ROSS L. YUSTEIN

PARTNER

Ross Yustein is the chair of Kleinberg Kaplan’s Real Estate Department. He counsels clients on a variety of real estate matters, including joint venture transactions, real estate development, sales and acquisitions, financing, leasing and real estate private equity.

Practices

About

Ross represents a diverse group of clients, including owners, operators, developers, lenders, borrowers, landlords, tenants and investors in various transactions such as sales, acquisitions, financings (permanent, construction, mezzanine and revolving), leases, joint ventures and restructurings. Ross has also worked on a substantial number of real estate bankruptcies and workouts.

Experience

  • Represented a hedge fund in a joint venture i) to acquire and renovate the Parker Hotel New York, ii) to acquire the Grande Lakes Orlando Resort and iii) to acquire the River City Condominium in Chicago.
  • Represented a joint venture lender in the acquisition and restructuring of multiple-tranche debt secured by 245 Tenth Avenue, a 44,939 square foot mixed use condominium located contiguous to the High Line Park in New York City.
  • Represented purchaser in $124 million acquisition of Florida condominium development from distressed seller.
  • Represented landlords and tenants in hundreds of commercial leases ranging from 2,000 to 500,000 square feet.
  • Represented sellers in $73 million sale of office buildings located at 331 Madison Avenue and 48 East 43rd Street in Manhattan.
  • Represented $200 million investor in $1 billion real estate opportunity fund.
  • Represented New York developer in successful restructuring of six different distressed construction loans, avoiding bankruptcy.
  • Represented medical office building developer in development, acquisition, financing and leasing of numerous projects in several states.
  • Represented landlord in restructuring of 40,000 square foot office lease of tenant in bankruptcy.
  • Handled real estate aspects of numerous bankruptcies on behalf of creditors and debtors, including restructuring of $200 million credit facility secured by 550 owned and leased gas stations.
  • Represented mezzanine lender in bankruptcy restructuring of $100 million Texas golf course community development.
  • Represented mezzanine lender in origination of dozens of loans for New York City mixed-use developments.

Education

Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1994)

Brown University (B.A., 1988)

Bar Admissions

1995, New York
1994, New Jersey

Insights

17 Kleinberg Kaplan Attorneys Named as 2023 Super Lawyers or Rising Stars

September 27, 2023

We are pleased to announce that 17 of the firm’s attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2023 edition of Super Lawyers®, a national legal ranking. Attorneys were nominated by their peers and recognized for their outstanding professional achievement in several legal practice areas, including business litigation, estate & probate, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, securities…

18 Kleinberg Kaplan Attorneys Named as 2022 Super Lawyers or Rising Stars

September 29, 2022

We are pleased to announce that 18 of the firm’s attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2022 edition of Super Lawyers®, a national legal ranking. Attorneys were nominated by their peers and recognized for their outstanding professional achievement in several legal practice areas, including business litigation, estate & probate, mergers & acquisitions, real estate,…

Kleinberg Kaplan Seavest Representation Covered in Press

June 10, 2021

Kleinberg Kaplan long-standing client Seavest Healthcare Properties recently acquired an eight-story, 72,270 square foot medical office building in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. The building is located at 902 Quentin Road and is anchored by NYU Langone Health and Touro College of Health Sciences. In its press release, Seavest Senior Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer…

15 Kleinberg Kaplan Attorneys Named as 2020 Super Lawyers or Rising Stars

November 17, 2020

We are pleased to announce that 15 of the firm’s attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2020 edition of Super Lawyers®, a national legal ranking. Attorneys were nominated by their peers and recognized for their outstanding professional achievement in several legal practice areas including business/corporate, business litigation, estate & probate, mergers & acquisitions, real estate,…

Helping Clients Navigate COVID-19 (Updating)

August 18, 2020,

Kleinberg Kaplan is working closely with our clients to provide counsel and guidance during these unprecedented times. A selection of our recent thought leadership pieces related to the implications of COVID-19 includes: Corporate Considerations  The PPP Just Got Better (June 10, 2020): Chris Davis, Dov Kleiner, Uri Rosenwasser and Benjamin Goldman discuss the key highlights of the…

Unexpected Tax Consequences of Commercial Lease Modifications

April 30, 2020

In a prior Kleinberg Kaplan client alert, we noted that COVID-19 related economic disruptions have caused both landlords and tenants to consider restructuring their commercial lease arrangements. Tenants that enter into discussions with landlords seeking rent relief may be successful. However, landlords and tenants should be aware that they could run into unexpected tax consequences in…

Kleinberg Kaplan Partner Ross Yustein Quoted in The Wall Street Journal

April 28, 2020

Kleinberg Kaplan’s Ross Yustein, Chair of the Real Estate Department, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article: “Retail Tenants, Landlords Clash Over Proposed Pandemic Rent Clauses.” In the article, Ross shares his thoughts on the new provisions some retail tenants are requesting as they look to cancel lease payments during the pandemic. He previously…

Landlords and Tenants Restructure Rent Obligations in Response to COVID-19

April 22, 2020

Stay-home requirements in response to COVID-19 have left most commercial tenants unable to use their spaces, which more often than not has resulted in significantly reduced (or eliminated) income. Similarly, many landlords are facing reduced rent rolls with vacant space that cannot be filled, while certain operating expenses, taxes and debt service obligations still must…

Kleinberg Kaplan Attorneys Featured in Law360 Article on Largest First-Half Hotel M&A Deals

July 23, 2019

Kleinberg Kaplan attorneys were recently featured in Law360‘s article on the Largest First-Half Hotel M&A Deals. Kleinberg Kaplan’s contribution includes the $420 million venture with GFI Capital Resources Group (“GFI Capital”) and Elliott Management Corporation (“Elliot”) to acquire the Parker Hotel in New York. Kleinberg Kaplan acted as counsel to both GFI Capital and Elliott.…

Commercial Leasing Issues

October 31, 2012

Leasing has always played an important role of our real estate practice, representing both landlords and tenants. We have recently written about certain important issues pertinent to commercial leasing. First, Real Estate Forum recently published an article by Jason Polevoy of our real estate group, in which he discusses steps available to a landlord both…

Hedge Fund Investments in Real Estate Legal and Tax Issues

April 30, 2007

As hedge funds continue to grow, the market’s demand for investment returns has sparked an increasing interest in direct real estate investments – traditionally the domain of private equity funds. There are a number of issues that a hedge fund manager should carefully consider prior to investing fund assets directly in real estate. This Newsletter…