facility involving more than two dozen locations in 4 states.
- Finance counsel to a publicly-traded investment management firm to obtain acquisition financing for a $325+ million acquisition of a data center and technology park; transaction closed 18 days after our engagement.
- Closing counsel for a 99 property multistate net lease portfolio financing, on behalf of a subsidiary of a leading national bank.
- Represent a major national bank in connection with distressed debt portfolios, including hotel, office and multifamily assets, in California, Washington, DC, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
- Finance counsel to a major data center owner, including on construction loans for a series of developments that were net leased to a leading social media and technology company.
- Represent the lender on a $140 million acquisition and rehabilitation loan facility, secured by a portfolio of 30+ rent stabilized properties in New York City.
- Advised the agent on a $130 million syndicated construction mortgage loan facility, including in structuring and negotiating an intercreditor agreement with the holder of a separate $44 million bondable loan facility secured by a separate tranche of rent payments on the largest lease at the property.*
- Counsel to a major foreign bank in connection with the negotiated workout of a defaulted loan on a net leased retail property whose tenant liquidated early in the COVID pandemic; the site was repurposed and the loan repaid in full.
- Counsel to a major European bank on commercial mortgage loans secured by properties throughout the United States.
- Advised a mortgage lender and its servicer in connection with the recapitalization of the mezzanine and equity positions underlying a $180 million mortgage loan pool.
- Counsel to a state affordable housing finance authority in connection with all of its transactions with subordinate debt and/or unsubordinated ground leases.
* Transaction handled prior to joining McGuireWoods LLP.
Insights
- Author, NYC Lease Guarantors Gain Temporary Personal Liability Protections During COVID-19, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, May 28, 2020
- Author, Freddie Mac Announces COVID-19 Forbearance Terms, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 26, 2020
Selected for inclusion in “Legal 500 United States,” Real Estate Finance, 2024, 2025