Matthew Schneid is a member of the firm’s Real Estate, Real Estate Special Opportunities and Restaurant and Hospitality Groups.

Experience

Matthew serves as a strategies advisor for his clients in guiding them through their real estate transactions and operations.

He concentrates his practice in commercial real estate leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and financings. He has represented major real estate developers, multinational corporations, private equity companies, family-owned real estate entities, hotel operators, co-living companies and various joint venture entities in all aspects of transactional real estate.

Prior to joining Cole Schotz, Matthew was an associate at a major international law firm, and earlier in his career worked for the New York State legislature.

Networks & Affiliations

In addition to Matthew’s real estate practice, he devotes his time to his community and volunteering.  He currently serves, as an appointee of the Mayor of the City of New York, as a Board Member for the New York City Environmental Control Board. He is also a Board Member of the Communities Council of the New York Hudson River Greenway (a New York State park) and is a member of the advisory board of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Center for Real Estate Law & Policy. Matthew was previously a member of Manhattan Community Board Five (and an acting chair of the Board’s Land Use and Zoning Committee) as an appointee of the Manhattan Borough President.

Representative Matters

Matthew has represented clients in numerous real estate transactions, including:

Leasing – Office:

• On-going representation of New York City and New Jersey landlords in numerous leases of all sizes
• A tech company’s full-building Los Angles headquarters lease (including negotiation of complicated construction and development documents related to the redevelopment of such building)
• Represented entertainment and advertising company of 125,000 square foot lease in Hudson Yards, Manhattan
• An intuitional insurance company in the negotiation of their 125,000 square foot headquarters lease in a suburban, New Jersey office park
• A co-living company in the lease and management of a multi-family building in excess of 100,000 square-feet
• Earlier in his career, Matthew assisted in the negotiation of leases (and related documents) for a 1.2 million square-foot headquarters lease for a financial institution in Manhattan (representing landlord), an international corporation in a 450,000 square-foot headquarters lease in new construction in Hudson Yards, Manhattan (representing tenant), and a 550,000 square-foot lease for an entrainment company headquarters (representing landlord)

Leasing – Retail/Restaurants:

• Represent a restaurant company in 40+ lease transaction throughout the United States
• Represent shopping center owners in retail leases for anchor tenant transactions (e.g., supermarkets, national retailers) as well a “mom and pop” operations
• Represent landlords in New York City street-front retail (including with high-end international chains)

Acquisitions and Development:

• Acquisition, including construction financing, for new condominium development in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida
• Negotiation, on behalf of ground tenant, for long term ground lease with the National Parks Service for the development of a beach-front entertainment venue and boutique hotel in New York City (deal included negotiation of joint venture documents, development agreements and hotel and food and beverage management agreement)
• Negotiation of interim ground lease, development documents and purchase for a New York City developer adverse to a New York City Church for the development of a condominium project in Midtown, Manhattan
• Represent fee owner in negotiation of long term ground lease for development of boutique office building (including subsequent fee owner financings and construction agreements related to ground tenant’s development)
• A joint-venture in a $330 million purchase of an office building (and subsequent construction financing of $475 million to re-develop the site)
• Purchase of $180 million office building in Midtown, Manhattan
• A real estate developer in the purchase of a development site for the development of a hotel in Midtown, Manhattan (including negotiation of the Hotel Management Agreements and related documents)
• A self-storage company in the purchase of two self-storage facilities in New York City for a combined purchase price of $130 million
• A real estate developer in a purchase of $91 million self-storage facility, that was purchased to re-develop as an office property in downtown Brooklyn
• A real estate fund in the purchase of multiple commercial co-op and condominium units in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood ranging in value from $105 million to $20 million (which included the renegotiation of several co-ops’ By-Laws and Proprietary Leases)

Real Estate Operations:

• Hotel management arrangements for both boutique and “flagged” hotels
• Hotel owners in various food and beverages arrangements, including several with “celebrity” chefs
• Hospitality management company in numerous food and beverage management transactions for hotel, room service and hospitality offerings
• A co-living company in the management of the largest co-living project in North America
• Negotiation condominium and coop documents for on-going issues related to building management and construction issues

Real Estate Restructuring:

• Represented borrower in the restructuring of a loan transaction for $125 million hotel loan, including mezzanine loans and complex cash management arrangements
• Represented borrower in restructuring of $175 million loan for student housing project in Manhattan, New York
• Representing borrower in restructuring condominium inventory loan for development Manhattan condominium that successful released guarantor of all on-going personal liability
• Represented both landlord and tenants to resolve numerous covid-related lease issues

Honors & Awards

Matthew has been listed as a New York Metro Rising Star by Super Lawyers each year since 2014.

See Award Methodology.