Owners of shopping centers and other retail spaces are again increasingly looking to novel uses, including distribution and warehouse uses, sometimes called “fulfillment centers”, to fill growing vacancies.
David A. Lewis
Commercial real estate developments and transactions are the focal point of David Lewis’ Real Estate practice. Dave, an Associate at the firm, assists clients in the development of mixed-use, multi-family, retail, office, hospitality, renewable energy, and professional sports, projects in Washington DC and other major urban markets nationwide, including New York and Boston. He also has experience with transactions and leases involving hotel, retail and office properties. Dave is a member of the firm’s Climate Change Task Force.
- Represented a national multi-family REIT in securing entitlements for more than 1,000 new units in transit-oriented projects.
- Represented developers and institutions in obtaining entitlements from the D.C. Zoning Commission, Board of Zoning Adjustment, and Historic Preservation Review Board.
- Advised property owners and developers on rights and opportunities under the 2016 rewrite of the D.C. Zoning Regulations.
- Supported the redevelopment and repositioning of a 1.3 million square foot industrial, innovation, and maker-space office complex along Boston’s working waterfront.
- Negotiated, on behalf of Landlords, numerous office and retail leases for signature Manhattan commercial buildings.
- Acted as counsel to a special servicer in its repositioning of a shopping center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Represented Landlords in the lease up and redevelopment of shopping centers in Boston and elsewhere in New England.
- Supported hotel real estate investment fund in transactions and financings totaling $350M for properties in North Carolina, Texas, Minnesota, Arizona and New England.
- Represented a professional sports franchise in land use and zoning matters, real property acquisition and transportation planning.
- Assisted with obtaining permits and ensuring regulatory compliance for a first-of-its kind renewable energy technology.
- Advised on the implications of FEMA flood plain designations and regulations on the development of new projects.
Retail follows rooftops. Few real estate adages are more axiomatic. Increasingly, however, the reverse is becoming true, and rooftops, or residential uses, are cozying up to retail.
Tenant curation, experiential retail, and social media-based marketing are thriving trends in today’s brick-and-mortar shopping center industry. Retail is not the only real estate asset class susceptible to trends.
