Ownership is the hold period — the years between closing and exit when the investment actually performs. The firm’s work during ownership protects the structure put in place at acquisition and optimizes the after-tax return year over year, from governance and leasing to the passive-loss planning that determines whether losses are usable when they arise.
The operating or partnership agreement is, in substance, a tax document — its allocation, distribution-waterfall, and management provisions drive the tax outcome for every member. The firm drafts and amends these agreements with that in mind; see the partnership agreement as a tax document and the operating agreement builder.
The firm represents landlords and tenants in commercial leasing — office, retail, industrial, and ground leases — including letters of intent and amendments, assignment, sublease, and recapture issues, and tenant-improvement allowance structuring with attention to the related tax characterization.
Whether rental losses are deductible against other income turns on the passive activity rules, and the planning is done during ownership. The firm advises on the seven material-participation tests, real estate professional status, and the short-term-rental strategy — see the seven tests, REPS, and the STR play, with the rental strategy and STR analyzers.
The firm represents borrowers in refinancing and recapitalization, including cash-out distributions, and advises on the partnership tax consequences those distributions create — basis, at-risk, and disguised-sale considerations that a refinance can trigger.
For owners who build, the firm handles site control, joint ventures, and developer-equity arrangements; construction contract negotiation, including AIA-form and custom agreements; coordination with architects, contractors, and consultants through design and construction; and environmental and remediation issues in coordination with environmental counsel where required.
Ownership generates annual filing obligations at the entity and owner level, and the firm’s real estate work is integrated with its tax compliance practice so that the return reflects the structure as designed. Where a real estate engagement implicates the firm’s tax practice, the integration is part of the engagement.
Ownership is the second stage of the real estate lifecycle — see Acquisition before it and Disposition after, or the related Tax Planning work. To discuss an ownership matter, use the contact page.