Our attorneys have the experience necessary to guide you through all aspects of your real estate transaction. We regularly advise real estate developers, financial institutions, commercial landlords and tenants, local governments, business entities, contractors, design professionals, and private individuals on all of their real estate related needs.
Small transaction or large, we are ready to help.
Working closely with attorneys in our Business, Corporate, and Tax, Banking, and Family practice groups, we seek to identify every issue that may arise during the course of a transaction and propose creative, practical, and cost-effective solutions to ensure successful completion.
What We Do
- Acquisitions and sales of property ranging from residential through office parks and shopping centers
- Office, industrial, and retail lease negotiations for landlords and tenants
- Public and private financing and refinancing for real estate projects
- Investigation and resolution of title issues
- All aspects of single family, multi-family, commercial, and retail land development
- Rezoning (both map changes and text amendments)
- Variances, special exceptions, and conditional uses
- Condemnations
- Sale and leaseback arrangements
- Tax-free exchanges
- Real estate tax assessment appeals
- Zoning and land use disputes
- Real estate litigation
- Act 2 Prospective Purchaser Releases and other environmental remediation
Why Real Estate Clients Choose Wisler Pearlstine
Real estate clients benefit from the depth and breadth of our experience. Our attorneys have decades of experience on all sides of real estate transactions; we truly “get it.” Our representation of banks enables us to understand both sides of real estate financing. We also understand the risks inherently involved in real estate development and the need for cost-effective, prompt solutions for the problems that frequently arise so that a project can get to the marketplace as quickly as possible. We routinely represent developers who need zoning relief and handle complex approvals which are almost always required from the state, the county, and the local municipality. Many of our attorneys also represent municipalities, zoning boards, and utility authorities, which allows us to effectively approach the approval process from all angles.
Our real estate and land development attorneys work hand-in-hand with engineers and environmental consultants to address the extremely complex regulatory environment that is an inherent part of today’s development and construction industries. On a daily basis, we deal with floodplain, wetlands, sanitary sewer, public water, and even “brownfield” issues to assist our clients in expeditiously moving their projects through the approval process. Our attorneys understand traffic impact statements, stormwater management reports and financial feasibility analyses and are called upon to work with consultants in those fields on virtually every large project we undertake. We frequently act as the “quarterback” for the numerous consultants who must become involved in bigger projects, so that the effort of the project team is coordinated and focused on the developer’s goals of obtaining all necessary approvals on a timely basis.
We provide extensive assistance to our real estate clients in their efforts to obtain financing for their projects. Our attorneys craft creative approaches to ensure that projects are considered seriously and funded effectively. Our firm has over 70 years of experience representing banks: our attorneys serve on bank boards and loan committees, enabling us to efficiently represent our real estate clients through the financing process.
In today’s real estate and land development industries, tax issues and “choice of entity” questions are critically important. We have formed and represent innumerable real estate joint ventures, limited liability companies, holding companies, family limited partnerships, and corporations on small to very large projects. We have been recognized for the formation and representation of commercial, industrial and residential condominiums, and homeowner associations. We currently represent over 40 of these entities.
On occasion, our zoning and land development attorneys are called upon to protect the legitimate interests and expectations of our developer clients who face strong local and municipal opposition because of a project’s size or perceived unpopularity. Although we work hard to keep our real estate clients out of court through negotiation and on-going communication with opponents, sometimes litigation provides the only means to protect legitimate property rights. When such a course has proven unavoidable, our attorneys have successfully litigated through the municipal approval process and zoning boards to all the courts of this commonwealth and federal court. In fact, because of that real estate litigation experience, our attorneys our frequently called upon to lecture in the area of zoning and land development litigation. Our experienced litigators have also handled most other issues which can result from land disputes, such as breached sales agreements, commission disputes, partition actions, constructive trusts, and boundary disputes.
Like many of the departments in our firm, we practice real estate, zoning, and land development law utilizing a “team” approach where one attorney always has primary responsibility for a real estate client, but other partners and associates are available in their areas of expertise to assist with complex zoning issues, tax and financing problems, and even litigation support when necessary. The availability of these other areas of expertise, frequently on a moment’s notice, is a significant benefit to our clients. Being able to provide true expertise in a wide variety of legal disciplines is more than just beneficial—it has become a necessity. We believe that providing that expertise in a cost-effective and timely manner is the type of legal representation our real estate clients are entitled to expect.
