Real Estate Finance

McGuireWoods’ coast-to-coast roster of real estate finance attorneys includes members of influential industry organizations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, the National Multifamily Housing Council, the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council.

We advise lenders, agents and non-lead lenders across all commercial real estate sectors, with particular strength in handling financings for:

McGuireWoods lawyers advise lenders on bilateral loan facilities and agents in syndicated and “club” transactions, as well as non-lead lenders in participation structures. We represent lenders on “loan-on-loan” transactions whereby the loan is secured by a third-party mortgagee pledge to an underlying borrower backed by a real estate mortgage loan. 

Beyond loan origination, we provide comprehensive counsel on modifications, debt restructurings, workouts, foreclosures, loan sales and real estate owned (REO) liquidations. Our lawyers handle traditional mortgage portfolio lending, including balance sheet and bridge loans, construction lending, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) conduit lending programs, multifamily agency finance transactions such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and loan servicings including consents, assumptions and defeasance matters, and mezzanine lending.

How We Help

Our services include:

Representative Experience

• Real estate investment firm in a $141 million bridge loan financing for the more than $200 million acquisition and renovation of a portfolio company of 34 multifamily properties in the Bronx. The borrower is a joint venture between a local New York City real estate investor and a state retirement fund;
• Major investor in data center parks and other digital infrastructure facilities in a $198 million acquisition bridge financing, as well as refinancing and negotiating a $231 million multi-tranche mortgage and mezzanine financing that allowed the client to recoup some of its original equity investment while locking in longer-term financing;
• Freddie Mac Optigo Network lender with the origination of a $400 million loan secured by a mixed-use project with over 800 multifamily residential units, including an affordable housing component.  The proceeds of the loan were used to retire a construction loan and replace it with permanent financing;
• American bank holding company in its capacity as a Freddie Mac Optigo Network lender, in a $1.1 billion financing to support the acquisition of 42 multifamily properties in 11 states by a global investment fund;
• Client in its financing of a portfolio of 99 stores throughout six states, all leased for operation by franchisees of a national fast-food chain;
• CMBS subsidiary of a major financial institution in the origination of a pair of commercial mortgage loans secured by a hospitality property located near John F. Kennedy Airport;
• Client in a $100 million five-year, interest-only CMBS loan as permanent financing for a newly completed, 362-room hotel in Queens, NY;
• British bank in five loan-on-loan financings, totaling approximately $140 million of CRE properties in the New York metropolitan area, structured as both loans and participation interests;
• Investment management arm of a leading U.S. insurance company in a $100 million financing for three airport-adjacent warehouse properties in the Midwest;
• CMBS lender in the financing of a casino-hotel in Puerto Rico;
• Data center developer in 10 build-to-suit construction loan financing transactions for hyperscale tenants, totaling over $5 billion in deal value; and  
• Lender in the origination of a $77.4 million agency loan to refinance a recently completed 28-story, 241-unit multifamily property located in the New York metropolitan area. The fixed-rate, interest-only loan was structured under the agency’s near-stabilization program that bases underwriting on projected performance post-lease-up. The financing replaced existing construction debt on the asset.