Land Use and Development Practice Co-Chair Spencer Crowley in Miami, Real Estate Practice Group Deputy Chair Lawrence Eiben in Chicago, Real Estate Partner William Ellis in Los Angeles, and Energy and Infrastructure Sector Team Co-Chair and Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Practice Chair James Grice in Dallas have been selected as recipients of 2023 Lawyers in Real Estate Awards by Connect CRE. The fourth annual award recognizes a select group of lawyers from around the U.S. who excel in their practices as well as in their contributions to the community.
Crowley was awarded in the Florida and Gulf Coast region; Eiben was recognized in the Chicago and Midwest region; Ellis was selected in the California region; and Grice was chosen in the Texas region.
Crowley focuses his practice on large scale land use and environmental permitting matters, including zoning, growth management, urban development, transportation, sovereignty submerged lands, coastal regulation, marina permitting, wetlands, and water resources. He has worked with the Governor’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida, the South Florida Water Management District, and Duke University’s Wetlands Center in the Florida Everglades. He has assisted clients in the land use permitting of major projects such as the Babcock Ranch, Midtown Miami, Pier 66, Lauderdale Marine Center, Village at Gulfstream Park, Miami World Center, and Brickell City Centre. Further, Crowley represents the Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami International Boat Shows.
Eiben focuses on a range of transactional matters for commercial real estate clients. He represents REITs, real estate funds, real estate joint ventures, and developers in connection with acquisitions, sales, developments, and financing of office buildings, shopping centers, mixed-use projects, multifamily buildings and complexes, self-storage facilities, and industrial centers. In addition, he handles office, industrial, and retail leasing matters for landlords and tenants.
As a former general counsel for a leading real estate developer, owner, and operator and with decades of market experience, Ellis provides his clients with a comprehensive real estate perspective. He represents private equity funds, global financial institutions, investment banks, REITs, other investment funds, and private developers in real estate transactions, including workouts/restructurings, leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, financing, joint ventures, and development across the United States.
Grice focuses his practice on general commercial real estate, primarily representing investors, developers, operators, and users in the data center and digital infrastructure realm. He has distinguished himself in the data center and renewable energy sector where he utilizes his intimate understanding of project finance and experience with tax incentives to help clients structure deals to their best advantage. Grice regularly works with clients on standalone data center asset purchases and divestitures, including campus acquisitions, acquisition of sites to be redeveloped as data centers, and sale and leasebacks of data center assets. His transactional work is focused on mergers and other acquisitions and dispositions of businesses and related assets, joint ventures, and other methods of combining business operations. He also has experience with spin-offs, split-offs, carve-outs, and other methods of restructuring the ownership of business operations.
Connect CRE is a commercial real estate news and information service provider. Its editorial team solicited nominations for the 2023 Lawyers in Real Estate Awards from real estate industry participants and conducted independent research to determine awardees.