Greenberg Traurig deals six-strong real estate finance team
The US-based firm expands its New York operations and opens an office in North Carolina
To begin operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, Greenberg Traurig has attracted a team of six real estate finance partners from Winston & Strawn. One of the partners is responsible for opening the new office.
The firm’s three regional offices in New York State are based in Manhattan and the rest of its team is based in those offices.
Miami-based firm’s 100-lawyer real estate finance practice is led by partners, Corey Tessler and Michael Moser, who will be co-chairs. Moser will begin at the firm’s office in White Plains, New York, while Tessler, the firm’s former real estate group chair, will split his time between the firm’s Manhattan and Bridgehampton offices.
As specialists in mortgage conduit and securitization programs, the two develop programs in several asset classes for lending institutions, including office, hospitality, multifamily residential and retail.
Jarrid King and Brian Smetana are set to join Greenberg in White Plains, while Christine Spletzer has been hired by the firm in Garden City and on Long Island as well. When the trio joins Greenberg, they will become shareholders, the firm said.
Its addition to its New York network follows 3 months after the Greenberg hiring of a group of lawyers from Farrel Fritz to open two offices in Bridgehampton and Garden City, establishing a ‘substantial presence’ on Long Island for the first time.
To complete the team, managing shareholder Brian Bailey has been assigned the responsibility of opening the company’s Charlotte office. The firm said it would welcome more team members in the “near future“. With the opening of this office, Greenberg has reached its 34th office in the US and 43rd worldwide.
Richard Rosenbaum, Greenberg’s executive chairman, stated: “Corey and Michael have previously worked together at the firm and while we are well known for our real estate practice throughout the country, this team will bring us to a whole other level in the field of real estate finance. Our vision for growth is opportunistic, not only for today but for the future as well. We add quality and additional service offerings to fit our strategic direction.”
Early in 2022, Rosenbaum reported that Greenberg exceeded $2 billion in revenue for the first time in 2021, combined with “substantial profits increases.”. As it stands now, Greenberg’s 2020 revenue was at least 16 percent higher than the $1.73bn it generated the year before.
In addition to hiring a group of seven real estate lawyers from Dentons to replenish its bench in Warsaw after losing 10 lawyers to CMS in November, 2021, the firm made several substantial hires across the firm’s platform in Europe in 2021.
The firm also expanded its litigation department in London by adding six partners from Mischon de Reya, bringing the total number of lawyers to around 50, the firm has added in the city, almost at a third, since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
In late 2020 Greenberg hired a five-strong team of real estate litigators from the Dutch law firm NautaDutilh and was led by David Van Dijk, a partner in the company’s real estate transactions and disputes group.