Recent Experience

Brookfield

• Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners L.P. (BPY) in BPY’s $14.4 billion acquisition of the approximately 66% of common stock that it did not already own of GGP Inc. (f/k/a General Growth Properties Inc.)
• Consortium advisor to Brookfield Business Partners L.P. in, together with Caisse depot et placement du Quebec and other institutional partners, the $13.2 billion acquisition of Johnson Controls’ Power Solutions.
• Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in its $11.4 billion acquisition of Forest City Realty Trust Inc. (n/k/a Brookfield Properties)
• Brookfield Asset Management in the $866 million acquisition by BSREP Industrial, L.P. of Verde Realty Operating Partnership, L.P.; Verde Realty’s subsequent $1.1 billion acquisition, together with certain institutional partners, of Industrial Development International, Inc. (n/k/a/ IDI Logistics Realty); and IDI in its $302 million sale of its entire Mexican industrial portfolio to FINSA and Walton Street Capital, L.L.C.
• Brookfield Property Partners L.P. in its sale of IDI Logistics Realty to Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc.
• Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC in its acquisition of the North American Civil Nuclear Systems and Services Business from Rolls-Royce Holdings plc.

Centro Realty Trust

• in its $9.4 billion sale of the U.S. shopping center portfolio (588 properties) of Centro Properties Group of Australia to the Blackstone Group, LP.
• The Board of Directors in an examination of restructuring options and the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities arising from linkages within the Centro structure with respect to such restructuring options.

Crown Acquisitions, Inc., together with Vornado Realty Trust, in the $700 million acquisition of the retail condominium of the St. Regis Hotel and the adjacent retail townhouse in New York City.

CWCapital Asset Management LLC, as special servicer

• in the restructuring by a joint venture of Hines and Angelo, Gordon & Co. of an existing $472 million loan on 131 S. Dearborn (a/k/a Citadel Center), a 37-story, 1.5 million-square-foot office tower in Chicago’s central business district, to provide capital to fund new leases and building improvements. This was the largest restructuring of a performing CMBS loan to date.
• in the restructuring of a $678 million loan to a subsidiary of Vornado Realty Trust which is secured by seven office buildings in Virginia.
• in the forbearance, and subsequent refinancing by a third party lender, of a $232 million mortgage loan secured by the Westin Times Square Hotel in New York.

Fortress Investment Group in numerous acquisitions and financings including:

• as lender in a $235 million land loan to a major developer of commercial, residential, retail, hospitality and mixed-use properties in Manhattan and other cities, to refinance development of a residential/retail project overlooking Central Park, which will be the largest residential tower in the United States.
• in the provision of $225 million permanent construction financing for One Thousand Museum, a major, high-end, 62-story residential condominium building project in Miami, Florida.
• as lender in a $192 million loan to Macklowe properties, Inc. to finance Macklowe’s acquisition of properties located at 5 E. 51st St., 17E. 47th St. and 12 E. 42nd St.

Jumeirah in the sale of the world famous Jumeirah Essex House in New York.

The Kroger Company in the $2.15 billion sale of its convenience store business unit to EG Group.

KTR Capital Partners in the $5.9 billion sale by its REIT subsidiaries of real estate assets and their operating platform to Prologis Inc., the largest sale of industrial properties (at the time).

Monarch Alternative Capital, as lender, in a $100 million debtor-in-possession loan to Eagle Hospitality Group to finance business operations during Eagle's chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Oxford Properties Group (which is owned by OMERS), as an investor, in the $1.6 billion capital raise for Lineage Logistics.

SoftBank Group Corp (SBG) in its agreement to provide debt and equity financing to WeWork and to make a $3 billion tender offer to holders of WeWork shares, other than SBG and its affiliates.

Philip has been listed in Chambers as one of the very top real estate lawyers since Chambers began its ratings. In Chambers USA, he is described as “a master negotiator with great relationships” and is praised by clients for his ability to “efficiently marshal the firm’s resources to support us in a way that makes overall service outstanding.” He has also been recognized as “a great adviser and a highly respected figure” and described as a “world class lawyer” with “an understanding of the markets and a good grasp of the business repercussions in addition to the legal ramifications” in the same publication. Philip has also been named a “Best Lawyer’ for Real Estate Law in New York by Best Lawyers in America since 2006. He is also recognized as one of the top real estate and REIT practitioners in Legal 500 US and has been designated a New York Super Lawyer since 2006. Philip was named a 2017 Real Estate “MVP” by Law360 noting his successes in major real estate transactions. Additionally, he has been recognized as a leading lawyer based abroad for Corporate/M&A: Israel by Chambers Global.

In April 2006, Philip was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council. In May 2008, President Bush invited Philip to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany the President to Jerusalem for Israel’s 60th anniversary. In March 2005, he was appointed by Governor George Pataki to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Professional Firms Advisory Council. He was elected in 1993 to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. In 1990, Crain’s New York Business named him to their elite “40 Under 40—People to Watch in the 1990’s.” He also was named one of the leading “power brokers” in New York real estate by GRID magazine. Philip has been featured in interviews and profiles with a variety of notable publications and broadcasts, including The Wall Street Journal, The Real Deal, The Stoler Report and Building New York: New York Stories, among others.

Philip serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University, where he is teaching a course entitled “Titans of Real Estate.” He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University in New York, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yeshiva College in New York and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Birthright Israel Foundation. In 2018, he received an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University.