Carl B. Lee has handled many significant real estate acquisitions and dispositions, including large multistate portfolios. He advises both public and private companies, developers and investors in virtually all areas of real estate transactions. Mr. Lee also has extensive experience in sophisticated finance transactions, including securitizations, portfolio financings, mezzanine loans, equity participations and restructurings.
Practice & Background

Mr. Lee received his A.B. cum laude from Harvard College and his J.D. from the University of Chicago, where he was a member of Order of the Coif. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association and their Real Property sections. In the Dallas Bar, he has served as president of the Real Property Section and chairman of the Legal Aid and Legal Services Committee. He is a member of the Texas Academy of Real Estate, Probate and Trust Lawyers; the College of the State Bar of Texas; and the Texas and Dallas Bar Foundations.

Mr. Lee was a recipient of the North Central Texas Section of the American Planning Association’s Excellence in Development, Highest Honor Award for Effective Citizen Planning. He has been selected for inclusion in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers, Mondaq’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Advisors, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers.
Representative Matters

Mr. Lee’s engagements include the representation of:

a private equity fund in the acquisition and taking private of a real estate investment trust and in $646 million of new mortgage and mezzanine financing, debt assumptions and defeasances
a public real estate investment fund in $2.4 billion acquisition of a 51-hotel portfolio and in new mortgage and mezzanine financings, debt assumptions, defeasances and a corporate credit facility aggregating approximately $2.537 billion
a public real estate investment trust in $225 million acquisition of two Renaissance resorts and in a $98.5 million acquisition of an iconic Fairmont hotel
a public chemical company in the disposition of six chemical and related facilities, and in ground leases to a joint venture for the development of a chlor-alkali plant
a hotel company in $964 million securitized mortgage and mezzanine financing of 14 hotels and a casino in nine states and Puerto Rico, and in collateralizing corporate credit facilities with $625 million of hotels and resorts in nine states and Canada
a hotel company in sale of hotels and a 50percent interest in a hotel brand, and in creation of a joint venture for the brand with an investment bank
a hotel company in hotel portfolio dispositions of $366 million, $110 million, $230 million, $43 million, $74 million, $46 million and $408 million
a hotel company in securitized financings of $425 million on 19 hotels in 11 states, of $40 million on hotels in three states, of $182 million on hotels and a casino in three states and Puerto Rico, of $116 million on a resort and casino in Puerto Rico, of $346 million on 25 hotels in 12 states, and of $235 million on 10 hotels in eight states
a public company in its initial public offering and in secured revolving credit facility of $165 million, in increases of the facility to $428 million and $625 million, and in syndicated revolving credit and term loan facilities aggregating $1.25 billion
a private equity group in $133 million financing of 23 office buildings
a private equity group in acquisition and securitized financing of portfolio of 50 office and industrial properties
a lessors in equipment leases of a cement plant, a pipeline, gold mining equipment, cogeneration facilities and drilling rigs
a Texas National Research Laboratory Commission in reconveyance of the Super Conducting Super Collider in settlement with the Department of Energy
a major national real estate development company in its $1.5 billion debt restructuring with numerous banks, insurance companies and other creditors
a major national real estate investor and developer in his debt restructurings and settlements with lenders, special asset divisions of banks, and the FDIC
a restaurant companies in their restructurings, settlements and resolutions of problem leases, loans and other obligations in the United States
a a federal savings bank and of an FDIC controlled “bad bank” in workouts, foreclosures, deficiency settlements, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, agreed foreclosures, litigation analyses, note sales, and sales and leases of REO.

Community Involvement

Mr. Lee’s community, civic and charitable activities have included being:

the Trustee, Secretary, and Chair of the Executive Committee of the St. Alcuin Montessori School
the President of the Dallas, Texas Chapter of the American Jewish Committee
the group leader of a Konrad Adenauer Foundation German-Jewish Exchange Program
the Vice-President, Secretary and Trustee of Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, Texas
a member of the Texas Conference of Churches—Christian Jewish Relations Commission.

Speaking Engagements

Mr. Lee is a frequent panelist at some of the lodging industry’s leading conferences.