Charles Cousland

Real estate guidance for corporate, institutional and financial clients

Charlie Cousland helps clients with real estate transactions and leasing, real estate development and construction, and land use disputes. He advises corporate, institutional and financial clients on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), commercial lending (both asset-based and mezzanine financing), joint ventures, capital formation, corporate governance and shareholder/partner disputes.

Charlie is co-author of A Guide for Wisconsin Nonprofit Organizations, second edition, published by the State Bar of Wisconsin.

• Negotiates leases for build-to-suit industrial warehouse and distribution centers across the United States, as well as counsels clients on site selection, planning, development and leasing of industrial warehouse and distribution centers in foreign jurisdictions.
• Assists with site acquisition, construction, management and financing of hospitality properties.

• Negotiation of numerous complex construction projects that included elements designed under, or were entirely constructed in accordance with, an EPC construction delivery method, with each project having a budget in excess of $500 million. These projects included facilities that contained technical components such as laboratories, energy production (both clean and fossil fuel), medical services (such as imaging or pathology) within hospital facilities (both new and existing hospital facilities) and food processing. The projects were pursued by a broad spectrum of clients in technical, pharmaceutical, health care, energy, food production and similar industries where research and production require design and construction services that are specific to a particular industry or technology.
• Advised on the acquisition and conversion of a failed 14-story residential hotel development in a downtown setting, and conversion of the same building into a mixed-use development with 13-story university housing and first-floor retail center.
• Counseled on the site acquisition, construction and leasing of single-retailer stores, including negotiation of capital leases involving real estate investment trusts (REIT), which may be participating as equity investors.
• Handled the site acquisition and construction of a regional hospital and medical office building.
• Managed a sale-leaseback transaction for a regional arts center.