Howard M. Sommers

Howard divides his practice predominantly between real estate and corporate work.

Howard has 38 years of experience negotiating and drafting commercial leases of all types, representing landlords and tenants. He has extensive experience in large commercial lease transactions, and has been involved in the past several years with several leases involving millions of dollars in rent. He also has extensive experience representing buyers and sellers of commercial real estate. In the past few years Howard represented two companies in sales of Manhattan properties, and the purchase of three replacement properties in one instance and four replacement properties in the second instance, in complex 1031 exchanges.

In addition to his real estate work, Howard maintains an active corporate practice. He has represented purchasers and sellers in corporate transactions. He regularly counsels majority and minority shareholders, members and partners of closely-held businesses as to their respective rights and obligations. Howard has negotiated and drafted a wide-range of commercial agreements.

Recent representations include:

• Representation of the owner of an office building in Maryland in several leases that involved tens of thousands of square feet and millions of dollars in rent over the terms of the leases.
• Representation of an owner of a building in Manhattan in many leases involving thousands of square feet and millions of dollars in rent over the terms of the leases.
• Representation of a company on Long Island as a tenant in a lease that involved hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent over the term of the lease.
• Representation of a borrower in a $6,000,000 transaction undertaken in connection with the conversion of a building into a condominium.