Practice Group: Planned Real Estate

The Planned Real Estate Practice Group has extensive experience in all aspects of condominium and other planned real estate developments. The services of our attorneys span the spectrum of the legal needs in every aspect and stage of the communities and developments that are the focus of this unique and specialized practice. The scope of our experience begins with the structuring of these developments, integrating land use concerns, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, and accomplishing the transition of control from the sponsor to the unit owners. Our attorneys' experience continues with counseling unit owner-controlled association boards as they go forward in managing and administering the affairs of these developments. The Group also includes experienced litigators, who bring not only extensive courtroom experience, but also the tools of preventive counseling and alternative dispute resolution, in this area of the law. The multi-faceted experience of this seasoned group is evidenced by over 70 years of collective experience among the senior attorneys in this area. The exposure of our attorneys to condominium and planned real estate matters over the years, and the knowledge and ability with which they have responded, make our firm ideally suited to serve the particular needs of our clients.

Experience Counts

Our firm's extensive experience in representing developers and sponsors of planned developments often begins with our involvement at the incipient stages of these projects. We establish these developments to afford ownership of the homes under condominium, cooperative, homeowner association and timeshare formats. Our representation includes developers of newly constructed residential condominium and fee-simple subdivided lot communities governed by homeowner associations. We represent sponsors of the conversion of residential, commercial and industrial properties to the condominium form of ownership. Our experience covers the spectrum of single family homes, duplexes, apartment, townhouses and high-rise buildings. Communities frequently feature a combination of use and style types that require special expertise to ensure that the interests of all owners are protected.

The experience of our attorneys and the sophistication of their practice have given them the means to address the complex issues that arise from mixed-used condominiums, high-rise developments, golf course and resort communities, hotels, timeshares, professional and commercial office complexes, industrial parks, and cooperatives. Familiar solutions to operational and governance issues are frequently derived from the application of concepts, such as master and umbrella associations. Mobile home parks, campgrounds, marinas and parking structures are also part of our condominium experience. As part of the structuring of these developments, we commonly address and integrate the requirements of municipally-imposed land use requirements, such as active adult and retirement housing subject to age-restrictions, COAH and low- and moderate-income affordable housing, and open space requirements.

Our attorneys have decades of experience with project registration with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs on behalf of developers and sponsors of projects. We also have experience with the registration of projects situated outside of New Jersey with the New Jersey Real Estate Commission. Our attorneys routinely handle regulatory issues arising within the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs ("DCA"). These matters include public disclosure compliance, conversion and eviction laws, builder registration and new home warranty problems, community association regulations, and building or housing code violations. Our history includes serving successor developers and sponsors, lenders and associations on the regulatory issues resulting from distressed communities.

Our experience in the establishment of these developments on behalf of developers and sponsors gives us a solid foundation in providing representation during transition and the turnover of control from the sponsor to the unit owners and, thereafter, in counseling unit owner-controlled boards of associations. Beyond our representation of developers and common-interest associations, our knowledge affords us the ability to litigate the prosecution or defense of association and construction defect lawsuits. We frequently serve as expert witnesses in court proceedings and at legislative hearings. We have experience with the plethora of circumstances faced by distressed communities, and have worked with developers, lenders and associations in the context of the workout of communities challenged by bankruptcy filings. We have also served as a receiver and as a special master for the New Jersey courts relative to distressed communities.

Professional Leadership

The three senior partners of the group, Wendell A. Smith, Dennis A. Estis and Christine F. Li, are the co-authors of the treatise entitled, New Jersey Condominium & Community Association Law, which has been a resource of attorneys throughout the state since 1985. Our attorneys have been elected to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and are listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA - America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Three of our partners are members of the College of Community Association Lawyers. In 2011, Christine F. Li was featured as one of the top 50 women attorneys in the state, as published in Super Lawyers - New Jersey Edition magazine. Our understanding of the development, regulation and operation of planned real estate developments is enhanced through our participation and leadership in various trade and professional associations, as well as our service on governmental task forces and advisory committees.

The depth and breadth of our experience in representing developers and common interest associations, as well as the extensive knowledge of the group's members in all aspects of real estate law, has allowed our firm to claim a unique position in this area of the law and provide an unparalleled level of professional service to our clients.