Real estate projects demand a sophisticated understanding of the intersection of law, finance and property – along with the tenacity to tailor financing solutions to changing market conditions. Barnes & Thornburg’s Real Estate Finance attorneys deliver on both. Whether facilitating conventional commercial loans, navigating government-sponsored financing, or designing a complex capital stack, our commitment remains unwavering: to achieve effective and strategic outcomes for our clients.
“The lawyers at Barnes & Thornburg are the best in the industry. They make deals and keep deals moving. They are exactly what a client wants in their attorneys.”– Client comment in Best Lawyers
Lender Representation
With a national footprint and a multidisciplinary approach, our team represents lenders on a full range of financing transactions, from single-asset conventional loans to complex, multi-state and multi-borrower financings.
Lenders, ranging across all finance sources including banks (community, regional, national and foreign), private lenders, private equity funds, and other investment companies regularly turn to our real estate finance attorneys for their deep experience across:
- Loan types and financing structures – Construction, permanent, bridge, refinancing, credit tenant lease, sale-leaseback, mezzanine, preferred equity, rescue equity, and shared appreciation structures.
- Lender participation and investment models – Loan syndications, participations, assignments, warehousing, joint ventures, co-GP, sidecar, upper-tier investments, and mixed collateral financings.
Borrower Representation
For borrowers navigating real estate financing, we provide end-to-end counsel—from initial structuring to closing—to drive efficient and strategic deals aligned with your business goals. Our proactive and comprehensive approach includes:
- Structuring and term sheets – Designing capital stacks, securing tax credits, negotiating term sheets, and structuring tax-efficient entities.
- Equity and syndication – Advising on preferred equity, joint ventures, private placements, fund formation, tenancies-in-common, mezzanine loans, and hybrid financing..
- Due diligence and negotiation – Managing lender negotiations, third-party diligence, investment committee approvals, and government agency coordination.
- Transaction execution – Drafting and finalizing loan documents and closing transactions smoothly and cost-effectively.
- Exits – Advising on loan payoffs, reconveyances, prepayments, defeasance, 1031 exchanges, refinancings, recaps, redemptions, and other borrower exits.
Our borrower clients span the spectrum of real estate developers, builders, public agencies, pension fund advisors, REITs, corporations, private equity funds, family offices, investors, sponsors, and purchasers.
Workouts and Distressed Situations
Market volatility and economic shifts can create financial distress, requiring strategic guidance to protect investments. We represent both lenders and borrowers in navigating loan defaults, restructurings, and workouts—offering tailored legal strategies to preserve value and minimize disruptions.
Our capabilities include:
- Pre-default planning – Risk assessment, early-stage negotiations, and proactive workout strategies.
- Debt restructuring and remedy enforcement – Loan modifications, forbearance agreements, guarantee enforcement, and lender remedies.
- Distressed asset transactions – Foreclosures, deeds-in-lieu, receiverships, and bankruptcy-driven asset sales..
Tailored Representation
We tailor the scope of our representation to fit your needs and collaborate with advisors as needed for your transactions, including:
- Local counsel – Serving as local counsel within a specified jurisdiction to conform any local documents with applicable laws and customs of the jurisdiction, including providing a local counsel legal opinion for loan documents governed by the laws of the jurisdiction.
- Dedicated co-counsel– Our real estate experience in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, telecommunications, tribal representation, life sciences, aviation, motor sports, agriculture, insurance recovery, and international finance enable us to fit seamlessly as co-counsel with other firms handling large, multifaceted financing and related transactions.
Asset classes
Our experience covers all real property asset classes, including multifamily, office, industrial, healthcare, retail, hospitality, data center, and special-use properties.
