Kramer Levin’s Real Estate Practice Named One of Law360’s Top Practice Groups of 2012

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is pleased to announce that the firm's Real Estate practice was named a Law360 "Top Practice Group of 2012." Kramer Levin was one of only five firms selected for this honor. Firms were chosen for the significance and complexity of deals the group worked on in the past year.

In 2012 alone, Kramer Levin played a leading role in several exceptionally prominent real estate transactions, including the $260-million sale of the Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers Manhattan campus to a joint venture of the Rudin Family and North Shore/LIJ (a pivotal aspect of the resolution of Saint Vincent's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy which was also handled by Kramer Levin); representation of a joint venture of Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group in connection with its winning bid for and negotiation of a 97-year ground lease to develop a new $300-million hotel and residential complex at Brooklyn Bridge Park; representation of New York Life Insurance Company in its purchase of an office building valued at $360 million; and representation of The Related Companies in connection with Hudson Yards, a 12-million-square-foot commercial/residential development project.

Widely regarded as the "go-to" firm for transactional and restructuring matters, Kramer Levin provides counsel to real estate developers and owners, private equity investors, investment bankers, merchant and commercial bankers and hoteliers, among others, across the full spectrum of real estate matters. With office, hotel, residential, retail, industrial, joint ventures, restructurings, recapitalizations, development, conversions, financings, acquisitions and sales to its credit, both long-term clients and those new to the firm and to the industry rely on a highly experienced 50 plus attorney team that also includes practices devoted to Land Use, Environmental and Condemnation matters. The Real Estate department works closely with these and other departments such as Litigation, Corporate, Tax and Creditors' Rights to deliver timely, comprehensive and results-oriented counsel. Kramer Levin is adept at maneuvering the many complexities of the real estate business, including matters that involve public sector/governmental entities, and delivering strategic, creative solutions through a network of far-reaching relationships and capabilities in New York and beyond.

The firm has the largest land use practice in the City of New York and handles the most complex and sophisticated land use matters. The firm's Land Use Department has provided counsel on and secured approvals for work on many of New York City's most well-known and celebrated landmarks including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Lincoln Center, Rockefeller Center, MOMA, Carnegie Hall, Hearst Tower, the Sony Building and the Seagram Building. Recent matters include approvals for Vornado Realty Trust's proposed 2.8 million square foot office tower for the site of the Hotel Pennsylvania, Extell Development's three-million-square-foot Riverside Center development and its 1,000 foot tall One57 mixed use building, the 1,050 foot high Jean Nouvel designed tower for a joint venture composed of the Hines Interests and the Museum of Modern Art, and a new Rafael Viñoly designed 1,380 foot high residential tower at 432 Park Avenue (the former Drake Hotel site). The Department is currently providing advice to NYU Langone Medical Center in connection with new hospital development on its campus; to Madison Square Garden for its transformation to a state of the art sports and entertainment complex and ongoing operations; to Howard Hughes Corporation in connection with its revitalization of the South Street Seaport; and to the Whitney Museum in connection with its new museum at the southern end of the High Line.

In the past year, the Real Estate practice of Kramer Levin has demonstrated its depth and breadth of counsel with 23 new development deals valued in the tens of billions of dollars, building sales and purchases valued at $4.5 billion, financing and refinancing transactions of $1.5 billion, loan restructurings and workouts of $2.5 billion, condominium developments registered or brought to market of $5 billion and leases totaling over one million square feet.