La Fonte Nesbitt is a Real Estate Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Holland & Knight. Mr. Nesbitt has experience with all manners of real estate projects, but his practice emphasizes urban and community development, affordable housing, government related real estate projects and programs, and various types of public-private partnerships and privatization initiatives.
Mr. Nesbitt serves as counsel to private and non-profit developers, investors, lenders and underwriters in connection with the acquisition, development and financing of housing, retail developments, office buildings, and mixed use projects. He also represents housing authorities, housing finance agencies and other government and quasi-government agencies in connection with real estate matters.
Mr. Nesbitt serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Military Installations Redevelopment Team, having gotten involved with the Department of Defense's (DoD) Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) in 1996, shortly after the legislation was enacted. In fact, he was involved in closing the first MHPI transactions involving the Army (Fort Carson), the Navy/Marines (Camp Pendleton Phase I) and the Air Force (Lackland AFB Phase I). Acting as the firm's lead lawyer on teams working with DoD and with real estate and financial advisory firms hired by DoD and as counsel to developers, bond insurers, special servicers and other parties, he has participated in structuring the MHPI program and its policies and in closing military housing transactions involving more than 20,000 housing units and several billion dollars in total development costs. Among other MHPI matters, Mr. Nesbitt is currently serving as counsel to one of the parties involved in the privatization of several thousand hotel rooms under the Army's Privatization of Army Lodging (PAL). He also has experience with DoD's Enhanced Use Leasing (EUL) and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process and programs.
Mr. Nesbitt has extensive experience in multi-family housing finance and development, including programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, tax-exempt housing bonds, low income housing tax credits and other affordable housing programs representing lenders, owners, developers, investors, housing authorities and other parties. For example, he heads the team of firm lawyers that represents the Atlanta Housing Authority on HOPE VI and other mixed finance matters.
Within the firm, Mr. Nesbitt serves as the Executive Partner for our Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland offices. He previously served as the firm's first Diversity Partner and is a former member of the firm's Directors Committee.
Mr. Nesbitt is a frequent speaker on military housing, public-private partnerships and affordable housing matters.