Dave Levy is a tax partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Dave represents owners, investors, sponsors and financial advisors in connection with U.S. real estate and related investments. His clients include private equity and hedge fund sponsors, private investors (including family offices, sovereign wealth funds, U.S. and non-U.S. pension funds and foundations), privately held and publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), master limited partnerships (MLPs) and other publicly traded companies that own or invest in U.S. real estate. Dave’s practice encompasses all types of transactions in both equity and debt, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, debt syndication transactions, structured asset acquisitions and dispositions, spin-off, split-off and split-up transactions, structured finance transactions, workouts, and bankruptcy restructurings.
Dave’s experience in the equity REIT space encompasses both traditional asset classes such as office, retail, single and multifamily residential, industrial, lodging, healthcare and triple net lease assets, as well as non-traditional asset classes such as datacenters, fiberoptic networks, telecom, cold storage, railroads, timber, natural gas pipelines and terminal/storage facilities, marinas, and RV parks. His work in the mortgage REIT space includes traditional senior and mezzanine financing transactions as well as specialty financing transactions such as “to be announced” contracts, mortgage servicing rights, REMIC transactions, REIT sponsored CDOs and CLOs, A/B note structures, interest and principal strips, participation syndications, and derivative instruments.
In the private real estate transaction area, Dave represents sponsors, management teams, investors and funds in connection with the formation and financing of private investment vehicles, including co-invest vehicles and opportunity zone funds; the structuring and financing of joint ventures; the acquisition, development and disposition of assets; the structuring of Section 1031 like-kind exchange transactions and transactions involving tenancy-in-common and long-term leasehold interests; and leveraged partnerships, synthetic partnerships, mixing bowl partnerships, and UPREIT and DownREIT partnership contribution and distribution transactions. Additionally, he advises on matters arising under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA), the New York City commercial rental occupancy tax regime, and the New York real property transfer tax regime.
His practice extends beyond real estate into real estate intensive infrastructure projects such as toll roads, renewable energy projects, upstream and midstream oil and gas projects, as well as air and rail transit terminals and their related facilities such as rental car depots and people movers.
Dave is a frequent lecturer and author on tax issues involving FIRPTA, REITs and partnerships.
