Real Estate
Our Approach
Developers, owners, investors and lenders rely on Balch’s industry leading Real Estate practice for guidance on a broad range of real estate-related matters including acquisitions and sales, development, leasing, land use regulation, finance, and title insurance. We support and protect our clients through every stage of development, from raw land acquisition, through entity selection and formation, tax considerations, use of incentives and tax credit programs, land use and zoning matters, environmental issues, development, construction, and financing, all the way through to the operation or sale of a completed project that enhances a community.
Our real estate law firm has broad experience representing virtually every type of participant in a real estate development project – landowners, investors, developers, construction firms, bank and non-bank lenders, joint ventures, professional service providers, government entities, universities, healthcare entities, landlords, and tenants. This breadth helps our team see issues from numerous points of view and to provide workable solutions to challenging problems.
We are sensitive to each client’s specific needs in terms of project size, in-house resources, schedule, and budget. Some matters can be handled efficiently by a single attorney, while others require a large team due to project complexity and timing considerations. All of our attorneys are accustomed to working individually and in small and large teams, depending on client needs in Alabama & Mississippi.
Related Practices
Our Clients
Our real estate law firm serves clients in the Southeast and throughout the U.S. Our clients include retail, office, industrial, and multifamily owners, investors, developers, and operators, regional and national financial institutions, public utilities, governmental bodies, universities, healthcare entities, and manufacturers.
Our Experience
- Acquisitions and Sales: With our support and guidance, our clients buy and sell office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, golf courses, multifamily projects, and other office and retail properties; large tracts of land for timber cultivation; hydroelectric reservoirs; casinos; communication towers; and warehouses.
- Development and Finance: Balch has broad experience in the development and financing of all types of real estate.
- Land Use Regulation and Smart Growth Development: We handle various land use matters for our clients involving zoning, subdivision, annexation, licenses and easements, and rights-of-way. We are experienced with “smart growth” principles embodied in multi-use zoning and the development of compact, walkable mixed-use communities, both in the greenfield and infill contexts.
- Leasing: We negotiate leases and ground leases for landlords and tenants of office, retail, warehouse, and other commercial and industrial properties. We also represent landlords and tenants in enforcement of their respective rights under leases, including collection, eviction, and covenant enforcement for landlords and the defense of the same on behalf of tenants.
- Tax: No real estate transaction should be conducted without due consideration of the anticipated tax impacts. We advise our clients on these impacts in the contexts of like kind exchanges, high volatility commercial real estate (HVCRE) loans, recording and documentary stamp taxes, and New Markets Tax Credits, state and federal Historic Tax Credits, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
