Marc Lazar

Marc Lazar is a partner in Goodwin’s Real Estate group. Marc’s practice focuses on real estate finance and investments throughout the capital stack and in all asset classes, including joint ventures, private equity investments, mortgage, mezzanine and preferred equity financings, sale leasebacks, ground leases and loan restructurings. He has extensive experience representing institutional investors, hedge funds, real estate and other private equity funds, as well as lenders and developers.

Marc is also a member of Goodwin’s PropTech Initiative, which is focused on supporting the intersection of Real Estate and Technology through thoughtful collaboration across the two practice areas. As a key contributor to the group and Steering Committee, Marc participates in key industry events and stays up to date on relevant market trends impacting the PropTech sector to effectively support clients involved in this space.

Prior to joining Goodwin, Marc was a partner at Ropes & Gray, where he served as co-head of the real estate investments and transactions group. He is frequently quoted in industry publications including Real Estate Finance & Investment.

Marc previously represented clients in the San Francisco market’s largest-ever multifamily portfolio financing, and in joint ventures for a $1.5 billion mixed use project in Atlanta, an 820 lot residential subdivision in Tennessee, a high rise condominium in Honolulu and several hotels, office buildings, stalled condominium projects, and other properties.* Many of these transactions involved investments in LLC membership interests, distressed loans and other distressed assets, workouts, and loan restructurings.

Representative matters include:

• Represented a data center platform in a joint venture to develop and expand a 61-acre data center campus in Nashville, Tennessee
• Represented a joint venture in connection with a $520 million construction loan to develop a 600,000 square foot Class A office tower in Bellevue, Washington
• Represented a real estate investment trust in its agreement to form a partnership to acquire a 50% interest in a portfolio of eight Massachusetts based acute care hospitals
• Represented a real estate investment trust in the buy-out of a 45% joint venture interest in a $1 billion portfolio of multifamily housing in California
• Represented a Boston-based real estate investment firm in connection with the recapitalization of Terrell Place, an 11 story, 450,000 square foot office building in Washington, DC
• Represented a real estate investment firm in the $111 million acquisition and $72 million financing of a 435,000 square foot class A office tower located in Nashville, Tennessee
• Represented a real estate investment management company, having over $20 billion of real estate assets, in connection with a preferred equity investment for the development and construction of a 1.35 million sf class A office tower in Chicago, including the negotiation of an approx. $500 million construction loan
• Represented an institutional investor in connection with a joint venture to acquire Marathon Oil Tower, a 1.9 million square foot class A office tower in Houston, Texas, including the negotiation of senior secured and mezzanine financings for the acquisition
• Represented a preeminent global hedge fund in the San Francisco market’s largest-ever multifamily portfolio financing. The portfolio is owned by a joint venture between the preeminent global hedge fund and its operating partner, Veritas Investments Inc. The $685 million recapitalization involved CMBS financing, 32 traditional mortgage term loans and two tiers of preferred equity investments*
• Advised a private real-estate investment company and its capital partner, a large investment fund in the purchase of the New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott hotel from Capmark Financial Group Inc. The purchase of the 438-room hotel in Queens was one of the first large acquisitions for the Connecticut-based investment company and was cited as a Wall Street Journal Deal of the Week*
• Provided strategic start-up advice and represented a real estate investment and development firm in a joint venture with Walton Street Capital and with respect to several acquisitions of land parcels throughout the United States*
• Representation of a real estate investment firm for the acquisition, development, and financing of a hotel in Boston’s Seaport District*
• Counseled a hedge fund in the purchase of distressed commercial and residential loans from various banks and other institutions, having an aggregate unpaid principal balance in excess of $3 billion*
• Represented one of the country’s largest private camping clubs in connection with the sale/leaseback of approximately 50 membership-based campgrounds in 16 states*
• Negotiated the sale/leaseback and expansion of a furniture retailer’s approximately 630,000 square foot warehouse and distribution center*
• Represented a petroleum distribution company in connection with the sale of a petroleum terminal*
• Represented private equity funds in connection with the acquisition and financing of companies that have significant real estate interests throughout the United States*

Marc is a member of the Cornell Real Estate Council, the International Conference of Shopping Centers, the New York State Bar Association Commercial Leasing Subcommittee, and the Real Estate Finance Association. He also serves as counsel to Schodack Campership Initiative, a not-for-profit corporation that provides summer camp scholarships to disadvantaged children.

• In addition to his regular inclusion in The Legal 500, Marc has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Law from 2014 – 2023 and Massachusetts Super Lawyers
• Marc is regularly ranked in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2014-2023), and has been described by a client as “A stellar attorney. He is probably one of the most efficient, practical people I know and his clients love him. He is an extraordinary lawyer.”

Co-Author, “Joint Venture Issues that Can Arise in Office-to-Residential Conversions,” Wealth Management, March 15, 2023

Moderator of Panel, “GP/OP Joint Venture Shark Tank,” IMN Real Estate Opportunity & Private Fund Investing Conference, 2018

Co-Author, “Selling to Your Operating Partner,” Real Estate Fund Manager, September 2015

Quoted, “5 Ways To Anticipate Hot Points In Property JV Negotiations,” Law360, July 23, 2015

Moderator of Panel, “Joint Ventures Structuring & Management,” IMN Real Estate General Counsel Forum, October 2013

Moderator of Panel, “What is Fair in Waterfall Return Splits?” The Global Real Estate Forum, MIT Center for Real Estate, April 5, 2013

Speaker, “Legal Lightning Round: 3 Critical Legal Decisions in Real Estate,” The Global Real Estate Forum, MIT Center for Real Estate, April 20, 2012

Moderator of Panel, “Joint Ventures: The Latest Legal and Transactional Structures,” IMN Real Estate General Counsel Forum, October 2011

Presenter, “Buying Distressed Real Estate Loans: Issues to Consider and Pitfalls to Avoid,” Webinar, July 2010

Presenter, “Buying Loans from a Bank: Tell Me What’s Going On,” IMN Distressed Commercial Real Estate Symposium, October 5, 2009