Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Mr. Shapiro is a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated attorney.

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Admitted to the District of Columbia Bar, 1973

Transactions:

• Acted as local counsel regarding foreclosure of and subsequent sale of large hotel located in downtown Washington, DC on behalf of real estate and mezzanine lender ($100,000,000+).
• Negotiated Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) and closed on sale of four project, multi-family portfolio in Prince George's County, Maryland ($70,000,000+).
• Negotiated Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) and cloed on sale of residential ground near Convention Center in Washington, DC.
• Negotiated Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) for the sale of a multi-family project in North Carolina ($26,500,000).
• Negotiated Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) for the sale of a multi-family project in New Haven, Connecticut ($48,000,000+).
• A construction company built a hotel in downtown Washington, DC for a customer who was unable to pay for it. The company turned to Ron. He negotiated the acquisition of the hotel by his client and the eventual re-sale to a very thinly capitalized purchaser. Four separate layers of debt and equity were required, as well as a creative management agreement, but the sale was completed and Ron's client enjoyed a profit instead of a disastrous loss.
• Ron represented the seller in a $45 million stock sale involving a large stone quarry operation in West Virginia with additional mineral rights and other assets in suburban Maryland. The purchaser was a multi-national public company. Ron deftly bridged the considerable culture gap between the Appalachian miners and the European businessmen, and by almost continuous negotiations, he hammered out a complex agreement over the Thanksgiving holiday. Since a transaction of this type involves (among other things) real estate, employee contracts, permits, mineral rights, equipment, vehicles and environmental issues, there is usually a period of several months between contract execution and closing. Since Ron's client had a timing issue, the deal was closed over the New Year's holiday in a round-the-clock session. The purchaser was so impressed with Ron that they hired him for their next U.S. acquisition.
• Ron successfully counseled a client through the acquisition of several pieces of contiguous ground in the East End neighborhood of Washington. More than one potential buyer had passed on the deal because, as one seasoned professional commented, it had "too much hair on it." But Ron knows that in a great challenge lies a great opportunity. Various parts of the site involved just about every problem that can be encountered in a downtown commercial real estate project – title defects; "strips, gaps and gores" on the survey; a neighboring tenant who encumbered the future development of the parcel in question with a long-term lease including rights of expansion and renewal extending 30 years into the future; unique zoning restrictions; historic preservation requirements; a required public alley closing; special arts requirements; joint development requirements imposed by law and by private covenants; and shared underground parking facilities and above-ground loading docks. Ron coaxed each piece of the deal across the finish line. His client then sold part of the property to a public company and sold the rest to a non-profit theater company, all at a large profit.
• Ron represented a regional homebuilder in a successful work-out and restructuring of $60 million in loans from several institutional lenders, secured by properties in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. The lenders were not acting in a consortium, and they each had to be persuaded that it was in their best interest to negotiate and compromise, rather than fight to the death. Ron's client survived the downturn and was in a position to take advantage when the market improved.
• Through one of his friends from college, Ron learned of a parcel of land for sale on an underdeveloped block in Washington's central business district. He alerted a client to the investment potential if the parcel could be added to an assemblage. The client agreed, and over the next several months, Ron successfully negotiated for the acquisition not only of the original parcel, but also two adjoining parcels. The first adjoining parcel was owned by a widow (who was required to sell only after a court in Reno, Nevada declared her incompetent to make sound business decisions). The second adjoining parcel had been in the same family for eight generations and required the consent of three individuals with a combined age of 270. The assemblage also required a buy-out of a long-term lease encumbering one of the properties. Ron then spearheaded the sale of the entire assembled package to a public company for four times what his client had invested.
• Taconic Investment Partners, Acquisition of Sale of 1625 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Sale of Robinson Crossing Shopping Center, Anne Arundel County, Maryland
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Sale of Seaford Shopping Center, Delaware
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Sale of Gaithersberg Shopping Center, Montgomery County, Maryland
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Sale of Battlefield Shopping Center, Virginia
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Sale of 2301 Research Boulevard, Montgomery County, Maryland
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, $90,000,000, Sale of 90 K and 45 L Streets, Washington, DC
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, $45,000,000, Sale of New York and Florida Avenues (Washington Gateway), Washington, DC
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Sale of Dulles Corner, Fairfax, Virginia
• The Bernstein Companies, $10,750,000, Acquisition and Financing of Leasehold interest in Multi-family Housing Project, Washington, D.C.
• BLK Real Estate, $4,600,000, Acquisition of Recreatioal Vehicle Dealership Site, Prince George's County, Maryland
• Queenstown Motors, Inc., Stock Purchase of Recreational Vehicle Dealership, Prince George's County, Maryland

Representative Clients:

• Redbrick Development Group
• Heon Family (representatio of real estate interests)
• Atlas Group Investment
• Metropolitan Development Group
• First Citizens Bank
• The Eisner Company
• United Investors Management Corp.
• Rosenthal Nissan-Mazda (RRR, LLC)
• Mattress Warehouse
• Keener-Squires Properties
• Greenebaum & Rose Associates
• Eagle Bank
• College Park Honda and Hyundai
• Bowie Toyota

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• Mr. Shapiro is a former editor of the National Property Law and the Digest of Environmental Law of Real Property.