© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(March 24) – Chicago-based Seyfarth Shaw added real estate transaction veteran Peter Oxman to its Houston office, the firm announced earlier this month. Oxman was previously a partner at King & Spalding, where he practiced for more than 10 years.
The new Seyfarth Shaw partner said he was attracted by the size and scope of the firm’s national real estate platform.
“While other firms are reducing or eliminating their real estate groups, Seyfarth has substantially increased its commitment to the real estate practice with impressive results thus far,” he said. “I look forward to helping to continue this growth, especially in Texas and the Southwest.”
Firm leaders said in a statement that the Texas and the Southwest regions are “flush with real estate opportunities” and have been a focus for the firm.
“Peter is a well-recognized figure in the Houston real estate community, and a great fit for us as we aggressively grow our real estate practice in Texas,” Mark Coffin, managing partner of Seyfarth Shaw’s Houston office, said in a statement.
Oxman, who joins the firm as it moves into new office space at Pennzoil Place, said one of the most interesting deals he has worked on was when he represented an investor in the development of a condominium hotel in Chicago that was under construction when the recession hit in 2007. He and his team had to completely restructure the project.
“My client ultimately sold the hotel for what was then (and may still be), the highest per-room price paid for any hotel in Chicago,” he said.
The Georgetown Law Center graduate has also worked on a number of energy industry transactions, including the leasing of a salt-dome formation for the development of a compressed air energy storage facility.
In 2014, Oxman says Houston tenants are seeking greater flexibility to expand and contract as their business needs evolve during a boom in office construction not seen since the early 1980s.
“This leads to complicated lease provisions regarding expansion and contraction options and preferential rights covering large blocks of space,” he said. “Building owners are going to have to be very careful to track and comply with these provisions as their buildings lease up.”
Oxman, who is the current co-chair of the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity’s law school mentoring programs, said he also looks forward to getting involved with the firm’s pro bono work representing victims of domestic violence.
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