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The Lawyers You Call

By Daniel Edward Rosen 8/09/12 7:45am

The Lawyers You Call

Kenneth Fisher.

Cozen O’Connor’s Ken Fisher on “The Baby Carriage in Front of the Bulldozer”

For any developer, perhaps the only thing harder to secure than a zoning permit is community approval. No matter how beneficial to a neighborhood a developer’s project purports to be, it’s always going to have its naysayers. And should those naysayers unite to sue the developers in an attempt to prevent the bulldozers from moving in, that’s when Kenneth Fisher, a partner at Cozen O’Connor, intervenes. The former city councilman (he served in Brooklyn from 1991 to 2001) talks about how developers can steel themselves for the inevitable community opposition. Read More

By Carl Gaines 8/09/12 7:30am

The Lawyers You Call

Jay Neveloff.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel’s Jay Neveloff on NYC Land Use Law

Jay Neveloff is a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel whose practice is focused on real estate and other commercial transactions. His past and present client list includes Starwood Hotels, the owners of Starrett City, New York Life Insurance Co. and the Trump Organization. Mr. Neveloff spoke to The Commercial Observer last week about how land-use issues have evolved in the city over the past 10 years. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 8/09/12 7:15am

The Lawyers You Call

Robert Ivanhoe.

Greenberg Traurig’s Robert Ivanhoe on Cherryland and Chesterfield, Two Cases New Yorkers Might Be Hearing a Lot Of

As chair of law firm Greenberg Traurig’s global real estate practice and its New York office, veteran attorney Robert Ivanhoe has, for more than 30 years, represented most of the city’s heaviest real estate hitters. In order to protect his biggest clients, Mr. Ivanhoe follows precedent-setting cases from across the country. Among the cases he’s now watching are two in Michigan—Cherryland and Chesterfield—that challenge the very essence of non-recourse loans. Last week, Mr. Ivanhoe discussed the implication of both cases with The Commercial Observer. Read More

By Carl Gaines 8/09/12 7:00am

The Lawyers You Call

Jonthan Mechanic.

Fried Frank Partner Jonathan Mechanic on the New York Genome Center

Jonathan Mechanic, a partner at Fried Frank and chairman of the firm’s real estate department, represents clients in every type of commercial real estate transaction. His deals have included Conde Nast’s  1-million-square-foot lease at One World Trade Center and, more recently, the 170,000-square-foot bite that the New York Genome Center took out of 101 Avenue of the Americas. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 8/08/12 7:45am

The Lawyers You Call

Warren Estis.

Rosenberg & Estis Founding Partner Warren Estis on Eminent Domain

When the Metropolitan Transportation Authority finalized its construction plans for the Fulton Center, the result will be a downtown commuter’s dream. But to get there, the MTA had to use eminent domain to take over and demolish 194-196 Broadway, a building owned by DLR Properties, in 2006. The agency valued the building, which housed a host of fast-food tenants, at $27.4 million. The attorneys at Rosenberg & Estis disagreed, claiming the building was valued at nearly $60 million. The firm represented DLR Properties in three separate rulings and eventually helped its client score as many victories: The food-service tenants in the building can recover $15 million in damages for the value of trade fixtures lost, the MTA must pay $35.2 million for undervaluing the property, and the agency must also pay the legal fees and expenses for DLR. Rosenberg and Estis founding partner Warren Estis revealed how he helped DLR Properties get its true value from eminent domain. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 8/08/12 7:30am

The Lawyers You Call

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Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman Partner Wally Schwartz on NYC Gaming

When Wally Schwartz accepted a position as head of real estate at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, a national firm with offices in New York, Houston, San Francisco and other major cities, the group had no transactional lawyers on its payroll and only supported a litigation platform. Over the past 14 months, however, Mr. Schwartz, formerly the head of real estate at Skadden, has tackled work for Starwood Capital in its acquisition of the leasehold interest at 1372 Broadway, and Boston Properties’ 500,000-square-foot deal with Citibank at 601 Lexington Avenue, while simultaneously expanding his department to nearly a dozen attorneys. Mr. Schwartz, a partner at the firm, spoke to The Commercial Observer last week about representing the gaming industry in its mission to break into New York. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen and Daniel Geiger 8/08/12 7:15am

The Lawyers You Call

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The Case of the Angry Father-In-Law

The 15 Most Fascinating New York Real Estate Cases of the 21st Century

For better or worse, even New York’s healthiest buildings—those assets that manage to avoid over-leveraging and shoddy craftsmanship—live and breathe thanks to armies of real estate lawyers, responsible for everything from debt originations and litigation to tenant-landlord disputes and bankruptcy filings. Indeed, for every real estate developer trumpeted in the daily newspapers, you can bet Read More

By Daniel Geiger 8/08/12 7:00am

The Lawyers You Call

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The Upheaval of Sheldon Solow

A real estate executive who was formerly one of the top officers in the real estate empire of billionaire owner and developer Sheldon Solow has filed what is likely to be a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Mr. Solow for unpaid retirement funds, The Commercial Observer has learned.

Steven Cherniak worked with Mr. Solow for 26 years before abruptly leaving Mr. Solow’s firm, Solow Realty and Development Company, in 2008. In a case filed in U.S. District Court on July 19, Mr. Cherniak alleges Mr. Solow dismissed him without cause and didn’t pay him a previously agreed-upon retirement package. Read More