Geoff Howell

Geoff Howell

Partner
Boston
About

Geoff Howell has represented regional and national lenders, owners and developers, as well as public agencies, in a broad variety of complex commercial real estate transactions.

Some notable transactions include:

  • Representation of landlords and tenants in complex ground lease transactions
  • Development, financing, leasing acquisition and disposition, and operation of mixed-use office and laboratory parks, hotels, green buildings, multi-tenant and build-to-suit office and lab buildings
  • Creation of phased commercial condominium structures at several prominent mixed-use facilities in the Greater Boston area
  • Permitting of one of the largest residential developments in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • Redevelopment of an urban renewal project into one of Massachusetts' largest biomedical laboratory facilities
  • Acquisition of a horse-racing track
  • Like-kind exchanges
  • Development of a national rooftop leasing program

Geoff's leasing work includes the largest commercial lease in the history of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1.3 million square feet for office and lab use) on behalf of the landlord. He has made several appearances in front of the Boston Planning & Development Agency, Boston Zoning Board of Appeals, and other permitting bodies in Boston, Cambridge, and the surrounding area on behalf of project proponents. Geoff is leasing counsel for numerous office and laboratory tenants and represents landlords at major laboratory complexes throughout the country.

Areas of FocusReal EstateFinanceMergers and Acquisitions
Bar admissionsMassachusetts

EXPERIENCE

  • Landlord's counsel for the largest lease in the history of Massachusetts, a 1.3 million square foot office and laboratory lease in two new buildings to be constructed on the Boston waterfront
  • Tenant's counsel for a Fortune 100 company leasing 180,000 rentable square feet of office and lab space in Cambridge on a build-to-suit basis
  • Lender's counsel for two institutional lenders making a US$230 million permanent loan secured by a first-class mixed office and retail complex in Boston
  • Owner's and developer's counsel for a proposed 900,000 square foot mixed use project on the City of Boston waterfront
  • Counsel for a quasi-public state agency in the development and ground lease of a 50,000 square foot wind technology testing facility in the City of Boston
  • Counsel for a quasi-public stage agency in the long-term lease and development of broadband infrastructure serving western Massachusetts, as well as other real estate matters
  • Borrower's counsel for US$260 million in construction and permanent financing for 900,000 square feet of new and redeveloped office and laboratory space in a suburban mixed-use project
  • Borrower's counsel for a US$250 million construction loan for 400,000 square feet of new office and laboratory space in an urban mixed-use project
  • Landlord's counsel in the negotiation of a build-to-suit lease for 325,000 square feet of office space in a suburban office park
  • Landlord's counsel in the negotiation of a lease for 350,000 square feet of medical office and laboratory space in a multi-tenant environment
  • Purchaser's counsel in the acquisition of select single-tenant properties throughout New England as part of a new investment portfolio
  • Owner and developer's counsel in the acquisition, construction, leasing and disposition of a 225,000 square foot office building constructed in suburban Boston
  • Owner's counsel for the leasing and disposition of a 419,000 square foot Class B office building converted to telecommunications use
  • Owner's counsel for the acquisition, permitting, re-development and leasing of a 55,000 square foot downtown Boston office and light manufacturing building
  • Tenant's counsel for a national management consulting firm in its lease negotiations in New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta
  • Tenant's counsel for numerous technology-based clients in the greater Boston area
  • Tenant's and owner's counsel for a publicly traded Fortune 500 investment bank with respect to numerous portfolio properties, including headquarters buildings in Boston and Quincy, Massachusetts
  • Owner and developer's counsel in the construction and mezzanine debt financing and development of a 300-room hotel in the City of Boston
  • Lender's counsel to a Massachusetts-based real estate development and investment firm in the roll-out of a national leasehold financing mechanism
  • Acquisition counsel for a state employees' pension fund in the purchase of a regional shopping center
  • Investor's counsel in the formation of a joint venture to control the six-acre site of a proposed mixed-use project in a suburb of Washington, DC, including the negotiation of a 60-year ground lease for the project site
  • Leasing counsel for several major office and/or laboratory buildings and parks in Andover, Boston, Cambridge and Waltham, Massachusetts, suburban Chicago, Baltimore and southern Connecticut

Awards

Chambers USA

  • Band 2, Massachusetts Real Estate, (2025)
  • Band 3, Massachusetts Real Estate, (2012, 2020 – 2024)
  • Recognized Practitioner, Massachusetts Real Estate, (2019)
Additional Recognitions
  • Named, Massachusetts Super Lawyer, Commercial Real Estate, Law & Politics
  • Listed, The Best Lawyers in America

Pro Bono

Geoff's pro bono work includes the representation of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance in the acquisition and development of its new headquarters building in the Dorchester section of Boston and the representation of several local non-profits in leasing matters.

Geoff is also a team leader in the firm's signature pro bono project with Greater Boston Legal Services, running the monthly housing clinic to train defendants in how to represent themselves pro se in eviction proceedings.

Education
  • J.D., Boston College Law School, 1996
    magna cum laude
    Order of the Coif
    Note Editor, Boston College Law Review
  • J.D., Wesleyan University, 1988

Prior Experience

Prior to attending law school, Geoff was a staff writer for the Trenton Times.

Civic and Charitable

  • Serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for MassEcon (formerly known as Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development), a private, nonprofit partnership of business, industry leaders and government dedicated to the economic growth of Massachusetts
  • Serves on the Board of Directors and is a past member of the Executive Committee for Greater Boston Legal Services, the leading provider of civil legal services to low-income residents of the Greater Boston area
  • Serves as an associate Board member for A Better City, Inc., a nonprofit organization that works with private and public partners to advance the design, funding and operation of a variety of transportation, land development, and public realm projects and issues affecting the City of Boston

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Boston Bar Association's Real Estate Section
  • National Association of Industrial and Office Properties
  • Real Estate Finance Association
  • MassEcon

My latest insights

News

Seven DLA Piper partners receive 2024 Lawyers in Real Estate awards from Connect CRE

12 December 2024 .3 minute read

Publication

“Greening” your leases: The cornerstone of climate resilience and readiness in commercial...

4 September 2024 .8 minute read

CallvCardLinkedInPrint

Connect

Phone

+1 617 406 6008
(Work, Boston)
+1 978 460 0074
(Work)