Our Real Estate lawyers are highly skilled in the creation, negotiation and operation of ground leases for properties throughout the U.S. with an emphasis on Manhattan office buildings, hotels and development sites.
We are among New York’s leading attorneys when it comes to negotiating ground lease transactions and their complex provisions involving, among other items, subordination, and ground rent reset provisions. We know the trends on transferability and how construction risk is handled. We have been involved in numerous major ground rent revaluation arbitrations. We are able to leverage our extensive experience and that of our expert consultants to negotiate effective rent revaluation clauses and obtain cost-efficient settlement agreements of existing provisions, thereby avoiding protracted and costly arbitrations.
We have drafted or enforced ground leases for numerous high-profile properties, including:
- Lever House at 390 Park Avenue
- One Penn Plaza
- The Surrey Hotel
- 111 Wall Street
- 430 Park Avenue
- 120 Broadway
We represented the fee owner in the creation of a condominium of the leasehold estate to an affiliate of Cornell University which resulted in the leading New York City Department of Finance ruling permitting the non-profit ground lessee to obtain real property tax benefits. We now also represent not for profits in creating leasehold condominiums.
