Press Release
June 28, 2011

Goodwin Procter Advises Simon Properties Group on Copley Place Air Rights Agreement

A team of Goodwin Procter attorneys served as advisors to Copley Place Associates, LLC, an affiliate of Goodwin client Simon Properties Group, on the negotiation of an air rights lease and related agreements that will change Boston’s skyline.

Signed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick on June 20, the 99-year lease agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation details, among other things, the intended redevelopment of a portion of Copley Place above the Massachusetts Turnpike. Expansion plans contemplate enlargement of the Neiman Marcus store located at the corner of Dartmouth and Stuart Streets, and the construction of a residential apartment tower, which may include both rental units and residential condominiums.

“Patience and determination is what was required, together with long‑range vision. Both the state agency and our client well understood the importance of this transaction to Boston’s economic vitality,” said Michael Litchman, Goodwin Procter senior counsel and lead negotiator of the air rights lease.

The new agreement supersedes the client’s existing air rights lease for Copley Place, which was entered into in the late 1970s.

In addition to Litchman, Goodwin’s real estate deal team included partner Lawrence Kaplan.