Commercial Real Estate Capability

Development & Construction

Commercial real estate development involves legal work that spans site control, entitlement, financing, and construction through project completion and stabilization. The legal workstreams — acquisition, financing, construction documentation, and regulatory approvals — must be coordinated across the development timeline to avoid delays and protect the owner’s interests at each stage.

The firm advises developers, owners, and other project participants on the transactional and documentation aspects of commercial development and construction projects across property types.

Representation Includes

  • Site control, option, and development agreement documentation
  • Construction loan documentation and draw procedures
  • General contractor and construction management agreements
  • Architect, engineer, and design consultant contract review
  • Easements, declarations, and covenants for development projects
  • Condominium and subdivision documentation
  • Mechanics lien compliance and title endorsements
  • Project completion, certificate of occupancy, and close-out coordination

Transaction Considerations

Development and construction projects require coordinating multiple legal workstreams across a timeline where delays in any one area can affect the entire project. The firm advises on the documentation at each stage of the development cycle and works with the project team to identify and address legal issues before they become schedule problems.

Issues That Recur in Construction Transactions

  • Payment applications and draw conditions. Draw requests are tied to the conditions in the construction loan and the construction contract — lien waivers, updated title, inspection sign-offs, and stored-materials rules — so that funding tracks completed, lien-free work.
  • Retainage. Retainage terms set how much of each payment is withheld and when it is released, balancing the owner's and lender's protection against the contractor's cash flow, and are coordinated with the loan's funding schedule.
  • Architect and engineer certifications. Certifications of completion percentage support each payment application and feed the draw process; the design-professional contracts are reviewed for the certification, insurance, and standard-of-care terms the owner and lender require.
  • Lien waivers. Conditional and unconditional lien waivers from the general contractor and subcontractors are collected at each draw and at close-out to preserve clear title.
  • Completion assurance. Completion guaranties, payment and performance bonds, and their coordination with the loan documents establish who bears completion risk and how it is enforced.
  • Change orders and close-out. Change-order procedures, substantial-completion standards, punch-list resolution, and final-payment conditions govern how scope, cost, and schedule changes are documented through project close-out.

Contact Snow LLP

To discuss a commercial real estate matter, contact Snow LLP directly.

Contact Snow LLP