Frederick L. Klein, a partner in DLA Piper's Washington, DC office, practices in all areas of commercial real estate law. Mr. Klein represents construction and permanent lenders, life insurance companies, pension funds and offshore, local and national developers and investors on transactions, development projects, complex real estate finance and workouts. His clients include owners and developers of office, multifamily and retail projects. Mr. Klein has represented:

• German, Dutch and Japanese investors in both debt and equity transactions in the United States;
• Landowners, developers and lenders in connection with ground lease and air rights transactions involving commercial property, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; and
• Borrowers and lenders in workouts and restructurings involving complex loan structures, and the purchase of distressed debt.

The respected English research firm Chambers & Partners has selected Mr. Klein as one of America's leading real estate lawyers, praising his "smart and even-tempered approach" and quoting clients who describe him as "terrific at getting deals done." Chambers added, "Even a peer admitted: 'I would want him representing me on a deal.'"

Many other legal publications also recognize Mr. Klein. He is "highly recommended" in the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2009, which notes he is "a broad commercial real estate specialist, but most highly rated for his acquisition and finance expertise." In 2008, the Legal Times named him among the top 10 Leading Lawyers in Real Estate in the Washington, DC, area. He is listed in the Guide to the World's Leading Real Estate Lawyers, Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers and in The Best Lawyers in America. In 2009, Washingtonian magazine named him to its list of Washington's top lawyers. Mr. Klein is a fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.

Recent Representative Transactions

Distressed Debt/Workouts

• Representation of the purchasers of both defaulted and performing mortgage and mezzanine loans. Collateral has included raw land, fractured condominium property and multi-family property.
• Representation of both lenders and borrowers on complex loan workouts and restructurings involving office, retail, residential and other properties.
• Representation of lenders in the enforcement of remedies, including foreclosures, appointment of receivers and other remedies.
• Representation of borrowers in the evaluation of their rights and possible options, including issues presented by complex CMBS and mezzanine structures.

Real Estate Finance - Lenders

• Representation of commercial banks in connection with secured first mortgage loans (totaling more than $1 billion) for multifamily, retail and office projects in Washington, DC, and in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs.
• Representation of several life insurance companies on more than 20 loans (totaling more than $750 million) for multifamily, office and hotel projects in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland and Florida.
• Representation of a major German bank in connection with construction and permanent loans secured by office and multifamily projects in the District of Columbia (totaling more than $350 million).
• Representation of a life insurance company on several multi-state loans to a major owner and developer of industrial properties. Properties are in more than 20 states and loans exceed $600 million in the aggregate.

Real Estate Finance – Borrowers

• Representation of the owner of a new 450,000 square foot office building in suburban Virginia on senior (CMBS) and mezzanine financing.
• Representation of a major owner of government and private sector leased office buildings on more than 10 permanent and construction loans (approximately $300 million in total debt).
• Representation of a prominent real estate investment fund on acquisition and construction loans for office and condominium properties in the Washington, DC suburbs, Texas and California. Total indebtedness has exceeded $500 million, and overall value of transactions has exceeded $750 million.
• Representation of a German open-end fund in connection with permanent financing for office buildings in Washington, DC, Virginia, California and New York City, and in connection with student housing projects in Florida. Total indebtedness has exceeded $500 million and overall value of transactions has exceeded $900 million.

Purchase and Sale Transactions

• Representation of a German open-end fund on major acquisitions in Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, California, Florida, Illinois and New York City of more than 4.5 million square feet of office space and nearly 1,000 apartment units. One of these transactions involved a portfolio of 17 separate office buildings.
• Representation of the developer of the new United States Patent and Trademark Office headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, in connection with the acquisition of land from a railroad for the development of the new 2.4 million square foot development.
• Representation of a pension fund advisor (representing investments by labor unions) in connection with the purchase and sale of properties in Washington, DC, Florida, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Missouri and New York.
• Representation of a public REIT in connection with the disposition of office buildings in Washington, DC and Virginia.
• Representation of purchasers of more than 100 gasoline service stations in the Washington, DC area.
• Representation of a technology company in Annapolis, Maryland, in connection with the sale-leaseback of its headquarters and the sale of surplus facilities.
• Real estate counsel in connection with the representation of an electric generating in connection with the purchase of power plants and related facilities in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs (total transaction value in excess of $2 billion).
• Representation of state pension funds and other investors in connection with office building and multi-site medical office projects. One transaction involved the purchase of 14 separate buildings in California and Arizona.
• Representation of a public real estate investment trust in connection with a sale-lease back of a development site in Washington, DC.  This project was named "Best Real Estate Deal of 2008" by the Washington Business Journal.

Equity Investments

• Representation of a prominent institutional equity investor in connection with development projects in Washington, DC, California and Massachusetts.
• Representation of a pension fund advisor (representing investments by labor unions) in connection with projects in eight different states and the District of Columbia.
• Representation of a prominent real estate investment fund in connection with joint ventures for the purchase of office projects and development of condominium projects.

Development Projects

• Represented a public REIT in connection with the development of a major mixed-use project in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
• Represented a major developer in connection with the development of a 7.5 million square foot furniture market showroom project in Las Vegas, Nevada. Work included structuring the investment, construction financing, construction and architect's agreements, entitlements and other issues.
• Representation of a New York City-based developer in connection with office building development projects in Washington, DC.
• Representation of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in connection with its new headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
• Representation of the sellers of air rights which will facilitate commercial development projects in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland.
• Representation of an insurance trade association in connection with a sale-leaseback of its existing headquarters in Washington, DC, and the build-to-suit development of a new headquarters building in suburban Virginia.
• Representation of a federally chartered credit union in connection with the development of its new build-to-suit headquarters in suburban Virginia.