Commercial real estate is at the core of BFKN. Our Real Estate Group employs the talents of over 35 dedicated real estate transactional attorneys and paralegals. Nationally recognized as an industry leader, our Real Estate Group serves as go-to deal counsel for premier public and private REITs, commercial lenders, institutional sponsors and investors, public companies, and other key players in commercial real estate matters.

Our commercial real estate practice is truly interdisciplinary in that it also employs the exceptional skills and experience of members of our Litigation, Corporate, and Tax practice groups. Members of each of these groups focus their practices on handling real estate disputes, the formation of real estate joint ventures and other business formations, IPOs and other securities offerings, the giving of real estate tax advice in connection with public and private REITs, UPREIT transactions, partnerships, and other matters in which our clients expect to work with an attorney who thoroughly understands both their objectives and the market.

Our know-how is not limited to any one segment of the real estate industry. We regularly represent clients in all major asset classes, including industrial and logistics, office, shopping center and luxury retail, senior housing and healthcare facilities, multi-family housing, hospitality, technology, and mixed-use properties located throughout North America.

The volume and diversity of work handled by our cross-disciplinary real estate team distinguishes BFKN from those firms in which their real estate practice is merely a sub-set of, or a support practice to, larger practice groups. Instead, BFKN’s clients understand that real estate is a central part of who we are and what we do as a firm.

We use our extensive experience to serve our real estate clients in the following areas:

Transactions

  • Acquisitions and dispositions.
  • Development and construction.
  • Joint ventures.
  • Leasing.
  • Loan workout and restructuring.
  • Real estate finance and capital structuring.

Litigation

  • Foreclosures and other contests concerning distressed real estate, including orders for the appointment of receivers with lenders and other contests concerning loan collateral.
  • Commercial lease disputes.
  • Acquisition, ownership, and indemnification disputes.
  • Disputes with contractors and resolutions of lien claims.
  • Joint venture disputes.
  • REIT securities matters and other REIT-related disputes.
  • Land use disputes.
  • Debtor/creditor and bankruptcy matters.

Tax Counseling

  • Structuring real estate joint ventures, including with REIT, tax-exempt, and foreign partners.
  • Formation and operation of publicly traded and private REITs.
  • REIT mergers and acquisitions.
  • Public and private REIT debt and equity securities offerings.
  • UPREIT partnership contribution transactions (on both the REIT and contributor sides) including extensive experience negotiating and drafting tax protection agreements.
  • Like-kind exchange (forward and reverse).
  • Planning for foreign investment in U.S. real estate.


  • First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Offerings
    Represented NYSE-listed industrial REIT with respect to several public offerings utilizing diverse structures.
  • Invesque & Commonwealth Senior Living
    Represented Invesque Inc. (TSX: IVQ.U), a healthcare real estate company serving the U.S. and Canada, in its acquisition of a number of senior living properties and Commonwealth Senior Living, LLC.
  • REIT Securities Fraud Lawsuit
    Represented REIT against securities fraud lawsuit filed by group of medical industry tenants. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed lawsuit after both being served with discovery that focused on the plaintiff’s personal finances and whether or not the plaintiffs qualified as accredited investors, and scheduling depositions of certain plaintiffs.
  • Acquisition Counsel to Ventas, Inc.
    Represented Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and one of the largest healthcare REITs in the U.S., in connection with the acquisition of the outstanding shares of Senior Care, Inc.
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