Matt Joe
Matt Joe
+1.404.898.8133

Overview

Matthew "Matt" Joe is a partner in Holland & Knight's Atlanta office and co-chair of the Commercial Real Estate Leasing Team. Mr. Joe represents owners, developers, lenders, investors and institutional clients in all phases of commercial real estate transactions spanning acquisition, development, financing, leasing, restructuring and disposition across all property types.

Mr. Joe has significant experience structuring public-private partnerships (P3) on behalf of public and private partners, as well as negotiating, developing and financing large industrial and infrastructure projects. He approaches complex matters with a practical, business-oriented mindset to identify solutions, minimize risk and help clients achieve their objectives efficiently.

A recognized leader in Georgia's real estate market, Mr. Joe established and leads Holland & Knight's Georgia title agency, providing clients integrated title and closing services. He serves on the Opinions Committee and routinely provides Georgia legal opinions on behalf of Holland & Knight.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Joe serves as pro bono real estate counsel to the Madison-Morgan Conservancy, assisting with farmland, forest and historic site preservation in Madison, Georgia.

Representative Experience

  • Represents a private owner in the development and leasing of a marine container terminal at one of Georgia's largest brownfield sites, including a prolonged permitting process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • Represents a national developer in acquiring and developing a 260-acre, 450-megawatt (MW) data center south of Atlanta, totaling six buildings and 1.85 million square feet
  • Represents a national real estate company in acquiring land for and developing millions of square feet of infill warehouse/distribution center space across metropolitan Atlanta and throughout Georgia
  • Represents a publicly traded hotel company in acquiring and developing self-build hotels and negotiating joint ventures with franchise owners and co-investors nationwide
  • Represents a national developer in acquiring and developing industrial warehouse assets across the Southeast (both build-to-suit and speculative)
  • Represented a national life insurance company in acquiring land and developing a more than 1 million-square-foot warehouse/distribution center through a joint venture south of Atlanta
  • Represented a student housing developer in land acquisition, development and equity structuring of an upscale off-campus student housing project at a major southeastern university
  • Represented a national bank in developing dozens of branch retail locations throughout Georgia and Florida
  • Represented a developer in the acquisition, development and financing of a modern hotel adjacent to a major automotive manufacturer's North American headquarters and test track
  • Represented a domestic manufacturer in acquiring and developing multiple manufacturing facilities across the U.S.

  • Represents a short-line rail operator and affiliated developer in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub, a 2,600-acre industrial park served by two Class I railroads, structured as a P3 with the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority; matters included master development agreements, infrastructure planning and covenants, as well as negotiating specific end-user projects
  • Represented a developer in negotiating a financeable long-term ground lease with NASA at Johnson Space Center
  • Represents an aerospace company in negotiating financeable long-term ground leases with NASA at Kennedy Space Center, along with the U.S. Space Force at Vandenberg Space Force Base, for payload processing facilities
  • Represented a leading student housing developer/operator in negotiating, structuring and financing more than $1.3 billion in long-term P3s for on-campus student housing at about 20 institutions nationwide, including nine campuses within the University System of Georgia
  • Represented a Georgia city in negotiating and closing a complete city-center redevelopment, including retail, office, apartments, parking, greenspace and a city-owned conference center, through a P3
  • Represented a national developer in negotiating, developing and financing a $35 million on-campus hotel at a California State University campus through a long-term ground lease P3

  • Represents a state pension fund in leasing office space in several prominent downtown and midtown Atlanta buildings
  • Represents an international hospitality company in office leasing for business units and call centers across the U.S.
  • Represented a major utility company in leasing approximately 275,000 square feet within a Midtown Atlanta office campus in 2024 – the largest office lease in the state that year
  • Represented more than a dozen institutional landlords in office and industrial leasing nationwide
  • Represented multiple telecommunications providers in leasing communications towers throughout the Southeast
  • Counsel to Holland & Knight in leasing its own offices throughout the country

  • Represents a national real estate company in acquiring, financing, redeveloping and disposing of large industrial, data center and retail assets in Georgia
  • Represents an investment company in acquiring shopping center assets across the U.S.
  • Represented an agricultural business in acquiring about 36,000 acres of farmland in South Florida for more than $130 million and another in acquiring approximately 6,000 acres in Vidalia, Georgia
  • Represented a healthcare real estate investment trust (REIT) in selling multiple senior living portfolios nationwide
  • Represented a West Coast real estate company in acquiring single-tenant industrial assets in the Southeast

  • Represents a borrower in restructuring a $72 million distressed loan secured by high-rise buildings in downtown Atlanta
  • Represented a lender in foreclosing a $330 million loan secured by Piedmont Center, a 2.2 million-square-foot, 14-building campus in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta
  • Represented a state pension fund in acquiring an $83 million distressed note secured by a high-rise office building in downtown Atlanta, subsequently foreclosing, repositioning, and refinancing the asset
  • Represented a lender in foreclosing a $30 million loan secured by a regional mall in Georgia
  • Represents various commercial mortgage-backed securities and balance sheet lenders in workouts and foreclosures of nonperforming real estate loans
  • Represented the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during the Great Recession in connection with the disposition of distressed debt instruments secured by real estate

  • Represented a client in a sale-leaseback of a large hangar at a major U.S. international airport
  • Represented a global agricultural company in negotiating a joint-venture partnership with a growers' cooperative and a long-term supply agreement
  • Represented a global investment bank in financing an office building through a Design, Development and Operating Agreement (unique tax-exempt structure in Georgia)

Credentials

Education
  • University of Georgia School of Law, J.D.
  • University of Georgia, B.A., Religion, A.B.J., Journalism
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • Georgia
Memberships
  • NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association
  • Urban Land Institute
  • International Council of Shopping Centers
  • Order of the Coif
  • Georgia Law Review, Former Editorial Board Member
Honors & Awards
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Real Estate Law, 2021-2026
  • Influencer in Retail Real Estate - Holland & Knight's Retail Development and Leasing Team, GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, 2023
  • Rising Star, Georgia Super Lawyers magazine, 2022, 2023
  • Holland & Knight Pro Bono All-Star, 2020, 2021
  • On the Rise, Fulton County Daily Report, 2019
  • The Legal 500 USA, Real Estate & Construction: Real Estate, 2016

Publications

Speaking Engagements

News