Premier boutique law firm Kleinberg Kaplan was once again recognized in the latest edition of The Legal 500: United States. Building on its established rankings in Hedge Funds and Investor Activism, the firm earned first‑time recognition for Real Estate and Litigation, a significant milestone that reflects the firm’s excellence across its practice areas. Clients praised the firm…
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 as mezzanine lender for construction of the Storey Park hotel, residential and retail development in Washington, D.C., and subsequent restructurings thereof.
- Represented a hedge fund in (a) numerous junior and senior hotel construction financings and refinancings, and (b) acquisition, sale and financing (as lender) of the former Glaxo SmithKline campus outside Philadelphia, being converted to life sciences office rental.
- Represented credit fund in $200 million facility that provides funding to a real estate lender making a variety of covered land loans and other bridge and construction loans.
- 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
Publications
13 predictions for how facilities management will evolve in 2026
Facilities Dive, January 2026 (quoted)
Insights
Kleinberg Kaplan Recognized in Latest Edition of The Legal 500: United States
June 18, 2026Firm NewsData Center Transactions: What Commercial Real Estate Developers, Investors, Sellers, Lenders and Tenants Need to Know
May 20, 2026Client AlertsData center development is experiencing unprecedented growth. Worldwide, the number of hyperscale data centers has surpassed 1,000, a figure that has doubled in just five years.1 The United States accounts for approximately 54% of that total capacity and related U.S. data center construction reached $77.7 billion in 2025, a 190% year-over-year increase, with the average…
Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act
December 6, 2024Client AlertsOn December 3, 2024, a Federal District Court in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”). Prior to the injunction, the CTA required certain privately owned entities (“reporting companies”) to report information regarding the entities themselves and the individuals who, directly or indirectly, exercise “substantial control” over…