James Kennedy

James Kennedy is a transactional real estate lawyer handling a wide range of transactions, including purchases, sales, financing, development and leasing.  He counsels large institutions, real estate entrepreneurs, investors, family offices, trusts, estates, individuals, closely held entities and not-for-profit organizations.  He also works with cooperative apartment corporations and condominium associations.

Jim counsels domestic and foreign clients on matters across the U.S.  Among his clients are large international trading companies buying and selling trophy properties in major markets across the country; specialty and high-end retailers acquiring and leasing space in shopping centers and at freestanding locations; landlords and tenants financing, acquiring, and leasing space for offices, hotels, apartment buildings, street retail locations, industrial sites, parking lots, and warehouses; and individuals, family offices, and closely held entities acquiring, leasing, and selling commercial and residential properties, including high-end residences.

Jim serves on the firm’s Management Committee.

• Acquired retail space for new and expanded full-line specialty department stores, in-line shops, concept boutiques, “big-box,” and outlet center stores.
• Represented a landlord in several long-term ground leases for tenant construction of Midtown Manhattan apartment houses with retail stores.
• Advised a landlord on long-term ground lease for a tenant to build offices, retail stores, and a theater at a prime Midtown Manhattan location.
• Assisted a tenant in acquiring a commercial space leasehold interest in a Manhattan cooperative apartment building for a medical facility.
• Counseled a large not-for-profit organization in connection with the long-term lease of a Manhattan building to another not-for-profit.
• Negotiated a lease of multiple floors in a Manhattan landmark building for an advertising agency.
• Handled warehouse leases at an industrial park for the landlord.
• Advised donors in conveyances of property to conservation trusts.
• Represented institutional lenders and borrowers in multi-million-dollar mortgage, mezzanine, and asset-based loans.