Paul Jakubowski is the chair of the Real Estate Practice Group. He joined the firm in 1988. His national practice focuses on all aspects of real estate law.
Practice
Mr. Jakubowski counts numerous real estate groups among his clients, including REITs, foreign investors in US real estate, national retailers and private equity real estate funds (both core and opportunistic). His practice is national and covers all property types. He works frequently with WilmerHale's tax, corporate, bankruptcy, financial institutions, litigation and fund formation groups.
Private Equity/Capital Markets/REITS
- Numerous acquisitions and sales for a public industrial REIT (national)
- Numerous acquisitions and sales for a public office REIT (national)
- Laboratory leasing and related activities for a public life sciences REIT (Boston/Cambridge area)
- Acquisitions, sales and financings of multifamily assets for two private equity real estate funds, industrial assets for another private equity real estate fund and office assets for another private equity real estate fund
- Numerous joint venture negotiations and financings for both capital side and operator side partners
- Syndicated private placements for sponsor
New England Opportunistic Investments
- Acquisition, redevelopment and expansion of an office park in suburban Boston into a premier 400,000 square foot life sciences campus (represented operator in venture with capital partner, leases to pharma tenants, several financings and sale in 2010)
- Acquisition, repositioning, financing and sale of over 100 office buildings, malls and retail centers in New England for a variety of Boston-based real estate investors
- Acquisition and financing of a 2,000 acre resort community in Vermont
Retail
- Acquisition, leasing, development of dozens of store and distribution center sites for numerous retailers, including three of the largest retailers in the US
- Acquisition, financing and sale of malls and retail centers in New England
Corporate Users
- M&A activity and development and leasing of various types (office, lab, call centers) for WilmerHale’s diverse base of corporate clients, nationally and internationally, including such companies as MFS, Pioneer, Avid, PerkinElmer, Constant Contact, Danaher, A123 Systems, MicroStrategy, Bottomline Technologies, Stream, Thermo Fisher, Watts Water, Varian Semiconductor and Netezza, as well as many early stage companies represented by WilmerHale’s Venture Group
Current and Recent Engagements
- In the distress arena, currently counseling capital partners in troubled ventures; operator partners in troubled ventures; borrowers in loan workouts; acquirors of loans; and landlords and tenants in lease restructurings
- Acquisition of Vail Plaza Resort Hotel out of bankruptcy
- Portfolio acquisitions and financings of multifamily properties in eight states for private equity fund ($300 million)
- Representing a clean energy manufacturing company in connection with Department of Energy funding; leasing and development of millions of square feet of manufacturing space in Michigan; and new corporate headquarters in the Boston area
- Some of the largest and highest-profile lease transactions in Boston and other markets in 2010-2011, including:
- WilmerHale (Boston tower) – 300,000 sf
- MFS (Boston tower) – 300,000 sf
- Avid (suburban Boston) – 200,000 sf
- Constant Contact (suburban Boston) – 130,000 sf
- A123 (suburban Boston) – 100,000 sf
- Technology company (Cambridge) – 160,000 sf
- Financial services company (Boston tower) – 150,000 sf
- Financial services company (Boston tower) – 70,000 sf
- Financial services company (build-to-suit tower in California) – 400,000 sf
- WilmerHale (NY tower) – 200,000 sf
Professional Activities
Mr. Jakubowski is a member of the Boston, Massachusetts and American Bar Associations, the Real Estate Finance Association, and the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
Honors and Awards
- Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of real estate law (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
- Recognized for exceptional standing in the legal community in the 2005 and 2006 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
- Named a "New England Super Lawyer" (formerly "Massachusetts Super Lawyer") in the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 issues of Boston Magazine
