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Equity & Joint Ventures

ArentFox Schiff provides focused, practical advice in structuring equity and joint venture arrangements to participants up and down the capital stack, including both equity players and real estate project sponsors.

Our Focus

ArentFox Schiff’s deep bench of lawyers counsel capital investors and sponsors on the structuring, formation, and financing of joint ventures, including the negotiation of venture terms and operating agreements, tax advantaged structuring, and the identification and resolution of tax issues.

Our knowledge of the players and market terms in this area is an advantage that our clients and their partners appreciate. Furthermore, our extensive relationships and network of contacts in the investment fund industry have proven to be beneficial in generating deal opportunities for our clients. We take a multidisciplinary approach to each engagement and make it a priority to understand the specific opportunities and challenges facing our clients. 

Our Work

  • Goldman Sachs and Greystar Real Estate Partners in a joint venture to acquire a 27-property multifamily portfolio totaling more than 8,000 units valued at $1 billion. 
  • Goldman Sachs in a joint venture to originate $115 million of commercial mortgage loans.
  • AllianceBernstein US Real Estate Partners in the formation of a joint venture and subsequent acquisition of a portfolio of multifamily properties located in 10 different states.
  • Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. in negotiating joint ventures with various REITs as co-investors, requiring analysis into the REIT compliance rules for the development of assisted and independent living facilities.
  • Forest City Ratner Companies in the joint venture and financing of a “fee above-a-plane transaction” in New York’s Times Square.
  • A financial services institution in the structuring and negotiation of a joint venture to which bonds within the controlling class of CMBS pools (having a face value of over $1 billion) were contributed and special servicing fee profits attributable thereto were shared with the joint venture partner’s special servicer affiliate.