“Green” real estate law is the provision of legal services relating to real property, with a view towards reducing the overall impact to the environment—including energy efficiency, recyclable materials, renewable energy and brownfield redevelopment—to conform to governmental mandates and to take advantage of governmental incentives.

As more jurisdictions move from voluntary green standards to green mandates, and more companies adopt sustainability practices, Seyfarth Shaw’s Green Real Estate Group is at the forefront of helping its clients determine what green means to their business.

We have the knowledge and experience needed to assist our clients with a wide range of green real estate matters, including construction, leasing and finance. Our Green Real Estate Group has attorneys in most major domestic markets, which enables us to offer clients the value of real-time knowledge of local governmental and market trends together with a national perspective of how similarly situated clients are addressing green issues across the country. Our real estate attorneys partner with members of the firm’s Construction, Environmental, Litigation and Tax Practice Groups to provide specialized legal advice and solutions to developers, owners, lenders, end users, contractors and design professionals interested in sustainable development.

We work with our clients to meet their sustainability goals, preserve natural resources, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the overall quality of life while balancing the costs and incentives for achieving these goals.

Green Leasing

• Represent landlords and tenants in connection with green leases of office, industrial and retail space
• Advise on green leasing programs and prepare green lease forms for landlords and tenants
• Review, negotiate and prepare requests for proposals, letters of intent, leases, workletters, and amendments
• Counsel owners, developers and users of new and existing buildings on issues relating to green leasing

Green Development

• Advise on legal requirements and incentives relating to green construction
• Assist in transit-oriented development projects
• Advise on urban in-fill projects, including structuring and financing to capture the maximum tax benefits and tax credits available
• Advise on the planning and implementation of projects for certification, whether it be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®), Energy Star or Green Globes
• Prepare and implement conservation easements
• Convert brownfields sites to usable productive use

Green Lending

• Assist lending clients with due diligence and legal documentation in connection with the construction financing of green buildings or the retrofit financing of an existing building with energy-efficient upgrades
• Advise both lenders and borrowers on the legal requirements and incentives relating to green buildings
• Assist clients with issues relative to certification, code compliance, insurance, leasing, property management and other related issues in the context of a green building loan