Real Estate Attorneys in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia

Lerch Early’s real estate attorneys help clients get to closing with the best mix of price, terms, and timelines essential to their core real estate and business strategies

When Do You Need to Hire a Real Estate Attorney?

Developers, commercial property owners, and investors turn to Lerch Early’s “dirt lawyers” when they need to buy, sell, lease, or develop commercial real estate in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

How Our Real Estate Attorneys Can Help You in Maryland, D.C., or Virginia

Our experienced attorneys negotiate all aspects of complex commercial real estate transactions from the ground up, such as forming a holding company before acquiring a property, to minimizing the tax consequences of an eventual sale of the property. These include drafting and negotiating entity formation documents, purchase and sales agreements, development agreements, financing documents, construction contracts, reciprocal easement agreements, and leases.

National and regional developers, family-owned real estate development companies, institutions with substantial real estate assets, and entrepreneurial businesses rely on our real estate attorneys to help them make the best real estate deals. Our real estate clients include The JBG Companies, The Tower Companies, Lee Development Group, Maisel Development, Howard University, and other institutional and entrepreneurial companies throughout the region.

Boundary Line Disputes

Lerch Early advises property owners concerning disputes over property lines, encroachments and adverse claims to property. We also advise clients concerning resolutions by way of a negotiated easement or license coupled with a boundary line agreement.

Construction

In the real estate development process, effectively addressing construction related issues is essential to the successful development of a new project, renovation of an existing project, or building out space for tenants interested in leasing space.

High-End Residential

Individuals deciding whether to build a new home or renovate an existing property in the Washington, DC metropolitan area frequently call upon Lerch Early for advice. Either process requires the homebuyer to purchase the land, work with a design professional, work with a homebuilder, and finance the purchase.

Mixed Use Development

Numerous legal structures can be used to create and operate a mixed-use project. Counsel for the project developer needs to understand the project and his or her client’s short and long-term goals in order to strategically and properly structure the transaction and draft the underlying project documents.

Leasing

Retail leasing is a special niche in commercial leasing transactions. Percentage rent, exclusives, co-tenancies, defined protected areas, and radius restrictions are just a few of the concepts unique to retail leasing. Combine retail with office, residential, and entertainment uses in a mixed-use project and you have a more complicated retail lease.

Sales and Acquisitions

Lerch Early real estate attorneys help clients with acquiring and selling raw land for development, and improved properties such as shopping centers, multi-tenanted office buildings, and multi-family buildings. Our attorneys, who represent both buyers and sellers, are experienced in handling critical issues during all phases of the sales and acquisition process.

Title Insurance Services

Lerch Early, as an agent for both Fidelity National Title Insurance Company and First American Title Insurance Company, offers both closing and title insurance services related to Maryland and District of Columbia commercial real estate transactions.

Speak With a Lerch Early Real Estate Attorney Today!

Our clients sometimes joke that we should convey with their property— as we “run with the land.” Often after a sale, the new purchaser retains us because of our in-depth knowledge of the property or project. Many clients have worked with us for decades as we not only know the law, but we know their businesses. Throughout the transaction, our focus is on how to complete a deal within the context of the client’s overall business plan. Whether you are in Maryland, D.C., or Virginia, contact us today to get started!

Success Stories

Adventist HealthCare

Challenge

The senior living subsidiary of Adventist HealthCare a number of its subsidiaries decided to sell six skilled nursing facilities. The sale to Genesis HealthCare involved multiple owners and jurisdictions.

Strategy

Adventist HealthCare owned five of the facilities and one was jointly owned by Frederick Memorial Hospital. Four of the facilities were located in Montgomery County, and the remaining two were located in Prince George’s County and Frederick County. The multi-million dollar transaction, which took the better part of a year to complete, involved the sale and lease of real estate, the sale of the ongoing business operations of the nursing facilities, defeasance of bond financing, and various ancillary issues. Lerch Early attorneys worked closely with in-house counsel and a number of other representatives of Adventist HealthCare to negotiate the sales contracts, satisfy due diligence requirements, and successfully complete the transfer.

Result

Adventist HealthCare now is able to focus care for the community’s senior population through its various programs, partnerships and entities.

Howard University

Challenge

Lerch Early serves as primary outside real estate counsel to Howard University. For the past several years, the now 150 year old University has been leveraging certain of its Washington, DC real estate assets to improve the campus environment and the experience of its most valuable assets – the students, faculty and staff of the University.

Strategy

In 2016-2017, Lerch Early attorneys worked with the University’s internal legal and finance teams and its outside real estate advisor, Alvarez and Marsal, to structure a unique arrangement among Howard Dormitory Holdings 1, LLC, a wholly-owned and title-holding company of Howard University, and Howard University (collectively, the “University Parties”) and Corvias Campus Living, LLC (“Corvias”). Lerch Early represented the University Parties in drafting and negotiating the concessionaire, project management and residential life agreements, entity formation agreements, construction contracts, financing documents, and other operative agreements in connection with the transaction, as well as assisting the University Parties in addressing and resolving numerous legal and business issues associated with the transaction.

Result

The innovative 40-year partnership among the University Parties and Corvias raised $144 million, a portion of which will fund the renovation and modernization of the Howard Towers, will provide for the ongoing management of the Howard Towers and two additional residence halls, and will create, for the long-term, a sizable reserve fund for future capital expenses.