Land, Real Estate & Construction

One of our key areas of practice is Land, Real Estate & Construction Law. Our associates are experienced with legal support of all types of real estate projects and transactions.

We provide legal support of:

•  construction and re-development projects, including residential, commercial and industrial real estate

•  land transactions

•  legal status conversions

•  privatization

•  property purchases, property management, sales and leases

•  zoning changes

Law Synergy offers a full range of legal services at all stages of investment projects and comprehensive post-commission legal support.

This is also a key area of our practice and this includes legal support of:

Legal Support for Greenfield and Brownfield land acquisition

- legal due diligence on land parcels

- research into the legal status of the land parcel, analysis of possible ways of acquiring rights to the land, identification and evaluation of potential legal risks associated with the transaction

- legal analysis of regional investment climate in the Russian Federation;

- preparation of the tentative legal structure of real estate project stages.

Interaction with authorities

- legal support of negotiations in land rights acquisitions, zoning changes (permitted use of land), investment support, etc.

- preparation of terms and negotiation of Investment Agreements, Leasing Agreements and other contracts;

- preparation and negotiation of laws, rules and regulations for regional and municipal authorities.

LEGAL STRUCTURING OF REAL ESTATE PROJECTS

- preparation of the legal model for real estate projects, including registration of legal entities in Russia and off-shore.

LAND rights ACQUISITION

- legal support of acquisitions of greenfield and brownfield sites;

- legal support of land parcel creation, registration with State land cadastral registry, dimension changes of land parcels etc.;

- drafting, analysis and negotiation of Land Lease Agreements;

- determination of grounds for privatization of land parcels, legal support of land privatization;

- structuring and legal support of land and real estate transactions;

- legal support of land use planning and engineering;

- legal support of rights to real estate registrations and registrations of real estate transactions with the State.

Establishment of and changes to land zoning

- land category conversions and preparation of all required documents;

- changes to land parcel zoning including parcels within the Moscow region;

- legal support of town planning;

- legal support of conversions of agricultural land for industrial use.

PREPARATION OF PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND PROJECT DOCUMENTATION

- legal advice on town planning documentation, project documentation, getting technical specifications for public utilities connection,  environmental law consulting;

- preparation of solicitation documents for procurement of licensed and experienced chief architects and designers (under the terms and conditions beneficial to the Client);

- drafting and negotiation of Contracts for project planning and design with chief architects/designers;

- legal support of state (and non-state) review of project documentation and results of engineer survey.

PROJECT FINANCING

- structuring of financing for real estate projects, including managing relations with banks and their legal advisors;

- selection of the most efficient ways of securing project financing (mortgage, securing financing with goods in circulation, bank guarantee, direct debit of monetary funds from an account etc.).

CONSTRUCTION phase

- legal advice for getting building/construction permits;

- preparation of solicitation documents for procurement to choose a licensed and experienced contractor (under the terms and conditions beneficial to the Client);

- drafting and negotiation of Contracts with contractors (under the terms and conditions minimizing Client risk), including FIDIC contracts;

- drafting and negotiation of all contracts and agreements during the construction phase assuring maximum efficiency, including contracts with contractors and suppliers, contracts for connection to utility systems, etc;

- legal support of commissioning of the built object, analysis of all documents (statements of conformity, documents related to adherence to technical specifications).

TITLE REGISTRATION

- legal support during registration of title to real estate with the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Property;

- analysis and elimination of grounds for denial (suspension) of title registration at the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Property;

- legal support of legitimization of facilities constructed (re-constructed) without proper authorization.

DRAFTING & NEGOTIATION of COMMERCIAL PROPERTY LEASE AGREEMENTS

- drafting, analysis and negotiation of commercial property lease agreements (preliminary, short-term, long-term) with tenants and landlords;

- support of the Client in dealing with brokers;

- legal support of insurance and risk management;

- support of the Client in disputes with tenants, consumers etc.;

- defense of tenants’ interests in cases of contract breaches by a landlord or property management (limited access to premises, inadequate utilities etc.);

- legal support of termination of lease agreements.

LEGAL SUPPORT OF LAND AND REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

- drafting and negotiation of real estate sale and purchase agreements and other real estate transactions;

- optimization of real estate transactions (minimization of Client risk, tax advice etc.);

- drafting and negotiation of deeds of trust, mortgage agreements, state registration, recovery proceedings against mortgaged property.

 We offer a full range of real estate services including:

- comprehensive legal support of land and real estate transactions (due diligence on land parcels and other real estate, preparation and conduct of land and real estate transactions), including transactions involving foreign companies;

- legal support of investment projects involving commercial and industrial real estate;

- we provide legal solutions to problems with land parcels, including privatization, reservation and legal advice for use of land parcels for Client’s needs;

- legal support in the field of Environmental Law, sanitary restrictions and waste treatment;        

- due diligence of privatized state and municipal facilities;

- comprehensive legal support of reconstruction of existing facilities and infrastructure;

- development of legal models for parties to construction (reconstruction) project (including tax advice in construction of residential real estate), drafting of a full range of agreements (investment contracts, participatory share construction agreements etc.);

- defense of title owner’s rights and interests, including defense in litigation, employing methods of defense of rights of ownership and other rights to estate: vindication, restitution, defense of owner's rights from violations not involving deprivation of property, recognition of right to real estate.