Real Estate

real estate

Full Service Real Estate Practice

Sophisticated real estate practice emphasizing complex transactions and real estate finance, land use and environmental permitting, litigation and “green” real estate development.

Bench Strength

Real estate, land use and environmental and LEED accredited lawyers, together with comprehensive support team, having expertise in finance, corporate, securities, tax, specialty finance, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.  Lawyers throughout practice areas consistently receive national recognition for excellence.

Sophisticated Developer Practice

Represent owners and developers in full range of projects, including:

Commercial & industrial developments
Healthcare facilities
Hotels
Industrial parks
Long-term care & sr. living
Mixed use development		Multifamily residential
Office properties
Recreational facilities
Retirement communities
Shopping centers
Universities & colleges

National Reach

Real estate transactions across United States.

Complex Transactions 

Represent real estate clients in complex transactions, including:

Air rights development Management/operations 
Architect agreements Office, retail & industrial leasing 
Construction contracts Portfolio transactions 
Fiber optic/wireless communications Real estate finance 
Mixed use developments Rights of way 
Long-term ground leasing Sale/leaseback 

Zoning & Permitting Expertise

Expertise in obtaining federal, state and local permits and approvals for commercial, industrial, residential, renewable energy and green development projects.

Land Use & Environmental Experts 

Represent clients in regulatory matters, including: 

Agricultural/forest/open space Hazardous wastes 
City of Boston/BRA/large project review Highway access permitting 
Brownfields/superfund sites Historic district review 
Climate change regulations Land use planning & control 
Coastal zone management Site plan review 
Eminent domain Subdivision control 
Environmental impact review Wetlands & tidelands/waterways 
EPA regulations/compliance  

Real Estate Litigation 

Highly experienced in federal and state courts in land use, environmental and transactional disputes and in land court in land and development restrictions.

Real Estate Workout Expertise 

Significant practice representing real estate clients in bankruptcy, workout and restructuring matters involving the unwinding of complex intercreditor relationships and negotiating SWAP prepayments or windups.


Experts in Real Estate Transaction Structuring 

Significant experience in transaction structuring, including:

  • 1031 exchanges
  • Complex real estate acquisition and development joint ventures
  • Private equity real estate funds
  • Tax-exempt entity investments (UBTI-sensitive and “fractions rule” compliant transactions
  • Tax planning and structuring for foreign investors in US real estate (ECI and FIRPTA)
  • Tenancy in common interest transfers (TICs)

Sustainability & Green Building 

Multidisciplinary team of real estate, environmental, land use, tax, energy, clean-tech and corporate attorneys provides full range of sustainability support across industry sectors, and counsels clients on the ways in which existing and emerging international, federal and state climate change regulations impact their businesses. 

Assist clients in greenhouse gas and sustainability due diligence in corporate and real estate transactions.  Provide legal counsel and strategy with respect to permitting and financing of renewable energy projects.  LEED-accredited attorney guides clients through the development of “green” buildings and compliance with state and local requirements for sustainable real estate development. 

Leading US Law Firm 

One of nation’s leading law firms for over a century.  Lawyers in real estate group consistently receive national recognition in Best Lawyers in America and Massachusetts Superlawyers. 

blue chip clients

Represent blue chip real estate clients, including:

Anglo Irish Bank 

Appleton Realty

Bain Capital

Boylston Properties

Bristol Properties

Cape Cod Healthcare

CapStar Hotels

Centremark Properties

Chestnut Hill Realty

Chiofaro Company

City of Somerville

Condyne

Danis Properties

Equity Residential Properties

Fidelity

Fortress Investment Group

Hanover Insurance Group

Harvard

International Hotel Investments

Mass Convention Center Authority

MassHousing

Mass Port Authority

MDOT

Normandy Real Estate 

Opus Investments

South Shore Hospital

Starwood Capital

TD Bank

Teradyne

Thermo Electron

Weston Associates

Choate helps Bain Capital secure advantageous deal in Hancock Tower move

Choate represented financial giant Bain Capital in its execution of a 15-year lease with the John Hancock Tower.  Bain will move its 500 employees to seven floors at the Tower in the fall of 2011 from its current post at 111 Huntington.  The deal, which includes an option for Bain to acquire an additional 60,000 square feet of space, lowers John Hancock's vacancy rate to 5 percent, down from a 10-year high of 15 percent, and has been described by real estate specialists as "the strongest indication yet of a stabilizing market after nearly two years of growing vacancies and steadily dropping rents."  Thanks in part to the Choate team, Bain was able to achieve an enormously beneficial economic deal that included free rent, a profit participation in the building’s performance and an option to co-invest in the building.

Choate-counseled lease deal reignites CitySquare project in Worcester

Unum Group, a disability insurer, has signed a 17-year lease with CitySquare's new developer, CitySquare II Development Co., which is owned by an investment arm of Choate's client Hanover Insurance Group.  The Choate Real Estate Group is fully engaged in the CitySquare $563 million multi-use, redevelopment project first proposed by Berkeley Investments in 2004.  In January, the new entity CitySquare II and its development partner Leggat McCall Properties signed a purchase-and-sale agreement to acquire the development project, which is expected to close at the end of June.  The lease deal, which is contingent on the acquisition closing, includes a parking garage for 860 and construction of a 200,000 square foot building on Foster Street, and it prompts the release of $35 million in public money and evidences that the project is back on track.  Demolition will begin on the 20 acre stretch of land currently occupied by the defunct Worcester Common Outlets Mall in early July.  Choate will continue to be a key advisor on the project throughout the CitySquare redevelopment process.