David C. Drewes is a partner and Co-Chair of the Real Estate Department. David focuses on all types of real estate transactions, including complex acquisitions, dispositions, financings, joint ventures, restructurings, development transactions, REIT matters, ground and space leases, and construction agreements. He represents a broad variety of clients, including private developers, private equity and hedge funds, public real estate companies, lenders, preferred equity investors and other real estate investors in transactions involving all real estate asset classes, ranging from hospitality to senior housing, office buildings to residential/multifamily projects, and the acquisition, development and repositioning of retail assets.
Chambers USA (2025) ranks David among the leading individuals practicing in the area of Real Estate. David is recommended in the edition of The Legal 500 United States (2024). In 2015, David was named a Law360 “MVP” in Real Estate. He was also named one of Law360’s “Rising Stars” in Real Estate in both 2015 and 2014.
Experience
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Mutual of America in the sale of its stake in 320 Park Avenue to Munich Re
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Represented Henry Crown & Company in the $3.5 billion refinancing of Rockefeller Center.
- Advised a consortium of investors on the $240 million sale of a 15-acre site in downtown Los Angeles.
- Represented HBC in its investment in Convene and creation of a leading flex space operator.
- Represented a prominent life insurance company lender as acquisition and construction lender on the $330 million Plaza District office tower development.
- Represented a Brookfield-sponsored private real estate fund in the $750 million acquisition of 34 senior living communities from HealthPeak Properties.
- Represented Hudson’s Bay Company on the $850 million sale of the Lord & Taylor Fifth Avenue building to WeWork Property Advisors. (named "Private Equity Deal of the Year" at the 2018 IFLR Americas Awards)
- Represented Meadow Partners and Trammell Crow Company (TCC) in their joint acquisition of an 80 percent condominium interest in the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Building, located at 888 16th Street, NW in downtown Washington, DC.
- Represented Washington Prime Group in the formation of a joint venture with O’Connor Mall Partners, L.P. which will own seven of Washington Prime’s open-air properties, valued at approximately $600 million.
- Represented The Generation Companies in its $215 million recapitalization and roll-up of four portfolios comprising 23 hotels, consolidating them into one portfolio with its new joint venture partner, a fund controlled by StepStone Real Estate Group.
- Represented B&L Management Company in connection with the $690 million sale of 24 rental apartment buildings located in Manhattan to a joint venture led by Blackstone and Fairstead Capital.
- Represented WP Glimcher, a premier retail real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management and development of shopping centers, in a new 5-year, $500 million term loan.
- Represented Washington Prime Group Inc. in its $4.3 billion acquisition of Glimcher Realty Trust, including advising WPG in Glimcher’s $1.09 billion simultaneous sale of two malls--Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey and University Park Village in Fort Worth, Texas--to Simon Property Group.
- Assisted Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. in connection with real estate aspects of its $1.9 billion acquisition by Health Care REIT, Inc., and Sunrise’s anticipated buyout of its joint venture partner and debt restructuring with respect to an over £400 million portfolio of 17 senior care facilities in the United Kingdom.
- Represented Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the $956 million sale of its North American Industrial Fund III portfolio to Blackstone Group LP and Prologis Inc.
- Represented hotel REIT DiamondRock Hospitality on various acquisitions, dispositions and financings for single assets and portfolios, including its $1.2 billion credit facility, $127.2 million acquisition of the fee simple condominium interest in the Hilton Garden Inn/Times Square Central, $495 million acquisition of four hotels from Blackstone Real Estate Partners, $200 million unsecured corporate credit facility, $185 million sale of the Lexington Hotel in New York City, $143 million sale of the Hilton Minneapolis Hotel and $65 million sale of the Hilton Garden Inn Chelsea/New York City.
- Representing Faena Group and Access Industries in connection with their development of the Faena District, a new Miami Beach neighborhood intended to include a five-star luxury hotel, world-class residences and cultural components.
- Represented Hudson’s Bay Company in connection with Saks OFF 5TH’s lease of 47,333 square feet in Manhattan’s Tower57, which will house the first Saks OFF 5TH in New York City.
- Represented a preeminent investment firm in a series of complex, multi-party transactions resulting in its acquisition of a portfolio of properties in South Carolina, Ireland and St. Kitts.
- Represented a prominent real estate investment firm in its $170 million preferred equity investment in a multi-asset REIT.
- Represented The American Home in a definitive agreement for the sale of a portfolio of single-family homes to Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. for $263 million. The portfolio comprises approximately 2,460 single-family homes located in the southeastern United States, and the transaction was cited as one of the largest bulk purchases in the rental-home industry.
- Advise Ventas, Inc., a major healthcare REIT, in connection with various acquisition and financing matters, including its acquisition of Cogdell Spencer Inc.
- Representing major private land development enterprise in connection with restructurings of over $1.7 billion of debt with over 20 different lenders.
- Represented Ares Management, L.P. in the sale of its condominium unit comprising approximately 375,000 square feet in the 1 million square foot mixed use complex located at 1111 Marcus Avenue on Long Island, New York to North Shore University Hospital.
- Represented Meadow Partners in a joint-venture acquisition and development project with developer Slate Property Group. The joint venture acquired the properties at One Flatbush, located on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York, and will develop them into an approximately 170,000 square foot mixed-use project. Represented the joint venture partners in securing a $110 million loan to develop the project at One Flatbush.
- Represented Paramount Group in connection with its acquisition of multiple Manhattan office buildings, including 60 Wall Street and 31 West 52nd Street, and in its acquisition of 50 Beale Street in San Francisco.
- Represented Goldman Sachs in connection with its acquisition and restructuring of a $180 million mortgage loan secured by the YOTEL New York hotel, located just west of Times Square.
- Represented Trinity Church in connection with a development ground lease with respect to a planned 300,000-plus square foot mixed-use project.
- Represented a closely held real estate investment firm in connection with the recent recapitalization of 650 Madison Avenue – a midtown Manhattan trophy mixed-use building.
- Advised on multiple mortgage, mezzanine and preferred equity investments for Lehman Brothers with respect to a wide variety of asset classes, including luxury condominiums, data centers and luxury golf-course and residential developments.
- Negotiated and closed multiple mortgage and mezzanine financings and joint venture restructurings for Mills and Apollo Real Estate.
- Negotiated leases for nearly 1,000,000 square feet in the aggregate for Lehman Brothers, including 1301 Avenue of the Americas and 1271 Avenue of the Americas.
- Closed the acquisition, joint venture and financing arrangements for multiple hospitality and residential assets for private developer Scout Real Estate Capital.
Credentials
Education
Columbia Law School, J.D., 2001 Yale University, B.A., 1998