Page 10 - Top Law Firms in NJ

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TARGET CLIENT BASE?
Our real estate clients include some of the largest, most well-respected owners of investment properties in the region. We serve professional real estate investors, operators and developers as well as real estate lenders in the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of land, land for development, office buildings, malls, multifamily complexes, retail centers and industrial properties. While we handle all types of properties and transactions, we are particularly well known for our expertise in apartment building development, acquisition, sales and financing, closing a substantial number of transactions all over the country. We also represent commercial property buyers and sellers across a diverse range of property types, including office buildings, automobile dealerships, gas stations, hotels, country clubs, warehouse distribution and industrial buildings, self-storage facilities, strip malls, mobile home parks and others.
WHAT IS A NOTEWORTHY TRANSACTION OR PROJECT
THAT YOUR FIRM HAS WORKED ON RECENTLY?
Our strongest sector in 2019 was multifamily, with the firm handling the sale, purchase or refinancing of approximately 25,000 units across 80 transactions. This included one deal with more than 6,000 apartments with a transaction value over $1 billion. The predominant property locations for multifamily included NJ, NY, NC, PA, DE, MD, MI and VA. Other significant deals for private investors included:
• Over 1,500 apartments in Michigan for one investor (five properties)
• The refinancing of 11 properties containing almost 3,000 units in the Capital District of New York
• The acquisition of over eight properties containing a total of 1,500 apartments in NC, VA, and MD
TELL US ABOUT A CREATIVE SOLUTION THAT YOUR
FIRM PROVIDED TO A REAL ESTATE CLIENT.
We are currently working on a transaction for a client selling investment property who needs to use the proceeds of the sale as part of a 1031 tax-deferred exchange to purchase a multifamily property that consists of a partially completed multifamily apartment complex. Unless they can complete the construction of all of the units, they will not be able to fully defer their capital gains. We devised a solution to form
a commercial condominium on the new property, which separated the existing units and the to-be-built units into two separate condominiums. By doing this, we were able to do two
the construction and fully defer their taxable capital gains.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST GROWTH AREA FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
We continue to believe
that our largest area for
growth is in the area of
multijurisdictional transactions. For our clients, Maryland and Virginia are playing a significant role fueling the velocity of real estate transactions, as is North Carolina and Michigan. Our investor clients in the New York metro market are seeing the value in investing further south and west where greater yields are available. In addition, the demand for workforce housing
is still very strong in those markets, as well as in New Jersey and New York. Going forward, we see Brach Eichler continuing
to handle matters nationwide, across many states and across diverse property types.
WHY SHOULD A CLIENT CHOOSE YOU OVER THE
COMPETITION?
Brach Eichler has one of the deepest real estate benches in the state, with 14 lawyers and 7 paralegals solely dedicated
to real estate, covering virtually all kinds of matters. We are
a full-service, one-stop shop for real estate buyers, sellers, lenders and borrowers. Our firm is consistently ranked in Chambers USA as a top-tier firm in New Jersey real estate matters. Our clients tell us that they value our breadth of experience and our creative, yet practical approach to getting deals done quickly. In every transaction, the objectives of our clients become our own. Our tax department is particularly skilled in all aspects of real estate taxation, including tax appeals, 1031 exchanges and finding creative solutions to minimize the impact of federal, state and local taxes on the transaction. Rounding out our team are our environmental and land use attorneys who advise clients on environmental law, assisting with challenging land use, natural resource and site remediation concerns, including dispute resolution.
AT A GLANCE...
HEADQUARTERS: 101 Eisenhower Pkwy., Roseland, NJ 07068
YEAR FOUNDED: 1967
TOTAL NUMBER OF ATTORNEYS: 83 NUMBER OF REAL ESTATE ATTORNEYS: 14
AREAS OF EXPERTISE IN REAL ESTATE: Purchase, sale, leasing, financing and taxation of multifamily, office, retail and industrial properties, including 1031 exchanges, and environmental and land use matters. We also handle tax appeals of commercial and residential properties.
The Brach Eichler real estate team
separate 1031 exchanges
with the two condominiums, with one being an improvement exchange. This ended up giving the client more time to complete
Allen J. Popowitz (left) and Alan R. Hammer
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