M. James Spitzer, Jr. is a partner in Holland & Knightâs Real Estate Section and Co-Chairs the Institutional Investment Group. His clients include national real estate equity funds; local, national and multi-national developers and investors; and hotel owners, developers and operators. During his extensive career, he has acted as lead counsel in a variety of complex transactions including preferred equity investments and mezzanine loans, the sale of a publicly traded REIT, the sale to an UPREIT of a multi-family portfolio owned by multiple partnerships, redevelopment of regional malls, development of planned communities, and net lease and sale/leaseback transactions.
Representative clients and transactions include:
- ING Realty Partners in a series of preferred equity transactions with Trammell Crow Residential to develop residential condominiums and in mezzanine transactions including the Plaza in Orlando;
- ING Clarion Partners in preferred equity and mezzanine debt transactions including for the development of luxury condo-hotels in Florida;
- $400 Million first mortgage and mezzanine loan financing of 24 multi-family properties located in several states for a major public corporation entailing the reorganization of its ownership structure and resolution of numerous tax issues;
- Series of securitized debt transactions for a major hotel owner in New York City;
- A preferred equity investment in the General Motors Building in New York;
- Formation of a partnership with Trizec and JBG to develop a $250 Million mixed-use project in Roslyn, VA and iinvestment in an existing partnership that owns a large commercial complex in the District of Columbia; and
- Lincoln Property Company in the development, financing (debt and equity), leasing and sale of industrial and commercial properties in the Middle Atlantic Region, including build-to-suit net leases and the sale of the property and joint ventures with institutional partners.
Among the high-profile hotels that Mr. Spitzer has represented are the Mercer, Chambers, Maritime, Bowery and the Greenwich Hotels in New York. He has represented his clients in its acquisition of the properties, negotiation of joint venture structures for ownership and equity financing of the properties, negotiation of documents required in connection with the development/construction of the properties and construction and permanent financing including the closing of securitized debt on the properties. He has also represented both the hotel operators and owners in negotiation of management agreements for the operation of the hotel and the owner/operators on franchise agreements.
Until 2001, Mr. Spitzer was outside general counsel to a large, publicly traded, Dutch real estate company where he was responsible for assembling, through a variety of partnership transactions, a U.S. real estate portfolio valued in excess of $800 million comprising of commercial properties throughout the United States and later, liquidating the portfolio.
From 1974 to 1988, Mr. Spitzer was real estate counsel to U.S. affiliates of Lend Lease Corporation Limited and its founder Dick Dusseldorp, including a shopping center REIT. From 1980 to 1990 he was counsel to the U.S. affiliate of Haseko, a Japanese public company, which was a residential developer and syndicator.