Real Estate Litigation Lawyer Washington DC

The SITUATION:

You are a real estate investor looking for a piece of land to buy and develop a multi-family apartment building. The number of apartment units will be dictated by many factors, including whether it is raw ground, whether you buy an existing building to renovate, or what local zoning rules provide.

There are real estate acquisition obstacles to be navigated, including equity and debt financing, environmental issues, historic preservation issues, zoning issues, construction and property management contracts, and “soft trade” agreements that include the architect, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers, and so forth.

Operating agreements with your equity partner and debt lender need to be negotiated and finalized. All of these decision points have to be meticulously addressed before putting a shovel in the ground. Then, construction begins. Perhaps six to eighteen months later, assuming no unforeseen circumstances, a new project is delivered and ready for occupancy.

What could go WRONG:

In this particular situation, there are a wide range of challenges that may be encountered:

• Disagreements could arise early on or throughout the construction process with your equity partner or debt lender that are not addressed in operating or partnership agreements or loan documents.
• Hiccups in the timeline of construction could affect the meeting of financing requirements for the life of the construction loan.
• You could experience imposition of governmental penalties for failure to adhere to certain zoning rules and regulations.
• During construction, environmental contamination issues may arise that must be remediated despite your environmental consultant’s prior studies that the land had limited environmental exposure.
• Architectural issues will certainly arise that must be addressed in the field to keep the project on schedule.
• Post-construction, the project could experience leaks, causing mold in the building envelop that has to be remedied.
• Construction defects with certain building materials could surface, such as curtain wall failures and glazing failures.
• Commercial and residential landlord-tenant disputes could arise as the economy and a tenant’s financial condition changes.
• Leases could be breached.
• There may be trespass and quiet enjoyment issues that surface.
• There may be problems with meeting accessibility legal requirements for the public and inside apartment units that require remedies under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The RIGHT CHOICE:

As a former real estate investor and an experienced commercial litigator who represents those in the profession who experience disputes, one thing is certain: Disputes will happen.

The question is, how will those disputes be resolved? If the agreements that govern the parties’ behaviors and conduct do not resolve the dispute, the legal process may be necessary to make that call.

Whether breaches of contract or business tort claims, the Right Choice begins by identifying the complexity of a given real estate transaction or project so that the problem can successfully be dissected and understood. This is the critical first step in order to ensure effective legal representation in the form of a multi-pronged strategy for each client’s case.