Katten

Real Estate

Financial institutions across the country rely on David Dlugie to handle their most critical commercial property and commercial loan matters, sometimes with extremely tight timelines. For clients that are financing or selling/buying/leasing real property, or acquiring or disposing of commercial real estate loans, he solves their financing and equity issues using negotiation skills honed through three decades of practice. As Katten's Chair of Midwest Real Estate practice group, David assembles teams across the firm that work with clients to achieve their goals on commercial real estate matters throughout the country on a timely basis.

In real estate negotiations, David uses his market knowledge to find solutions that move parties toward a successful closing on a cost-effective basis. Aided by an accounting background, he uses his business acumen to assist in productive negotiations and help his client achieve their goals, leading to more efficient outcomes that leave all parties feeling like winners.

David's business sense allows him to quickly identify, mitigate and resolve client issues as they arise. In large-scale transactions, he draws on Katten's 120-plus-lawyer Real Estate group to achieve results on even the most compressed time frames. One major private equity institution turned to David, for instance, when it needed to efficiently sell a portfolio of assets across the country that included eighteen office buildings, six hotels, three industrial properties and two retail properties in a short time frame. David assisted in the structuring and negotiation of thirteen transactions totaling over $500 million in just four months. In another fast-moving deal, David represented another private equity institution in its purchase of five mezzanine loans across 219 properties. The deal entailed negotiations with eleven borrowers and total financing of more than $3.6 billion. It closed in 33 days.

David also represented the financial services unit of an American conglomerate in its sale of a $1.56 billion mortgage loan pool of 44 mortgage loans, which commenced and closed in 40 days, while simultaneously working on the sale of a $560 million mortgage loan pool for the client with more than 260 mortgage loans. He also represented a Chicago-based lender and a financial institution in the origination of over 2,000 conduit mortgage loans across the country and the later securitization of such mortgage loans.

JD, University of Illinois College of Law, 1986; MAS, University of Illinois, 1982; BS, University of Illinois, with highest honors, 1981