Real Estate

Ackerman, Levine, Cullen, Brickman & Limmer, LLP

Our real estate lawyers represent lenders and borrowers in the financing of commercial ventures, and purchasers and sellers in the sale, development, and leasing of commercial, industrial, and residential properties, zoning and land use, and real estate management. We represent landlords and tenants in every aspect of real estate related matters. We counsel individuals and other entities in purchase and sale matters from residential homes, cooperative apartments, condominiums to land transactions, office buildings, apartment complexes, shopping centers, and other commercial facilities.

We also represent clients in the tax advantaged disposition of property, including forward and reverse exchanges under existing Internal Revenue Code regulations. For larger matters, we typically work closely with a client’s accounting firm on federal and state income tax issues relating to these matters.

We also represent cooperative corporations in the governance of their entities, including assistance in the sale and transfer of individual units, as well as participation in contract reviews, representation on the refinance of underlying mortgages, and municipal regulations.

Our firm has a significant real estate controversy practice and represents clients in disputes involving a broad range of real estate related disputes, including general trial proceedings, receiverships, bankruptcies, appeals, mediation, and settlement negotiations.

In conjunction with the firm's estate and trusts attorneys, we represent clients in estate planning for family owned real estate, including clients having significant interests in family owned or controlled businesses. We have extensive experience in dealing with these issues and the unique problems and opportunities clients confront in the succession of control and management and the preservation of family and business values.

Our lawyers have significant experience in handling an extensive range of complex problems and bringing them to successful conclusion, often through creative solutions and dedicated persistence. The following two examples reflect the breadth of our real estate practice. First, as the result of a Federal Court appointment, one of our partners served as Receiver for the Wyndham Apartments, a 354 unit condominium complex in Garden City, New York, in the single largest contested real estate foreclosure in the history of Nassau County. His management of the project coupled with the legal representation provided to him by our firm resulted in the sale at auction of the project for upwards of $55,000,000. It is now a successful condominium. Second, we have recently handled a number of matters using the benefits of Internal Revenue Code Section 1031, allowing investors to create tax free exchanges of real property and thus deferring tax consequences. The usual pattern is for a client to sell one property and shortly thereafter acquire a new property for investment. In a more novel transaction, we assisted a client in acquiring a property prior to selling, a concept known as reverse exchange. In a volatile real estate market, this device assists clients in acting rapidly to acquire desirable properties.

On a broad range of matters, our real estate lawyers work in conjunction with the attorneys in other practice areas in our firm, adding value and efficiency for clients in trust and estates, business, commercial, and untested litigation matters.

For more information, please contact William A. Ackerman at 516-829-6900, ext. 401 (wackerma@alcllp.com).