Charles E. Picton

Chuck Picton is a partner in the Firm’s Real Estate Group. His practice focuses primarily on finance, acquisition, disposition, and leasing matters. His clients include publicly-traded and privately held real estate operating companies and investment firms, opportunity funds, investment managers, REITs, and developers engaged in all aspects of real estate investment, operation, and development.

Chuck has represented borrowers in connection with a multitude of real estate-based finance transactions, including mortgage, mezzanine, and construction loans originated by domestic and foreign life companies, balance sheet lenders (stand-alone and syndicate), and CMBS originators. In addition, he regularly represents both purchasers and sellers of real estate assets. While Chuck works extensively in the retail sector, he also has broad experience with transactions involving office, multifamily, industrial, and hospitality properties located throughout the United States.

Prior to rejoining the Firm in 2012, Chuck was Vice President and Senior Associate General Counsel at General Growth Properties (GGP), where he headed the Capital Markets legal practice group. Chuck represented GGP in connection with dozens of mortgage and mezzanine loans, with average loan proceeds in excess of $100 million and total proceeds exceeding $10 billion. During his 6-year tenure at GGP, through a unique cross-departmental experience, Chuck gained an in-depth understanding of the retail industry, handling not only property and corporate-level financings, but also new developments, redevelopments, acquisitions, dispositions, anchor transactions, joint venture transactions, and big-box and theater leases. During GGP's bankruptcy, Chuck played an integral role in the negotiation and documentation of the consensual restructuring of nearly $15 billion of secured debt. Chuck’s in-house experience at GGP provided invaluable insight into the client-side of business operations that is essential to aligning complex real estate transactions with the desired business goals of his clients.

Recent Representative Matters

Borrower Representation

• Represented publicly-traded REIT in the separate mortgage and, in many cases, mezzanine financings of more than 15 regional and super-regional malls located throughout the United States with total loan proceeds exceeding $3.6 billion, including two transactions structured as single asset securitizations involving properties located near Houston, Texas ($550 million) and in Las Vegas, Nevada ($975 million).
• Represented private investor in $160 million mortgage and mezzanine financing of luxury retail asset located on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California.
• Represented private investment firm in $140 million mortgage and EB-5 construction financing for development of indoor waterpark resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.
• Represented privately held real estate operating company in separate mortgage financings of 14 grocery-anchored shopping centers in California, Washington, and Oregon.

Buyer Representation

• Represented opportunistic real estate investment firm in separate acquisitions and related secured financings of several outlet malls located throughout the United States.
• Represented privately held investor in acquisition of regional mall in Orange County, California.
• Represented publicly-traded REITs in separate acquisitions of more than a dozen open-air shopping centers located throughout the United States.

Seller Representation

• Represented publicly-traded REIT in separate dispositions of more than 40 open-air shopping centers located throughout the United States.
• Represented privately held operating company in $260 million disposition of 3 shopping centers in Hawaii.
• Represented publicly-traded REIT in $80 million disposition of office tower in Illinois.

Activities & Honors

• Selected, The Best Lawyers in America© (2020-2023)
  • Real Estate Law