Qualified Opportunity Funds: Benefits, Opportunities and Challenges in 2019

Steve Wilson has 45 years of continuous experience in transactional real estate law and related business issues. He also has substantial experience in corporate and general business law.  He has held the esteemed Martindale-Hubbell "AV" (“preeminent”) peer designation for many years.

In the superheated West Coast real estate environment, he augments his technical knowledge by providing the business judgment and perspective that a seasoned institutional real estate executive would provide. Much of his current professional focus is on complex, value-added urban mixed-use projects and joint ventures, with recent focus on project planning in Qualified Opportunity Zones.  A related longtime focus is assisting nonprofit or charitable organizations (including religious organizations) seeking to monetize their land holdings in a way which incorporates a charitable or public benefit.  Steve’s clients routinely comment that he is "their other partner".

Other significant capabilities include real estate tax issues, entity formation/asset management for portfolio owners, restructuring and securitization of holdings, entitlement work, purchases and sales, commercial leasing and title matters. Many clients are offshore investors who benefit greatly from his guidance.  Steve has been an expert witness in two recent, significant jury trials involving real estate issues.

Steve has traveled widely on business in Asia, and for 10 years led post-Perestroika humanitarian orphanage support work in the Ryazan region of CIS. His humanitarian endeavors have also included Africa and South America. In 2013, he lectured Chambers of Commerce throughout Indonesia on trade with the US. In 2017, he was a member of the San Francisco Mayor’s economic and trade delegation to Vietnam.

Matthew J. Schiller is a partner in the Real Estate and Redevelopment & Land Use Departments at Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP, where he concentrates his practice in commercial real estate law.  Mr. Schiller’s work encompasses a wide array of commercial real estate transactional, zoning, redevelopment, taxation and litigation matters throughout New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.  His transactional experience includes the acquisition, disposition, leasing and management of office, retail, and industrial properties. In addition, Mr. Schiller's practice includes seeking municipal and state land use approvals for commercial and residential developments. He also represents special servicers in connection with distressed real estate assets, including loan workouts and modifications, foreclosures, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, REO sales and loan sales.  Mr. Schiller is a frequent author and lecturer on Qualified Opportunity Zones.