Partner: William I. Kaplan
William Kaplan has broad experience in the fields of transactional real estate and real estate finance. He represents corporate and institutional clients and individual real estate entrepreneurs. While he has spent most of his legal career in New York City, he has participated in the acquisition and management of properties nationwide and has extensive experience in cross-border transactions.
Some representative transactions include:
- Representation of a publicly-traded company in the acquisition of a substantial portion of the signs in Times Square
- Representation of a national real estate firm financed in large part by foreign investors in the acquisition and subsequent management of two nationwide portfolios of industrial properties
- Advising a Japanese construction company on the investment in and development of a million square foot building in Manhattan
- Representation of an off-shore hedge fund in the origination and funding of a large construction loan in a development in Queens New York
- Representation of numerous investment banks in the financing of conduit mortgage loans, including senior, construction and mezzanine loans
- Representation of a Korean developer in the evaluation of a large-scale development project in Upstate New York
- Advising the world’s largest retailer on development opportunities in the New York City area
- Representation of one partner in a large parking lot business in a sale to existing partners and an outside operator
- Representation of a Chinese developer seeking to obtain financing for a retail mall in Shenzhen, PRC
- Representation of an underwriter in the syndication of an Atlantic City casino/hotel
- Representation of a private equity company in the sale of a major hotel chain
- Representation of numerous owners in leasing of buildings and representation of tenants in leasing of office and retail spaces
- Representation of an insurance holding company in the restructuring of their real estate assets
- Advising a private investor in investment in residential developments throughout the country
- Advised the board of directors of Co-op City, the world’s second largest residential complex, on what would be required to “go private”
Mr. Kaplan was also a partner in the acquisition and ownership of what was at the time the largest office complex in Westchester County, New York led by a Canadian developer. Additionally, through his membership in the private equity firm of Bantry Bay Ventures, LLC, Mr. Kaplan has substantial legal and practical experience in transactions in China, where the company runs a coal logistics company in Shanxi Province, as well as experience in analyzing transactions in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia.
Mr. Kaplan is a graduate of the New York University Law School, where he was a contributing editor for The Journal of International Law and Politics, and an honors graduate of Harpur College at the State University of New York at Binghamton.