Harris Beach represents commercial developers, institutional lenders, corporations, partnerships, not-for-profits and other entities in the development, finance, sale, purchase and leasing of commercial real estate. We assist clients with shopping centers, hospitals, colleges, schools, office parks and industrial projects. Our clients rely on our knowledge and experience in both the private and public sectors in order to access and utilize various forms of financing and economic development grants and incentives. Our firm’s professional consultants also offer solutions to challenging community relations issues to help keep large commercial real estate projects moving forward to their successful completion.
Profile
Services
Experience
People
Make a Payment
Affordable Housing
Brownfield Redevelopment
Environmental Compliance
- Advising clients on the responsibilities, exposures and liabilities that result from federal, state and local environmental legislation and regulations
- Guiding clients through environmental impact review processes and the regulations relating to traffic patterns, air pollution, coastal areas and wetlands
- Counseling on regulatory issues relating to land use, hazardous substances and asbestos
Financing, Incentives, Restructuring
Financing
- Counseling in the formation of
- Syndications
- Joint ventures and partnerships
- Construction and permanent financing
- Tax-exempt and taxable bond financing options
- Sale and leaseback transactions
- Synthetic leases
- Securitized or structured finance, such as REITs, REMICs and commercial mortgage-backed securities
- Representing clients in a wide range of issues involving LIBOR or Eurodollar rate options, interest rate and currency swaps, participating (shared appreciation and convertible) mortgages, and real property tax abatements and exemptions
Economic Development Grants and Incentives
- Helping clients access all available incentives to take advantage of all applicable financing options such as the New Markets Tax Credit, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Brownfield Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits
Financial Restructuring
- Restructuring equity investments in, or debt on, distressed properties
- Assisting in transactions that include “equity kicker” arrangements that allow for shared appreciation, or equity conversion for financial restructuring and workouts
Improving New York State Through Economic Development
Land Use and Zoning
Litigation
- Representing clients in land title disputes, foreclosure actions, deed-in-lien transactions, tax assessment proceedings, condemnation actions, zoning appeals, landlord and tenant disputes and disposition of mechanic’s liens
Qualified Opportunity Zone Program
Retail Real Estate in New York State
Transactions
Project Development
- Counseling clients on all aspects of site acquisition and zoning and development approvals
- Coordinating the interests of developers and municipalities and working effectively with construction teams to conclude projects in a timely and cost-effective way
- Assisting clients in balancing their needs with the many constituencies affected by large development projects
- Working closely with zoning and planning boards
Property Acquisitions
- Assisting clients with all aspects of property acquisitions, including:
- Purchase and sale agreements
- Zoning and development approvals
- Equity or debt syndications
- Formation of limited liability companies, limited partnerships and other entities
- Architectural and construction contracts
- Electric utility rate agreements
- Construction and long-term financing
- Tax deferral exchanges
- Tax-exempt and taxable bond financing options
Due Diligence
- Coordinating and managing all of the due diligence investigations and administrative details of a commercial real estate transaction, including:
- Title review and the placement of title insurance
- Analysis of property surveys, zoning and land use research and compliance confirmation
- Review and analysis of all property related reports, such as environmental and engineering reports, and preparing all necessary documents
Pre-Closing Review and Title Insurance
- Providing title services through our firm’s title insurance agency, which has the authority to write title insurance policies for some of the country’s largest title underwriters
- Insuring property interests and arranging for the necessary title curatives to provide insurance in form and substance satisfactory to our clients
- Served as counsel to a pharmaceutical company in a $26 million sale and leaseback transaction.
- Represented a client in the acquisition of vacant land and the development of a 135,000 square foot industrial agricultural facility. Later, represented the same client in a sale and leaseback transaction involving the same facility. Also assisted the same client with leasing five distribution locations across New York State.
- Represented borrower in connection with an $80 million financing of corporate acquisition and working capital requirements.
- Represented real estate developer in multimillion dollar acquisition of apartment complexes.
- Represented developer in financing of several student housing complexes.
- Casino Free Tyre v. Town Board of Town of Tyre, 140 A.D.3d 1711 (4th Dept. 2016); Appellate Court affirmed dismissal of Article 78 proceeding upholding environmental review pursuant to New York State Environmental Quality Review Act for the del Lago Resort & Casino, a $425 million casino in Tyre, New York
- Pittsford Canalside v. Village of Pittsford et al. 14-5753 2014 WL 6389972 (N.Y.Sup.): Decision and Order dated October, 2014: Co-lead counsel in a significant land use litigation brought by a developer client that successfully challenged municipal resolutions as invalid that rescinded previous project approvals under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. This decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division Fourth Department by Decision and Order dated March 18, 2016 which also modified the trial court’s decision and order concerning other matters.
- Town of Marilla v. Travis, 151 A.D.3d 1588 (4th Dept. 2017); successfully defended challenge to environmental review undertaken by Department of Environmental Conservation pursuant to New York State Environmental Quality Review Act for Part 360 Permit.
- Represented an Erie County Local Development Corporation in a multimillion dollar brownfield site acquisition and remediation project to transform a component part of the former historical Bethlehem Steel Corporation facility located in Lackawanna, New York.
- Provided Brownfields, SEQRA, and zoning services for client developing biomass fuel production facility on the former Griffiths Air Force Base located in Rome, New York.
- Provided legal services related to SEQRA compliance for Seneca County IDA regarding biomass fuel production on former Seneca Army Depot as well as successfully defended approval of the project in an Article 78 proceeding.
- Assisted developer of $300 million college campus extension in obtaining federal wetlands permits.
- Provided SEQRA assistance to Steuben County IDA on the review and approval of four wind farm developments located on approximately 100 square miles.
- Assisted the Town of Salina on a closure of its former landfill and defending the Town in EPA cost recovery matters concerning the cleanup of Onondaga Lake and the Lower Ley Creek CERCLA sites.
- Represented a developer on Brownfield and land use development projects including the construction of an affordable housing development in the Bronx Borough of the City of New York.
- Obtained multiple contested land use approvals and DEC permits and authorizations for upgrades to Fortune 250 company’s interstate natural gas pipeline.
- Represented the renewables developer who filed the first ever solar-only Article 10 project at the New York State Public Service Commission.
- Represented property management firm in renegotiation of partnership tax provisions of agreements with owners of shopping malls across the United States.
- Advised a variety of owners, developers, investors, and lenders on the structuring and financing of projects generating federal and state historic rehabilitation tax credits.
- Represented not-for-profit organization in connection with the sale of a senior housing facility. Coordinated various federal and state regulatory approvals for the prepayment of the existing HUD loans. Obtained approvals from the Attorney General for the sale of the facility, the dissolution of the organization and the distribution of the sale proceeds to an affiliated charitable organization.
- Represented sand and gravel business in the acquisition of a mine, port facility and related parcels and negotiation of an easement agreement for access to the port facility.
- Assisted a major national commercial and retail property developer in securitized or structured finance transactions in excess of $750 million that required handling rated single asset mortgage loans, servicing agreements and private REITs
- Represented a Fortune 500 company in connection with its purchase of an approximately 570,000 square foot manufacturing facility
- Assisted a large national real estate holding company in the refinancing and sale of a substantial industrial and office park with a purchase price of approximately $55 million
