Pillsbury has recruited Robert Grados, a prominent leader in the area of real estate finance—particularly repurchase credit facilities, warehouse lines of credit and loan originations—as partner in the firm’s real estate practice. He joins the firm’s New York office from Jones Day, significantly expanding Pillsbury’s firmwide real estate finance capabilities.
Grados counsels national and regional financial institutions, REITs, real estate investment funds, insurance companies, and institutional investors in matters involving real estate structured finance, advising on all manner of loan origination, complex credit facilities and mezzanine financings. His experience is comprehensive, spanning syndicated, securitized, and single-lender mezzanine and mortgage loans; construction and permanent loans; corporate, warehouse, and subscription credit facilities; “repo” transactions; and other complex and cross-border structured financings. Grados also frequently advises on the workout and restructuring of troubled real estate loans and credit facilities and has represented property owners and developers in the acquisition, disposition, construction, leasing, and development of commercial and multifamily real estate.
“Bob is an exceptional real estate lawyer whose experience and reputation nationally are second to none,” said firmwide Real Estate practice section leader Rachel Horsch. “His arrival dramatically boosts the firm’s real estate finance capabilities—complementing our already highly regarded practice on the equity side—and expands the practice’s on-the-ground presence in the critical New York market. We are very excited to have him on board.”
Pillsbury’s firmwide Real Estate practice is widely acclaimed for the scope and capacity it affords clients, and the many recent successes of the firm’s New York-based team reinforce that excellent reputation. Lead New York Real Estate partners Caroline Harcourt, Paul Shapses and Andrew Weiner have handled several high-profile engagements, representing the United States Postal Service in a 99-year lease at the “Morgan North” postal facility building in Chelsea; advising Korean investment bank Daishin Securities on multiple transactions including the acquisition and financing of the 22-story, approx. 200,000-square-foot commercial property located at 400 Madison Avenue; representing Hoffman-Madison Waterfront in closing an $847 million construction loan for the second phase of The Wharf, a $2.5 billion mixed-use development on D.C.’s southwest waterfront; and guiding publicly traded Swedish real estate company Klövern AB on its first three U.S. property acquisitions, all in Manhattan. In October 2019, The Real Deal recognized Pillsbury among the 30 law firms that handled the highest volume of NYC real estate sales.
“Pillsbury has long been recognized as one of the real estate sector’s premier legal advisors,” Grados said. “I look forward to being part of the firm’s storied Real Estate group, to helping build out the impressive and growing real estate team here in New York, and to advancing Pillsbury’s real estate finance offering for the benefit of our clients.”
Grados is already the second partner hire made by Pillsbury this year. On January 2, the firm announced that Peter Elias had joined the firm’s Tax practice as a partner in San Diego. Elias also came to the firm from Jones Day.
Source: www.pillsburylaw.com
