Ferdinand J. Gallo III

Additionally, Fred represents commercial banks, insurance companies, real estate investment trusts, and other institutional investors, including offshore investors and sovereign wealth funds, in a wide variety of commercial real estate financing transactions and investments. His real estate financing experience includes credit tenant lease financing facilities and multistate transactions ranging from construction, permanent, and mezzanine loan facilities for retail, multifamily residential, office, industrial, datacenter, and hotel, resort, and hospitality assets throughout the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, to the acquisition and financing of portfolios of performing, nonperforming, and underperforming loans and real estate–owned assets.

Fred represents borrowers and lenders on repurchase facilities, warehouse facilities, and single-family rental finance transactions, including the origination of single-family rental loans. He regularly negotiates and documents subscription lines, secured and unsecured credit facilities, and working capital facilities for hotel operators, real estate developers, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). 

Fred’s background representing commercial lenders also includes the acquisition and disposition of distressed loans and real estate assets, loan workouts, foreclosure and other enforcement proceedings, complex multicreditor restructurings, and conveyances in lieu of foreclosure.

Real Estate Investments and Development

• National opportunity fund in connection with a series of equity investments in a portfolio of limited service hotels located throughout the Southeast United States aggregating in excess of $250 million
• Life insurance company in connection with the formation of a joint venture with a real estate investment fund for the acquisition of a three-building, approximately 515,000-square-foot web services datacenter leased to an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc., and also in connection with a development services agreement with a development manager for the completion of the construction of improvements at the property
• Life insurance company in connection with the formation of two joint ventures among a national pension fund, a regional developer, and affiliates of the life insurance company, and the $195 million acquisition of the ground lessee’s interest in a super-regional shopping center in Port Chester, NY; the transaction included the negotiation and formation of two highly structured joint ventures, the negotiation of a purchase and sale agreement with notoriously difficult sellers (and numerous amendments thereto), protracted negotiations with the ground lessor to obtain its consent to the transaction, the assumption and restructuring of a $120 million mortgage loan from New York Life Insurance Company, and advising the client in connection with (and ultimately settling) an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) proceeding filed against the subject property
• Chinese sovereign wealth fund in connection with an almost $1 billion preferred equity investment in a portfolio of 286 limited service hotels located throughout the United States
• Joint venture between an international investment fund and an international hospitality brand in connection with the acquisition of a portfolio of six hotels (including LAX Marriott, Renaissance Worthington, Texas, Frenchman’s Reef and Morningstar Beach Resort (St. Thomas, USVI), Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua (Maui, HI), and the historic Eden Roc Hotel (Miami)); the renovation of all properties; and the ultimate sale of each property on behalf of the venture, as well as the venture’s construction of two other properties in Virginia and New Jersey
• Affiliate of an international investment fund in connection with the acquisition of a Japanese leisure company, including its portfolio of Hawaii resort properties (Kahala Hotel, Princess Kaiulani Hotel, Moana Surfrider Hotel, Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and Westin Maui), the financing thereof, and the subsequent renovation and disposition of the properties
• NYC-based developer in connection with assemblage of one-half of a city block on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the design and development of a 13-story mixed-use building (including both construction and permanent financing thereof), the long-term lease to a local college for a portion of the building for use as student housing, and the lease of approximately 20,000 rentable square feet of street-level retail space
• Chicago-based developer in connection with the acquisition of a landmarked former flagship department store, and the adaptive reuse/redevelopment of a portion of the improvements for student housing, classroom and lecture facilities, and offices, and the long-term lease to a regional college
• NYC-based opportunity fund in connection with the redevelopment of a Midtown Manhattan office tower, including the negotiation of construction contracts, architects’ agreements, and professional service contracts related to the gut rehab of the building, reskinning of the façade, reconfiguring of interior parking, ground floor retail, and construction of 15 additional stories of office space
• National media company in connection with the negotiation of construction contracts, architects’ agreements, and professional service contracts related to tenant improvement work for the top two full floors of a Midtown Manhattan office tower as the company’s NY-based regional headquarters

