Steve balances his development experience with complementary practice representing various bank and other institutional lenders in real estate lending (construction, bridge, permanent, and mezzanine), supplemented with experience in real estate joint venture and other corporate structures. He also possesses other associated real estate skills, such as leasing, construction, zoning, and environmental, to provide a full range of transactional counseling to clients in these areas.

Steve has worked on some of the most exciting real estate projects around the country. He has counseled developer, lender, and joint-venture partners, and other equity investors, as well as corporate real estate users. Steve has served both as lead counsel for such transactions, and as local counsel to out-of-state lead counsel who require local assistance. These transactions include in-town high-rise office, residential, mixed-use, and new hospital developments, as well as hotel, retail, and hospitality industry projects. He has also worked on many apartment project developments, portfolio investment transactions, adaptive reuse projects for urban revitalization, and other bread-and-butter conventional commercial real estate projects.

Steve uses the strengths of Seyfarth’s due diligence hub, as well as technology platforms (client data portals and document repositories), to build on the broad-based experience of his team members, guiding the Seyfarth team to provide efficient, effective deal-focused service to streamline transactions and provide business-savvy advice to get transactions closed.

At Seyfarth, Steve appreciates his team’s collegial focus and ability to jump in to help others. This allows him to offer clients seamless service across multiple practice groups, and assist team members when their needs take them away from the office.

Recognition

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.) for Real Estate Law (2018-2025)
• Recognized as a Recommended Attorney for Real Estate, The Legal 500 (Legalese Ltd.) (2024)
• Recognized as a Notable Practitioner in Real Estate (Georgia) by Chambers USA (2015-2024)
• Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta Award (2019)

Experience

• Represented an Atlanta-based developer in the acquisition, equity structuring, financing, development, and construction of multiple suburban apartment projects in metropolitan Atlanta.
• Represented an Atlanta-based medical office building developer in the acquisition, development, and leasing of a medical office building constructed in air space ground leased over an existing parking deck owned by a hospital.
• Represented the sponsor in the formation and structuring of a real estate investment fund focusing on multifamily investments in select national markets.
• Represented an apartment developer in the acquisition, equity structuring, financing, development, and construction of a $36 million, 246-unit mid-rise urban apartment project located within an FAA-restricted airport area.
• Represented a sponsor and joint venture with respect to the acquisition, structuring, and financing of a $320 million, 12-apartment project portfolio in four Texas cities.
• Represented an apartment developer in a $74 million mid-rise urban apartment acquisition, development, financing, and equity structuring project in Arlington, Virginia.
• Represented an Atlanta apartment developer in the acquisition, equity structuring, financing, development, and construction of a $75 million mixed-use project in the Atlanta Central Perimeter area comprised of 300 residential units and more than 100,000 square feet of retail space.
• Represented an apartment developer in several Virginia suburban apartment transactions, including a new urbanism project in Williamsburg, Virginia as part of a new town center development.
• Represented the sponsor in the acquisition, financing, and equity structure of two Class A high-rise trophy office towers in a major metropolitan market.
• Represented an Atlanta-based developer in several Florida apartment acquisition, development, structuring, and financing transactions valued between $20 million and $34 million.
• Represented an apartment developer with regard to the acquisition, equity structuring, financing, and development of three Pennsylvania suburban apartment projects of 98 and 216 units with total project costs of $22 million and $40 million.
• Represented well-known national retail chain in acquisition, leasing, and new store development matters.
• Represented an Atlanta office of a national multifamily developer with respect to several urban and suburban projects ranging in size from 212 units to 360 units.
• Represented an Atlanta-based developer in a Virginia ground-leased apartment development joint venture transaction with a coastal Virginia landowner university.
• Represented a national bank in construction loans for student apartment housing projects in Gainesville, Florida and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
• Represented a national bank in project construction loans for suburban apartment projects in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
• Represented a national bank’s community development corporation with respect to conventional construction loans, as well as tax credit equity bridge and related loans for tax advantaged development transactions in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Maryland.