DLA Piper

Helping you maximize net operating income from your assets

With real estate continuing to provide a stable long-term investment, we help owners and property managers to maximize returns from portfolios and assets while maintaining legal protections. Our global team combines market insight and commercial real estate experience with local knowledge, helping you to make the most of your assets.

The value of your portfolio can be enhanced by working with lawyers who understand the many business and legal issues involved and are also familiar with your portfolio and changing requirements.

We help our clients to maximize their asset value and building occupancy by getting their leases done quickly, efficiently, protectively, and within the framework of market expectations and demands. Landlord and tenant clients benefit from our sophisticated understanding of the detail and nuances of negotiating leases, local knowledge, and experience gained around the world.

Our services includes drafting and negotiating leases, advising on sustainability issues and green clauses, and handling all ancillary documentation including amendments, parking agreements, lender subordination agreements, and subleases. We help you to create more profitable portfolios.

“Notable practice with international capabilities and a strong track record of handling high-value property transactions. Areas of expertise include portfolio disposals and acquisitions in the retail sector, asset management and urban regeneration matters.”

Chambers 2022

We also advise on construction contracts, architectural agreements, management agreements, lease disputes including litigation, and all other lease-related transactions. When needed, we also mediate disputes over operating costs, repair and maintenance, and proceedings related to the extension, renewal, and termination of lease agreements.

Sophisticated technologies and procedures are used to assign, track, supervise, and monitor volume leasing matters, enabling the highest quality leases to be produced within your deadlines.

We also share individual experiences and best practices across the firm through an extensive curriculum and seminars. These are also available for clients who want this level of insight. This knowledge bank means we’re consistently up to date and can deliver the most appropriate solutions including client workshops to provide efficiency and higher quality outcomes.

Our leasing and asset management team is supported by multidisciplinary practices around the world in related areas such as securities, bankruptcy, tax and corporate law, construction, environmental, and litigation. This enables a full-service approach with continuity across borders.

Experience

Fan Pier Development Company, a joint venture of The Fallon Company and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, in the negotiation of three leases for an aggregate of approximately 1.1 million SF in Boston to Vertex Pharmaceuticals. This was the largest lease deal ever consummated in Massachusetts and involved the build-to-suit construction of two new high-rise towers at the Fan Pier, adjacent to the Financial District. Vertex moved its entire office, laboratory and research operations from Cambridge to Fan Pier.
AXA on a number of acquisitions, disposals and ongoing management work across its UK property portfolio, including the GBP86 million disposal of a major retail and office asset in Oxford Street, London; the disposal of significant office and retail assets for AXA Sun Life and Sun Life Assurance Society PLC; the acquisition of an office redevelopment opportunity for the Greater London Fund and the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of NorthStar Realty Europe Corp.
Fortis Property Group in connection with a US$1.1 billion refinancing and re-leasing of the State Street Tower at One Lincoln, Boston, Massachusetts. As part of the closing, DLA also represented Fortis in the negotiation of multiple amendments to the current WeWork lease in the building and a new lease with HarbourVest Partners, LLC for over 250,000 square feet of space.
British Airways in respect of all on-and off-airport properties for the airline globally, providing comprehensive advice on transactional, property litigation and construction matters, including their headquarter offices, lettings at major airports (including London Heathrow and London Gatwick), reconfiguring access arrangements for the new double-decker A380 aircraft, crew rooms, assignment of previous leases held by bmi, and reorganisation of the property holdings of the BA Group at London Gatwick.
Meridian Property Group in the negotiation of a 30,000 SF lease with Equinox, as the lead retail tenant, and Truluck’s, as the lead restaurant tenant, in a 400,000 SF mixed use, re-development project in Washington, DC.
St James’s Place plc, the wealth management house with direct property investments of approximately GBP2 billion spread across over 100 assets. We have acquired and actively managed all of these assets. They include several industrial estates, retail parks, trading estates, shopping centres and office developments and business parks
Hines, as landlord, in William Blair & Company’s headquarters relocation to 340,000 SF of space in a new construction high-rise in Chicago’s West Loop district.
Ocean Network Express, the sixth largest container company in the world, on setting up 49 new offices in 23 countries across Europe and Africa.
Round Hill Capital on the acquisition and management of an 18 asset logistics and industrial portfolio in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
WeWork on their European lease portfolio, including their London office requirements. Most recent deals have included 8-14 Meard Street, a complex mixed-use pre-let development in London’s Soho district.
An airport retail developer in its leasing work at two major international airports, LaGuardia (New York) and Logan (Boston) including negotiating its concession agreements with the applicable airport authority, preparing all of its leasing forms, and the drafting and negotiation of hundreds of retail lease documents with national and local retailers such as Starbucks, Au Bon Pain, Figs, Boston Public Market, Dunkin Donuts, Tumi, Duty Free International, and many others.
CBRE GI on the acquisition and management of one of Spain’s largest logistics portfolios.
Stonebridge Carras in the negotiation of a 521,000-SF lease with the General Services Administration for Two Constitution Square in Washington, DC. Our lawyers took the lead in lease negotiations with the US Government and in defending the award of the lease against multiple protests.
Universities Superannuation Scheme, the largest pension scheme in the UK with direct property investments of £2.5 billion spread across 84 assets with an average lot size of £30 million.
Millennium Partners in connection with negotiating an approximately 95,500 RSF office lease with McKinsey & Company at the Winthrop Center project.