Mario J. Suarez

Practices

• Real Estate
• International

Professional Experience

Mario is a partner in the firm's Real Estate practice group. He has considerable experience in complex commercial real estate transactions, construction, and domestic and international commercial transactions. He focuses his practice in the following areas: acquisition and disposition of commercial buildings and building portfolios; office and retail leasing and related transactions on behalf of owners and tenants; representation of institutional and non-institutional equity investors; joint venture transactions; representation of lenders and borrowers with respect to construction and permanent loans and structured financings; workouts and restructurings; construction and design relationships; sale-leaseback and ground lease development and financings; international real estate development; zoning, land-use and landmark designation matters. He also has related corporate transaction and litigation experience.

Mario is licensed to practice in the state of New York.

Education

• Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 1981, Member, Fordham Law Review, Member, Moot Court Board
• City University of New York, B.A., 1975, Dean's List, President's Fund Scholar

• Leasing:
  
• Representation of national real estate owner/investor in the leasing of New York and Connecticut office/mixed-use building regional portfolio. Recently concluded several leases with hedge funds and other financial institutions aggregating over 300,000 rsf.
• Representation of foreign pension fund owner in leasing of major New York City office building.
• Representation of real estate fund owner in leasing of New York City office building.
• Representation of prominent owner/investor in the leasing of Connecticut mixed-use building and New York City midtown office building.
• Representation of office building owner in office lease of approximately 55,000 square feet, including major renovations and work by the owner.
• Representation of international reinsurance company in 85,000 rsf and 50,000 rsf subleases of New York City office building.
• Representation of New York City law firm in 90,000 rsf sublease of office space.
• Representation of international law firm in major multi-city leases of office space.
• Representation of international pharmaceutical company as tenant in a 100,000 square foot office lease in the Midwest.
• Representation of international pharmaceutical company as tenant in a 115,000 square foot sublease in New Jersey.
• Representation of specialty retailer in leasing of national store locations.
• Disposition of office lease locations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Austin, Montreal, Singapore and Paris through sublease and restructurings for international services company.
• Representation of major entertainment company in several leases of studio facilities and office space.
• Financings:
• Representation of joint venture comprised of a national REIT, a shopping mall developer and major investment bank in multistate financing of net lease locations.
• Representation of international real estate financier in connection with contemplated securitization of convertible mortgage loan on New York City “trophy property.”
• Representation of investor/operator in structured financing of more than 100 New York City locations.
• Representation of money center banks in multistate secured financings of commercial properties.
• Representation of opportunity fund investor in multi-property financing of distressed assets.
• Acquisition, Disposition and Development:
• Representation of international bank in disposition of landmark New York City headquarters office building.
• Representation of international developer/investor in disposition of office park portfolio in Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland.
• Representation of international merchant bank in acquisition and disposition of office and mixed-use buildings in Palm Beach, Seattle and Dallas.
• Representation of investors in acquisition of membership interests in net lease sites.
• Representation of national investor/operator in acquisition of assets in bankruptcy and acquisition of designation rights in bankruptcy.
• Representation of development partnership in the acquisition of development rights and development of residential condominium building.
• Representation of regional hotel developer/operator in development of suburban hotel.
• Representation of low-income housing developer in complex acquisition, financing and redevelopment of major New York City and Florida Projects involving public and private mortgage financing, low-income housing tax credits and private equity investments.
• Representation of major international corporations in acquisitions, leases and financings of major office and commercial buildings.
• Representation of high net worth individuals in real estate transactions.
• Construction:
• Representation of major media company in construction of printing facilities in several states and retrofit of headquarters building.
• Representation of prominent cultural institutions in dozens of major capital projects.
• Representation of institutional owners in construction and reconstruction of office, industrial and warehouse facilities.
• Representation of industrial corporations in national and international design-build projects.
• Consultant to New York metropolitan-area university in connection with several construction projects.

• Contributor: Practical Law Company, Inc (PLC) · Real Estate Leasing: State Q&A Tool, January 2013
• Co-Author, "Green Buildings/Green Lease" · New York Law Journal, June 2011
• "Real Estate Investment in China" · The Real Estate Finance Journal, Spring 2009
• "Green Leases" · International Bar Association, Real Estate Section, February 2009
• Co-Author, "Green Retail: Gaining Momentum" · International Bar Association, Real Estate Section, February 2009
• "Condo 'Bulk Sale' Cases: Transfer Tax Rate Confusion" · New York Law Journal, November 2006
• Co-Author, "Mitigating the Risks in Real Estate Mezzanine Finance" · Bank & Lender Liability, October 2006
• Co-Author, "Managing Risk in Real Estate Mezzanine: An Overview" · Real Estate Finance & Investment, October 2006
• "The Construction Contracts Act of 2002" · Real Estate Review, February 2003
• "The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act" · New York Law Journal, Vol. 15 No. 8, January 2003

• Commercial Lease Due Diligence, Best Practices For Landlords and Tenants to Identify Risks”, Webinar to clients of Strafford Publications, Inc, 2012
• "Acquisition of Real Estate Distressed Debt", IBA Real Estate Conference, Miami, 2011

• Listed in Legal 500 in Real Estate, 2011
• Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate, 2009-2013
• Selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers® magazine (Real Estate), 2006-2011
• Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Real Estate (New York), 2006-2010

• French
• Spanish