Real Estate

Real Estate Transactions
We assist our clients in the structuring, negotiating, financing and closing of complex real estate and business transactions of all types. The firm represents clients in all segments of the real estate market, including builders, developers, property management companies and both landlords and tenants of industrial, commercial/retail and office properties, helping each client to meet its unique goals and objectives on a project specific basis. We advise clients regarding the appropriate entity structures for liability protection and minimization of adverse tax consequences, including assistance with 1031 like-kind exchanges. We assist clients in the due diligence process of property acquisitions, including coordination of environmental, engineering, title and survey services. We provide representation to real estate and business clients in bankruptcy matters as well as tax appeals. We also advise property owners with regards to mineral rights leasing and related environmental issues and concerns.

Title Insurance
Our lawyers include licensed title agents for several national title companies. We not only offer settlement services, but the issuance of title insurance, as well as the prosecution or defense of title claims.

Real Estate Taxation
We represent owners and developers of residential, commercial and industrial properties throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia in real estate tax assessment appeals before local boards of assessment, local courts and appellate courts, including the Commonwealth Court and Supreme Court in Pennsylvania. We use the income approach and other methods to drastically reduce or eliminate assessments. In certain cases, we are able to utilize existing statutory and caselaw authority to successfully advocate for the elimination of illegal tax assessments.

Land Use/Zoning
We regularly represent owners and developers throughout the municipal and governmental approval process for real property development. Representative projects include retail shopping centers, restaurants, light industrial facilities, office buildings, automobile dealerships, and mixed use centers as well as commercial and residential condominiums, planned communities and planned residential developments. We have extensive experience in obtaining rezoning and zoning amendments, which area is fraught with pitfalls for the inexperienced, and have counseled both developers and municipalities with regard to meeting procedural requirements. We represent applicants for special exception and conditional use approval, subdivision and land development approval and variance requests before numerous local municipal bodies and zoning hearing boards. We also regularly litigate land use appeals that arise in the development process.

In addition, we counsel and assist our clients with other governmental permitting processes for development, such as highway occupancy and environmental permits on the local, state and federal levels. We are experienced in negotiating municipal development agreements, as well as with agreements with local sewer and water authorities.

We also create and represent commercial and residential condominiums, homeowners’ associations, and planned communities, including the preparation of declarations, bylaws, rules and regulations and public offering statements. We regularly counsel clients with regard to changes in statutes or case law which may affect the condominium or planned community, as well as homeowners’ associations.

Our approach is to work with owners and developers, as well as civil, traffic and geotechnical engineers to obtain municipal site plan approval, and to obtain all necessary third party approvals for zoning, highway occupancy and environmental matters.

Eminent Domain
On behalf of our clients, we have negotiated with various government authorities on eminent domain matters ranging from utility easements, ingress and egress, to full takings of property. We have not only challenged certain governmental entities’ authority and power to condemn, but also, when necessary, have tried cases for just compensation before both boards of viewers and juries.

Real Estate Litigation
We regularly litigate and try a full range of cases arising from real estate disputes, including easement/boundary disputes, right of way/access claims, ownership disputes, foreclosure/bankruptcy matters, breach of contract/lease agreements, specific performance claims, as well as tax assessment appeals, land use/zoning appeals, and condemnations.