Julian M. Wise is chair of the Real Estate Group, co-chair of the Task Force for Racial Justice Initiatives and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He has a wide breadth of experience representing institutional and non-institutional lenders, owners/operators and investors in complex commercial real estate transactions, including on the lender side, structuring and negotiation of senior and multi-tranched mezzanine financings, intercreditor agreements, co-lender and participation agreements, joint venture and preferred equity agreements and loan portfolio acquisitions and dispositions and restructurings, and on the owner/operator side, acquisitions, dispositions and financings of office, retail, hotel and multifamily properties. His clients include private equity firms, major financial and commercial lending institutions and developers and owners of commercial, industrial, retail, office, hotel and large-scale residential properties. Julian has represented clients in some of the most high-profile real estate transactions, including, among others, a major national retail grocery chain in connection with its $2-billion financing of approximately 400 grocery stores and distribution centers in 14 states; a major private equity firm in connection with its multibillion-dollar acquisition of retail properties across the United States; several major private equity firms in over $5 billion in senior and mezzanine financings across the United States; a private equity firm in connection with its acquisition of AT&T’s Yellow Pages (a transaction that was secured by real estate and other assets located across the United States); a real estate fund in the acquisition and subsequent disposition of trophy buildings across the United States, including the Gucci Building located on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California; and a major private equity firm in the acquisition, financing and disposition of the Innkeepers hotel portfolio. He also represented the previous owner/manager of 230 Park Avenue (the Helmsley Building) in its acquisition, recapitalization and financing of the property, and the building’s subsequent $1.2-billion sale, which was recognized as one of Real Estate Forum’s “Deals of the Year” and for which Julian was named to the publication’s list of “Dealmakers.” In addition, Julian was named one of Real Estate Forum’s 2019 ”Financial Influencers” in the industry.
Julian has a reputation among his peers and clients as a terrific negotiator and an excellent strategist. He is consistently recognized as one of the country’s leading real estate lawyers by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US (listings of the top lawyers in the United States) and New York Super Lawyers. Chambers USA describes Julian as offering “a wealth of expertise across the real estate spectrum,” “creative,” “solution-oriented,” “very practical, very thoughtful and very thorough” and as being “highly commended” for his “extensive lending experience.” The Legal 500 US includes the following words of praise from a major investment banking client: “An awesome attorney — my first choice on all deals.” Julian is a prolific writer, publishing numerous articles in the New York Law Journal and a variety of other publications, including the “Commercial Real Estate” chapter of Business and Commercial Litigation in the Federal Courts (Thomson Reuters, Fourth Edition). He is also a sought-after and active speaker at industry conferences on a wide array of topics, including real estate private equity, restructurings, financings, distressed debt and industry trends. He recently moderated a discussion on “Capital Market Activities Impacting the Real Estate Market” at the iGlobal Forum Real Estate Private Equity Summit and presented “Interlender Arrangements: Current Structures and Risks” at the SRZ 4th Annual Distressed Investing Conference. Julian received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and his B.A. from Emory University.
