Bio

Howard B. Goldman is a partner in the firm's Business Transactions & Planning Practice Group who takes an advisory and proactive approach to understanding his clients' operations and industries in order to enhance profitability and increase business.

For over 35 years, Mr. Goldman has focused his practice on negotiating and representing borrowers, lenders, landlords and tenants in all aspects of real estate transactions. He handles finance, sale-leaseback and commercial lease and build to suit transactions, and he assists with the purchase and financing of commercial properties and the creation and renovation of corporate campuses and relocations. Mr. Goldman also negotiated with lenders regarding COVID-19 and its impact on hospitality and retail properties, and he handles real estate matters on behalf of cannabis industry clients. 

For clients who work with governmental entities, Mr. Goldman has purchased and developed property from economic development agencies (both automotive and non-automotive) with governmental incentives and financed and sold multi-family real property and obtained entitlements.  

Representative Client Work

  • Represents clients in a variety of financing and refinancing issues that are related to loans made by Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits (REMIC), including the acquisition of raw land and commercial properties, long-term lease negotiations with public and private entities, commercial lease negotiations with tenants and property management issues
  • Advises developers with numerous matters involving industrial properties, office buildings, apartment buildings, retail centers and residential lots
  • Assisted with financing related to notes acquired in the sale of residential lots, loan workout negotiations, the acquisition of properties by deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, and the negotiation of construction loans and loans with multiple participants
  • Represented a tenant with the lease and renovation of a 100,000 sq. ft. research facility in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, which included grants from the City and state of Michigan
  • Represented a tenant, including the relocation of their offices, with leasing two and a half floors of a major downtown Detroit office building
  • Represented an owner of multiple medical office properties with a CMBS refinancing loan
  • Counseled a purchaser in the acquisition of a defaulted loan and fee title involving a medical office building
  • Advised a special servicer with a workout of a Michigan State Housing Development Authority apartment complex
  • Represented a property owner with two separate lease transactions with both office spaces exceeding 50,000 sq. ft.
  • Represented an owner of two medical office buildings with an insurance company refinancing loan
  • Represented the owner of a medical office building with a loan restructuring
  • Represented the owners of two television stations with term and revolving loans
  • Represented several owners with the sale of industrial properties in South Carolina and Miami, Florida
  • Represented an owner with construction financing of a hotel/condominium project in Honolulu, Hawaii
  • Represented an owner with the sale of an industrial property to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)
  • Represented a property owner with an industrial lease extension and expansion to a major freight company for premises exceeding 100,000 sq. ft. 
  • Represented an owner with the refinancing of a retail property with an insurance company 
  • Represented a tier-one automotive parts supplier in a build to suit lease transaction, including the construction of an additional building
  • Represented a tier-one automotive supplier in connection with multiple real estate acquisitions and lease transactions ranging in size from 25,000 to 300,000+ sq. ft.
  • Represented an owner of a local major medical office building with a major local hospital tenant in connection with the sale of the building

Professional Affiliations

  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • New York State Bar Association
  • State Bar of Michigan (Real Property Law Section)
  • American College of Mortgage Attorneys (Michigan Chair)

Certifications

  • Certified Public Accountant

Articles and Lectures

Credentials

Education

  • University of Illinois College of Law, cum laude, J.D., 1985
  • Loyola University Chicago, cum laude, B.B.A., 1982

Admissions

  • Illinois, 1985
  • Michigan, 1998
  • New York, 2012

Honors/Awards

Honors & Recognitions

  • Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law, 2007 - 2025
  • Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating-AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
  • Michigan Super Lawyer in Real Estate: Business; Michigan Super Lawyers, 2008 - 2013
  • Go To Lawyers Power List for Commercial Real Estate honoree, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, 2023
  • Go To Lawyer for Commercial Real Estate honoree, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, 2023
  • Leading Lawyer in Real Estate Law: Commercial and Finance, Leading Lawyers magazine
  • Hour Detroit Best of Detroit, Top Lawyers, Real Estate Law, 2009 - 2011, 2013, 2015 - 2017

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