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Commercial Leasing & Property Management

Commercial Leasing & Property Management

 
  • We provide a wide-range of legal services to our clients, all uniquely responsive to the particular type of investment at issue, and the short-term and long-term goals of the client.  

    Retail Shopping Centers

    From 10,000 square foot family-owned neighborhood centers to 100,000+ sq. ft. lifestyle shopping centers that comprise the portfolios of national and regional REITs, we represent owners, managers and developers of retail shopping centers throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

    • We negotiate and draft leases and related financial guarantees. Our experience involves negotiation of leases we have drafted, and those that have been drafted by tenants (national chains/anchors). Those negotiations often times involve not only the tenant, but the tenant’s franchisor, financial backer(s), and/or their attorneys (whether they be located around the corner or on the other side of the country), as well as the landlord’s own lease administration and construction teams. We understand the business of leasing and the key role legal counsel can play as part of the team serving the landlord, helping to achieve its goals.
    • When a Tenant is in default or experiencing difficulty meeting its lease obligations, we work with our clients to help develop the strategies that lead to work-outs and lease restructuring, or lease termination and the orderly eviction of the tenant.
    • When a client expresses an interest in purchasing or selling a project we can assist with the due diligence reviews. Such services typically include review of existing contracts and leases, zoning and municipal approvals in place or that will be required, and available municipal, county and state grants or special funding.
    • We have assisted landlords in facilitating the transfer of liquor licenses from one tenant to another, either amicably or in the context of the resolution of litigation, to keep liquor licenses in the center and ensure continued operation of restaurant tenants.

    Industrial Parks

    • Successfully negotiated and drafted leases and lease extensions for over 40MM square feet of industrial and office space across the country on behalf of the 9th largest private owner of industrial real estate in the United States.
    • Have represented regional property management firm in efforts to evict defaulting tenants in office space, laboratory space and warehouse space in industrial parks in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

    Institutional

    • Serve as comprehensive real estate counsel to a regional hospital in Mercer County, NJ. In that regard, we have prepared leases in conjunction with multi-million dollar facility expansions, energy efficiency installations, off site medical centers, acute care facilities, medical office time share arrangements and general ground leasing and finance structures.

    Communications

    • Negotiated and prepared site lease arrangements for construction of over 60 cell tower facilities throughout New Jersey. Obtained in excess of 60 use variance and site plan approvals for construction of cell towers/facilities throughout New Jersey. Acquired numerous approvals from New Jersey Pineland’s Commission. Represented client in review, objection, and challenge to the AT&T Wireless’ proposed amendment to the Pineland’s PCS plan.
    • Negotiated ground lease with private cellular communications provider to allow construction for new county radio communications tower and associated facilities.

    Our firm provides a broad spectrum of other services of interest to our real estate clients:

    Land Use
    Our experienced team of land use attorneys in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey have appeared before dozens of municipal boards and commissions to obtain zoning and land development approvals for a wide variety of projects, including retail, residential, institutional and commercial, including:

    • A pair of new 140,000 square foot elementary schools in a Bucks County school district
    • A new multi-story mixed-use (retail and residential) building in heart of local borough’s shopping district
    • Approvals for environmental remediation and redevelopment of property to accommodate 680 residential units comprised of townhouses, condominiums, and apartments
    • Five residential home subdivisions in the Princeton Historic District which included remediation of lead contamination and the historical restoration of a dwelling
    • A new 3,200 square foot retail bank branch
    • Obtained General Purpose Zone status for the first fully developed, tenanted, vintage-building, industrial park in the United States
    • The preparation, analysis and critique of "area in need of redevelopment" designations, and redevelopment plans, studies and agreements
    • Pursuit of development application approvals for single-family and multi-family communities throughout New Jersey, both large and small

    Tax Assessment
    Over the past several years we have witnessed the volatility in the value of commercial real estate projects, which directly impacts tax assessments and the resulting tax liability. Properly managing costs is an integral aspect of property ownership and management, and can make your projects more attractive to potential tenants. In this regard, our Real Estate Tax Appeals Practice Group can undertake a review of the property assessments and determine whether a tax appeal is warranted – cases which we undertake on a contingency basis.

    Litigation
    Our attorneys are experienced in prosecuting and defending claims involving personal injury and property damage, as well as for economic damages stemming from construction defects, premises liability, breach of contract and conventional torts. Often these cases require a cross disciplinary approach to achieve the desired result, and our trial attorneys can call upon the talents and experience of other attorneys in the firm concentrating in such areas as product liability, municipal law, real estate, corporate, banking and secured transactions, bankruptcy and debtor-creditor relations, intellectual property, federal and state taxation, and administrative law.

    Our ability to utilize the experience and talents of other attorneys in the firm is the cornerstone of our “team” approach to the practice of law. This allows Hill Wallack LLP to analyze a case from several perspectives resulting in strategies which are often lacking in the conventional attorney-client relationship, so the clients’ business objectives are achieved.