Practices & Industries

Since the Firm was founded, Riker Danzig has been at the forefront of New Jersey’s real estate market.  Riker Danzig’s diverse real estate law practice has successfully represented the major parties in several of the most significant real estate projects in New Jersey history.   In 2022, our Real Estate practice was named "Dealmakers of the Year" by the New Jersey Law Journal as part of its 2022 Professional Excellence Awards, an honor we also received in 2018.   Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business Clients’ Guide has consistently ranked highly Riker Danzig’s diverse real estate law practice since 2004, noting the group's "powerhouse reputation in the state," "strength on the transactional side" and "profile in the context of real estate litigation." Chambers sources say, "The firm is very sophisticated in real estate development issues, and ties them to societal, political, and economic trends. Their responsiveness is excellent." Sources describe the group as taking "great pride in the success of a transaction. They go beyond being attorneys, becoming critical members of our team and our success," a "terrific real estate group," "practical, affordable and get the deal done" and "very well versed on the business realities," and doing "a great job of coordinating between the counsels of the various parties."  Chambers calls our team "efficient and organized. They are strategic and are good at project management," and "they have very knowledgeable attorneys and are a pleasure to deal with." See Awards and Honors Methodology.

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Riker Danzig’s real estate law practice spans the full breadth of the industry, from representing landlords, purchasers and developers in bull markets, to distressed tenants and financial institutions seeking workout advice in bear markets.  Our commercial real estate lawyers serve as counsel to, and understand the varying needs of, a wide variety of clients, from publicly-traded companies to international lending institutions to mid-sized developers to community banks.  No matter what part of a cycle the real estate market is in, or what the current challenges faced in a transaction may be, Riker Danzig’s real estate lawyers have "been there."

Our real estate clients include (i) such well-known companies as Bed Bath & Beyond, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Simon Properties (Premium Outlet Centers), AIG,  Johnson & Johnson, Chicago Title Insurance Company, Vornado Realty Trust, Carrier Clinic, The Rockefeller Group, C. R. Bard, Alcatel-Lucent, Selective Insurance Company and AT&T, (ii) mid-size developers, such as The Heller Group, Millennium Towers, L.L.C., and Ginsburg Development, L.L.C., (iii) lending institutions such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Sovereign Bank NA, Carver Federal Savings Bank, New York Community Bank and Citibank, N.A., (iv) emerging growth technology companies such as Foursquare and BuzzFeed, and (v) public entities such as New Jersey Transit, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, and Newark Public Schools.

Typical Engagements

We have a broad-based real estate practice including all aspects of real estate law. Our practice includes:

•  Representing retail landlords and tenants
•  Representing commercial and industrial landlords and tenants
•  Negotiating contracts of sale and options on behalf of sellers and purchasers of improved and unimproved real property
•  Representing purchaser-lessors as well as seller-lessees in sale-leaseback transactions
•  Representing emerging growth technology company tenants, with significant experience in the unique leasing issues faced by rapidly growing companies
•  Representing borrowers and lenders in connection with loans secured by real property
•  Representing parties engaging in 1030 tax free exchanges, including deferred exchanges, starker reverse exchanges and exchanges involving build-to-suit transactions
•  Representing sellers and purchasers of development tracts, including transactions contingent on complex approvals and transactions with contingent purchase prices and “kickers” payable to sellers on the disposition of completed units by purchasers
•  Representing clients in the structuring of corporations, joint ventures, partnerships and limited liability entities
•  Representing owners and developers before state and local agencies in obtaining zoning, planning and other developmental approvals and permits and in prerogative-writ litigation relating to approvals
•  Representing parties dealing with property covered by New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act and with regard to other environmental problems
•  Representing developers, owners, landlords and tenants in real estate litigation and arbitration matters
•  Representing title insurance companies in claims litigation
•  Representing parties in connection with Mount Laurel housing issues
•  Representing owners in connection with the sale of properties by auction and pooled sale
•  Representing governmental authorities and property owners in condemnation proceedings
•  Representing property owners in the negotiation of design and construction contracts
•  Representing institutional lenders in the workout and sale of distressed debt

In many matters requiring diverse expertise, our real estate attorneys work together with other attorneys in our Firm who practice in our highly regarded environmental, government affairs, bankruptcy, corporate, lending and litigation practice groups.