Real Estate Practice Group

Our Real Estate Practice Group attorneys have a wealth of experience in all aspects of the commercial and residential real estate practice. After taking time to understand our clients' needs and objectives, we draw on our breadth of experience to work with our clients to efficiently provide the best service possible in achieving their objectives. We are accustomed to handling sophisticated multi-million dollar transactions, as well as smaller, more personal matters, all with intelligence, attention and care.

We represent individuals, business entities, non-profit organizations, utilities and developers in a varied field of real estate enterprises, including large industrial and commercial projects, utility and power transmission facilities, residential and commercial subdivisions and condominiums, leasing, acquisition and sales, dockominiums, planned and mixed use development, common interest ownership, recreational resorts (including timeshares), forested timber holdings, conservation easements, and coastal and wetland development.

The attorneys in our Group include Melissa Murphy, Gordon Scannell, Paul Pietropaoli, Julie Ray, Chris Dargie, Peter McDonell and Keith Dunlap. Gordon Scannell, the Group's Chair, is an active member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and co-author of Maine Real Estate Law and Practice 2nd ed. (2007). He, Melissa Murphy and Paul Pietropaoli are all recommended for Real Estate in Chambers USA. Paul Pietropaoli is listed in the The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (copyright 2007 by Woodward/White, Inc. of Aiken, S.C.) for Real Estate Law.

Our Real Estate Practice Group handles all phases of real estate acquisition, development, leases and sales. Among us, we:

• Draft and negotiate purchase and sale agreements for commercial and residential properties;
• Assist with due diligence in acquiring property;
• Coordinate and conduct closings, including drafting deeds and all related conveyance documents;
• Assist with land use permitting, working with teams of surveyors, planners, engineers, and other consultants to prepare and advocate for development projects;
• Negotiate and draft leases for both landlords and tenants;
• Negotiate and draft loan documentation for real estate based loan transactions;
• Prepare "specialized" real estate documentation, including condominium, homeowner association and timeshare documents, and all types of easements; and
• Handle 1031 like-kind exchanges.

Examples of specific matters we have recently handled include:

• Ongoing representation of a multinational corporation engaged in the acquisition, development and lease of service stations, convenience stores and related distribution facilities throughout northern New England;
• Representing a client in the acquisition, permitting, development and leasing of an approximately 5,000 acre mixed-use development incorporating a multitude of business, agricultural, and recreational uses;
• Reorganizing and recomposing the debt of numerous real estate limited partnerships owning a wide variety of commercial facilities;
• Representing a national timberland investment company in its acquisition and disposition of hundreds of thousands of acres of timberlands;
• Representing a foreign forest products company in its purchasing of timber interests in Northern New England;
• Representing clients in the acquisition, leasing, management and sale of major holdings in the downtown and Greater Portland office markets, including commercial condominium units and ground-leased buildings as well as more "traditional" forms of ownership; and
• Working with private and governmental lenders to refinance a non-profit client's HUD mortgage to permit needed renovations to the project building.