Real Estate

Real estate decisions can have long-term financial and operational consequences. We advise businesses, developers, investors, and property owners from acquisition and development through leasing, financing, and disputes.

Our focus

Experience across asset classes and the real estate lifecycle

Real estate decisions are shaped by how a property will be used and the business strategy behind it. We advise businesses, developers, investors, lenders, and property owners across the life of an asset, helping them connect legal decisions with their business objectives and long-term plans.

Our work spans acquisitions and dispositions, commercial leasing, project development, real estate finance, and related litigation. We also handle the real estate components of mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructurings. Our experience includes office, retail, and industrial properties, as well as residential communities, mixed-use developments, energy production facilities, and institutional real estate.

Development projects often depend on zoning relief, land development approvals, and permits from multiple government bodies. We help clients craft a strategy to address those requirements while considering the broader factors that may affect the project, including local politics and community concerns. We assist with other regulatory approvals, including stormwater management and transportation. A land use planner works alongside our attorneys, adding another perspective to the approval process.

More than 50 attorneys and professionals contribute to our real estate practice, bringing together transactional, land use, and litigation experience. When construction, environmental, tax, or corporate issues shape a matter, we draw on that depth while keeping the client’s objectives at the center.

We represent landlords and tenants in negotiating and enforcing commercial leases. Because we work from both sides of the transaction, we understand the issues that often slow negotiations and help clients reach terms that support the property and the business operating within it.

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We help clients engage with public officials when government decisions may affect a property or proposed development. Our work includes legislative and policy matters that extend beyond a specific application or project.

We represent clients when zoning decisions, development approvals, or land use ordinances are challenged. Our attorneys handle appeals before municipal bodies and the courts with the project’s broader objectives in view.

We advise developers and associations on the formation and operation of planned communities and condominiums. Our work includes governing documents, project phasing, and the transition of control to property owners.

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We guide buyers and sellers through purchase agreements, due diligence, and closing. Our review focuses on the conditions and property rights that could affect the value or intended use of the asset.

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We advise borrowers and lenders on financing secured by commercial real estate. Our work includes commercial mortgage loans, private debt, and other structures tailored to the property and transaction.

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We handle disputes involving title, leases, purchase and sale agreements, easements, land use approvals, and the possession or use of property. We develop the litigation strategy around what the client needs to protect or accomplish beyond the immediate claim.

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We help clients establish the legal framework needed to bring a development forward. Our work includes ownership arrangements, development agreements, host community agreements, off-site infrastructure improvements agreements, and the easements or other rights required to support the project.

We advise property owners and developers responding to government inquiries or enforcement actions. Our approach considers both the immediate response and the potential effect on construction or continued use of the property.

We represent landlords in lease enforcement and eviction proceedings. We also advise on compliance and property management issues before they develop into larger disputes.

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We help clients identify and pursue permits required by state and local agencies. When an approval becomes difficult or delayed, we address the issue within the broader development strategy.

We help clients resolve title defects and disputes involving ownership, easements, or boundary lines. Our focus is on clarifying the rights needed to use, finance, or transfer the property.

We represent clients seeking variances, special exceptions, conditional use, subdivision, and land development plan approvals. Our attorneys appear before planning commissions, municipal governing bodies, zoning hearing boards, and state agencies on all forms of development and permitting matters.

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Key Contacts

Jonathan D. Andrews

Jonathan D. Andrews

Represents developers in land use and zoning matters. Advises on municipal approvals for industrial, distribution, energy, utility, retail, mixed use, and residential projects.

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Jeffrey Esch McCombie

Jeffrey Esch McCombie

Provides strategic analysis and advice to developers and property owners related to real estate and the entitlement and land use process in Pennsylvania.

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