J. Timothy Ramsey

Mr. Ramsey practices primarily in the fields of real estate and environmental law and has substantial experience in both disciplines. His real estate practice includes real estate development, construction, financing and equity transactions involving partnerships, joint ventures, limited liability companies and corporations. He has worked on a large number of affordable housing developments involving federal and state subsidies. He represents owners and developers of commercial and industrial properties including matters relating to site development and leasing. He has substantial experience in all aspects of distressed real estate, including mechanics’ liens, loan workouts and restructurings and foreclosures and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.

Mr. Ramsey’s environmental practice is broad-based and includes emphases on Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, manufactured gas plant evaluations and cleanups, enforcement and defense of claims under federal and state law arising from contaminated facilities, participation in state voluntary cleanup programs, negotiation and enforcement of environmental insurance policies, consultation on regulatory compliance for industrial operations, performance of environmental due diligence and negotiation of risk allocations in real estate and corporate transactions. He has acted as principal environmental counsel on several U.S. Department of Defense facilities closed and transferred to private ownership under the federal Base Realignment and Closure Act.

Significant Real Estate Engagements

• Representation of developers, owners and lenders in scores of affordable housing developments throughout the United States including affordable housing assisted under Section 8, HUD mortgage insurance programs, tax-exempt industrial revenue bond financings, state housing agency financings, tax shelter syndications, Mark-to-Market restructurings under the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997, transactions involving the low-income housing tax credit under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code, and representation of owners of thousands of Section 8-subsidized rental units on all matters relating to management and ownership of such units including Fair Housing Act issues, property physical condition matters and contractual issues with HUD and state agencies.
• Representation of owners of a prominent market rate multifamily housing development in Chicago, including authorship of covenants, conditions and restrictions and representation in multiple financing transactions including lender participation transactions and securitized loan transactions.
• Representation of a large insurance company in joint venture negotiations with national real estate development companies for development of market rate housing.
• Ongoing representation of a privately-owned real estate company in the acquisition, financing and leasing of multiple light industrial and office facilities in the Chicago metropolitan area.
• Representation of owners in numerous construction projects including negotiation of construction contracts, enforcement of owners’ rights in disputes with contractors and subcontractors and defense and resolution of mechanics’ liens.
• Representation of multifamily housing owner in a tenant-based class action lawsuit for enforcement of the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance.

Significant Environmental Engagements 

• Representation of owners of real estate on which manufactured gas plants were formerly located, including participation in state voluntary cleanup programs and enforcement of claims against responsible parties.
• Representation of developers of several military bases undergoing closure and redevelopment, including Fort Sheridan, Lake County, Illinois, Orlando Naval Training Center, Orlando, Florida, and David Taylor Research Center, Annapolis, Maryland.
• Representation of a public pension fund in the cleanup, under federal agency order, of a site in the Streeterville area of Chicago contaminated with radioactive materials and pesticides residual from former industrial operations in the area, and enforcement and collection of claims against the responsible parties.
• Representation of automobile dealerships on environmental compliance obligations and site decommissioning resulting from restructuring of the automobile industry.
• Representation of a national food company in division of an electrical cogeneration facility from the food manufacturing plant including renegotiation and reissuance of all environmental permits for the facility.
• Representation of a publicly traded REIT in the acquisition and development of a 600 acre airport parcel for redevelopment as a technology center.
• Representation of the purchaser from a Fortune 500 company of an abandoned printing facility in upstate New York.
• Collection of a multimillion dollar claim from the issuer of a “cost cap” environmental insurance policy issued for the excavation and cleanup of a U.S. Army landfill.
• Representation of the developer of a “peaker” power plant in downstate Illinois in obtaining permits required from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for water withdrawal rights and consultation with the U.S. Department of the Interior on endangered species issues.
• Representation of a manufacturing company to obtain all environmental permits for facilities operated for decades in multiple states without any permits, including exercise of rights under regulatory self-disclosure policies to avoid or minimize penalties.
• Representation of scores of companies on environmental due diligence and negotiation of environmental risk allocations in corporate merger and acquisition transactions.
• Representation of scores of insureds under environmental insurance policies, including negotiation of policy terms and enforcement of policy terms.
• Representation of many property owners involved in asbestos abatement projects including development and implementation of operations and maintenance plans and negotiation of contracts for removal or other abatement of asbestos.