AZ Big Media: Top 9 Commercial RE Law Firms In The Valley + Issues

Top 9 commercial real estate law firms in the Valley

Posted May 31, 2017 by David McGlothlin 

Source: AZ Big Media

When the development of a new project comes to a halt, attorneys specializing in real estate get to work in addressing the problem and finding the best path to an effective solution.

In an industry where the problems can be as diverse and complex as the solutions, finding the right commercial real estate law firm for a particular set of needs can be half the battle.
To help, AZRE identified some of the Valley’s top commercial real estate law firms and asked experts from each to elaborate on their firm’s real estate practice and issues facing commercial development.
Blogger's Note: Please go the above underlined link to see what issues are important for these developers - among them are

• increased government regulations of land use,
• neighborhood opposition,
• the increasing cost of development 
• the unpredictable nature of zoning approvals
• AZ does not allow tax increment financing (TIF)
• there remains uncertainty as to what types of incentives a municipality can provide for real estate development
• relationship between the public and private sectors with regard to development
• increasing costs and availability of labor and materials, and the corresponding cost of construction; the pros, cons, benefits and challenges of infill development; infrastructure availability and cost; flexibility in financing; and finding the marketplace’s balance between supply and demand.” 

 

Berry Riddell berryriddell.com Wendy Riddell, Founding partner

NOTEABLE WORK: After two other zoning attorneys tried and failed, the team at Riddell fought for nearly two years, and eventually won approval for rezoning a parcel of land to become an auto dealership in Mesa. Faced with passionate neighborhood opposition, the site plan was reworked eight times to suit the needs of the developer and accommodate the neighbors’ wishes.

 

Buchalter Nemer buchalter.com Paul Weiner, Managing partner at Scottsdale office

NOTEABLE WORK: The firm negotiated a single-building lease transaction for over 200,000 square feet for an office building landlord that involved getting the existing tenant to vacate the space sooner than it had anticipated while simultaneously negotiating for the purchase of a co-landlord’s interest in the building and the subsequent closing of escrow in regard to that purchase.

 

Burch & Cracchiolo bcattorneys.com Ed Bull, President

NOTEABLE WORK: “The repurposing and integrated redevelopment of The Henry Restaurant and Fox Restaurant Group’s corporate headquarters within a previously vacant building on Camelback Road, east of 44th Street in Phoenix, which included a wide variety of zoning-related entitlements, leasing and other real estate matters that are among the necessary and sometimes tedious, but always fulfilling, challenges of infill redevelopment.”

 

Clark Hill clarkhill.com Douglas Folk, Member of construction law group
NOTEABLE WORK: “We are quite experienced in putting together design/build teams that are able to fast track a project on the client’s schedule. Clients retain Clark Hill for representation for their commercial real estate needs because we take the time to understand their needs, define the development objectives, and then provide the right mix of services for a successful project.”

Fennemore Craig fclaw.com Joe Chandler, Director and chair of real estate practice group
NOTEABLE WORK: The OdySea Aquarium, a 200,000-square-foot oceanic and freshwater aquarium, containing two levels and holding 2,000,000 gallons of water, which is the largest aquarium in the southwest and located on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Acquisition, entitlement, development, financing, and operation of a full-service boutique resort located in Paradise Valley, consisting of 175 hotel rooms, 31 hotel-condominium units, a restaurant, market, fitness facility and the rehabilitated Mountain Shadow Executive Golf Course, which will include single-family homes and villas.

 

Gammage & Burnham gblaw.com Grady Gammage, Jr., Founding member
NOTEABLE WORK: For nearly 40 years, the firm has been deeply involved with the development around Tempe Town Lake, which started with a public/private partnership that helped finance and build the lake and led to the development of Hayden Ferry Lakeside, the initial Marina Heights PAD, Papago Park Center, Tempe Marketplace, Playa del Norte and multifamily developments by SunCor, Pulte, Lennar and others.

Jennings, Strouss & Salmon jsslaw.com Bruce May, Chair of real estate department
NOTEABLE WORK: Most recently, the firm represented a client in the multi-million-dollar purchase of a large golf club in Arizona, a transaction that involved, among other tasks, complex taxes, lending and corporate issues, including mezzanine financing and the commercial lease of an office building by the purchaser.

Quarles & Brady quarles.com Stan Johnson, Partner/chair real estate practice group
NOTEABLE WORK: “Quarles & Brady represents Liberty Property Trust in the acquisition, development and leasing of Liberty Center at Rio Salado in Tempe, which is located on an 80-plus acre construction landfill site formerly owned by the City of Tempe. To date, Liberty has built and leased five office buildings and one industrial building at the site, which is years ahead of the development schedule set out in the development agreement.”

Withey Morris witheymorris.com Jason Morris, Founding partner
NOTEABLE WORK: “Our portfolio ranges from Agritopia in Gilbert to the Ritz Carlton in Paradise Valley and includes The Continuum Office Industrial Project in Chandler, The Heritage District in Downtown Gilbert, The Cityspace/Block 23 in Downtown Phoenix, The Entertainment District in Downtown Scottsdale, Conair Corporation in Glendale and American Furniture Warehouse in the West and East Valley.”