Veteran real estate lawyer advising investors, developers, and lenders on complex acquisitions, financings, and leasing transactions nationwide
With over 30 years of experience, Joseph is a trusted advisor guiding clients through the commercial real estate lifecycle.
Focusing on the sale, acquisition, and development of real estate, Joseph’s experience includes both single-asset and portfolio transactions, including industrial and commercial single-user facilities, shopping centers, office buildings, multi-family residential properties and student housing, hotels and related hospitality venues, and cannabis grow sites, processing facilities, and dispensaries. He is equally experienced in real estate finance, including sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing transactions, as well as traditional loan documentation for borrowers and institutional lenders in connection with construction and development and stabilized assets, including securitized transactions.
In addition, Joseph represents both landlords and tenants in negotiating and drafting significant commercial office leases, bank branch leases, and retail and restaurant leases in New York and across the country. He also helps clients including pension funds, developers, investment banks, private equity funds, and individual investors with structuring transactions and drafting joint venture, partnership, and limited liability company agreements.
Experience
Representative matters
Represented GreenAcreage Real Estate Corp., a cannabis-focused real estate investment trust, in connection with its sale-leaseback activity activity and New Lake merger.
Represented WP Carey in numerous lease portfolio projects.
Represented Chefs’ Warehouse on multiple leases as part of their US expansion effort.
Representative Experience
Represented GreenAcreage Real Estate Corp., a cannabis-focused real estate investment trust, in connection with its sale-leaseback activity activity and New Lake merger.
Represented WP Carey in numerous lease portfolio projects.
Represented Chefs’ Warehouse on multiple leases as part of their US expansion effort.
Represented Kid’s Empire on multiple leases as part of their US retail expansion.
Represented United Parcel Service in connection with a $303 million acquisition of 6 parcels of waterfront property located in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York. UPS outbid Amazon for this valuable site. This transaction completes an assemblage of real estate parcels by UPS in Red Hook for the eventual construction of a new state-of-the-art package facility to better serve the greater New York area.
Represented HongKun Group USA in connection with multi-million dollar acquisition and financing of multiple development parcels of waterfront property located in Weehawken and Edgewater, New Jersey.
Represented Kids Empire in a leasing portfolio expansion of 30 locations.
Represented REIT in connection with the acquisition and leaseback of 78 self-storage facilities.
Represented Merit Hill Capital in connection with the acquisition of more than 100 self-storage facilities.
Represented Merit Hill Capital, LP in the $107 million sale of a self-storage portfolio. The sale consisted of 15 self-storage facilities across 5 states.
Represented Hongkun USA (“Hongkun”) in the $75 million acquisition and financing of a waterfront development site located in Weehawken, New Jersey. Hongkun plans to develop a mixed-use project on the land, which would include 282 residential condominium units.
Represented Japanese real estate company in the acquisition of the Century City – Los Angeles Intercontinental Hotel, and London-based family office in the acquisition of The Surrey in Manhattan, as well as handling negotiation of hotel management agreements for owners and operators in NY and Miami.
Represented major landlords in Class A and B office tower leasing in New York City.
Represented developers on acquisition and financing of residential condominium projects in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York.
Represented Fortune 100 company connection with the sale and condominium development of a major commercial condominium project with The City of New York.
Represented client in connection with the structuring and documentation of the financing and leasing of The New York Times headquarters building in New York City. (Named by the Real Estate Board of New York as one of 2009’s “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year”).
Represented landlord in connection with the leasing of the NBA Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City.
Represented two major banks, as tenants, on various office, private banking and retail branch leasing transactions in the New York metro area.
Represented major regional shopping owner/operator in connection with the acquisition and financing of multiple center portfolios.
Represented REIT in connection with the construction loan financing and long term leasing of high profile Walgreens’ anchored retail site and a family office for the Showcase Mall, both located on “the strip” in Las Vegas, NV.
Represented restaurant, bar and nightclub owner/operators and hoteliers in various leasing, finance and management agreement transactions.
Represented W.P. Carey in connection with the amendment of an existing leasehold loan facility and a new $34,000,000 mezzanine loan secured by the I-Drive 360 entertainment complex in Orlando, Florida.
Recognitions
Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® (Real Estate Law), 2022–2027
Recognized in the prestigious, client-selected Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyers listing for 2026
Selected for inclusion in the New York Metro Super Lawyers list for Real Estate, 2018-2019, 2023
Credentials
Education
Touro College – Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, 1989, J.D., Class Valedictorian; Dean’s Fellow Merit Scholar, Editorial Board, Touro Law Review