Real Estate Finance

• Publicly traded REIT in the origination of more than $500 million in credit tenant lease financings—both individual and portfolio transactions—including financings of a telecommunications and distribution center campus 100% leased to credit tenants in Alexandria, VA
• Secured lender in connection with a $100 million credit tenant lease financing secured by an office campus of a national insurance company in suburban Baltimore
• Secured lender in connection with a $50 million credit tenant lease secured by a production and distribution center financing in Newark, NJ leased to a national apparel retailer
• NY branch of a Middle East bank in connection with a $55 million credit tenant lease financing secured by a private primary and middle school leased to Nobel Learning Communities, Inc., a national for-profit charter school system located in Las Vegas
• NY branch of a Middle East bank connection with a $48 million credit tenant lease financing secured by a suburban office building leased to The Hartford Insurance Company located in Charlotte, NC
• International hedge fund in connection with a $250 million credit facility to a private REIT secured by 20 industrial warehouse facilities located in 12 states
• Commercial lender in connection with a $105 million short-term bridge facility to fund the acquisition and payment of certain carry costs pending the reentitlement of a 1-million-square-foot “urban community” in Alhambra, CA
• Foreign bank in connection with a $75 million short-term bridge facility to fund the acquisition of and payment of certain predevelopment costs related to a mixed-use project in Essex, New Jersey
• Opportunity fund in connection with the origination of a $100 million junior mezzanine loan secured by the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Chicago, including the negotiation of necessary amendments to the existing hotel management agreement
• Lender with respect to multiple, separate credit tenant lease finance transactions secured by franchised restaurants throughout the United States
• London-based real estate investment fund as a co-lender in connection with the $1 billion first mortgage financing of the Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue, New York
• London-based real estate investment fund as a co-lender in connection with the $500 million first mortgage financing of the 1.1 million rentable square foot St. John Terminal Building located in Manhattan
• London-based real estate investment fund connection with its investment in a $1.5 billion secured single-family rental facility to Progress Residential LP and certain of its affiliates; the facility was secured by equity interest in the owner of more than 2,500 single-family residences located throughout the United States
• London-based real estate investment fund in connection with its investment in a $1.0 billion secured single-family rental facility to Home Partners of America and certain of its affiliates; the facility was secured by equity interest in the owner of more than 2,000 single-family residences located throughout the United States
• London-based real estate investment fund as a co-lender in connection with a $625 million construction financing of a multitenant datacenter in Potomac Mills, VA leased to affiliates of Facebook, Inc.
• National life insurance company in connection with the origination of more than $3.5 billion (in the aggregate) in secured single-family rental facilities secured by almost 10,000 single-family residences located throughout the United States
• Institutional investors in a $575 million secured financing for the construction of a datacenter campus in Prince William County, VA

Distressed Debt Acquisition, Real Estate Loan Restructurings, and Workouts

• Affiliates of a national real estate investment fund in connection with the purchase of the majority of the United States commercial loan assets of Doral Bank and the simultaneous financing of such acquisition pursuant to a warehouse line of credit originated by JP Morgan Chase Bank
• Publicly traded REIT as the secured lender in connection with the restructuring of a highly structured portfolio of debt and preferred equity and the ultimate acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure of a luxury ski resort in Mammoth Lakes, CA
• Publicly traded REIT as construction lender in connection with the ground up development of The Mansion on Peachtree, Atlanta, a high-rise, mixed-use hotel/condominium project; the acquisition of the property by an affiliate of the construction lender pursuant to a consensual foreclosure and the subsequent rebranding of the hotel component, including the negotiation and documentation of new hotel management agreements and licenses; the negotiation of a celebrity chef restaurant license agreement; the sale of individual condominium units and townhomes; and the negotiation of a master parking agreement with Standard Parking for the benefit of the residential and hotel components of the property
• Secured lender in connection with the restructuring and ultimate acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure of a CBD office tower and accessory parking structure managed by Standard Parking, and the subsequent renegotiation of the parking agreement with respect thereto
• Institutional investors in a $350 million private placement of senior secured notes issued by Ochsner Clinic Foundation, Louisiana's largest nonprofit academic healthcare system