Real Estate

Clients turn to Gordon Arata when faced with challenges inherent in the industry or routine matters—from development and construction to leasing and financing, to acquisition and management. Gordon Arata’s real estate team has the experience, vision and creativity to see commercial and industrial real estate transactions to fruition. The firm and our attorneys have been recognized for our work and expertise in the industry, including by the prestigious Chambers USA, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers.

Our clients include the owners and tenants of and lenders to:

• Chemical Plants
• Solar Facilities
• Properties Subject to Carbon Sequestration
• Pipeline and Storage Facilities
• Warehouses
• Retail Locations
• Hotels
• Shopping Centers
• Restaurants
• Apartment Complexes
• Office Buildings
• Hospitals
• Banks
• Historic French Quarter Properties

We also advise commercial real estate brokers and management companies. Governmental entities, including the Non-Flood Protection Asset Management Authority, have engaged us for assistance with leasing their holdings and the State of Louisiana, Division of Administration, Office of Community Development relies on our real estate experience in connection with many of its Community Development Block Grant loans.

Our foresight and acumen help our real estate clients achieve their business goals and get the deal done.

We advise our real estate clients on title, environmental and other regulatory issues, and we help them when they wish to obtain or provide financing for initial development or expansion of facilities. We help businesses who want to subdivide and sell land or obtain necessary licenses, servitudes and easements.

Our commercial financing and secured transaction team structures, negotiates and closes term loans and revolving credit facilities. Our construction team negotiates and documents construction agreements. When disputes arise, we also represent clients in litigation, arbitration or mediation to get exactly what they bargained for.

Gordon Arata attorneys handle a wide array of real estate transactions, commercial leasing and related matters, as well as litigation disputes involving real estate. We are called upon to represent chemical and manufacturing plants, real estate investment trusts (REITs), public and private developers, warehouse, shopping center and apartment complex owners, banks, commercial lessors and lessees, insurance companies and purchasers of luxury condominiums in such diverse matters as:

• Acquiring, subdividing and selling real estate
• Negotiating and preparing commercial leases for landlords and tenants of warehouses, shopping centers, hospitals, plants, office buildings and retail space
• Negotiating pipeline, electrical, railroad and other servitudes, easements and rights-of-way
• Assisting with zoning, permitting and licensing issues
• Establishing condominium regimes and advising condominium associations on the implementation and operation of those associations
• Advising lenders on all real estate issues including title, survey and local law matters
• Performing due diligence and assisting purchasers with the acquisition of chemical plants and other industrial or manufacturing facilities
• Reviewing, drafting and negotiating construction agreements, development agreements, service contracts and related agreements

We regularly provide title services required for the financing, acquisition and other transactions we handle. Our firm’s title insurance agency, Current Title Agency, L.L.C., writes title insurance for Fidelity National Title Group and WFG National Title Insurance Company and regularly issues large commercial title policies to owners and lenders. We also represent multiple national title insurers in connection with claims litigation and represented the lead title insurer in connection with the re-issuance of the title policies on the New Orleans land-based casino project. We use our title insurance savvy to review title commitments and surveys for purchasers and advise them on title issues and endorsements to protect against those issues.

Our commercial leasing practice includes representation of local and regional landlords in a variety of lease transactions, including negotiation and preparation of shopping center and free-standing store leases, commercial warehouse leases and build-to-suit property leases. We represent large and small tenants in leases of commercial office buildings, retail spaces and other properties. We also negotiate and prepare for our clients ancillary lease documents, such as estoppel certificates, subordination, non-disturbance and attornment agreements and waivers of various lien rights.

Some of our real estate and commercial leasing transactions, and real estate litigation work, include:

• Representing a Houston-based residential development company in an asset sale and joint venture valued at $425 million
• Representing a developer negotiating a variety of agreements for a large-scale storage hub and carbon sequestration project
• Securing a million trial judgment for a real estate development client in a case against a Louisiana municipality, with the verdict upheld on appeal
• Representing a regional bank on the sale of multiple closed branch locations
• Securing a significant win in a two-week jury trial for a real estate client involving a 12-year dispute over a multi-million sale of a property
• Representing an international concrete company in acquiring a Louisiana company with 8 different real estate owned and leased locations
• Representing a global specialty chemical company in acquiring a catalyst plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Representing a national chemical company in the divestiture of a synthetic rubber plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the acquisition of another plant in Port Neches, Texas
• Advising the owner of a warehouse held in an LLC on the sale of membership interests
• Advising purchasers of luxury condominiums in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Representing a chemical company in the expansion of its footprint at its Norco, Louisiana, facility and renegotiation of the related Site Services and Facilities Agreement
• Representing the owner of industrial real estate in Geismar, Louisiana, in subdividing its land into smaller parcels for potential sale, multiple sales of excess acreage and in negotiating and documenting numerous servitudes and rights of way needed for the sale of excess acreage
• Representing a landlord in the lease of a large warehouse distribution facility
• Representing a landlord in the lease of a plasma collection center
• Representing a tenant in lease renegotiation of large commercial office building space