John A. Decker
John A. Decker
+1.404.817.8507

Overview

John A. Decker is a partner in Holland & Knight's Atlanta office and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate Finance Team. He focuses his practice on the areas of real estate finance and development with a specific emphasis on commercial real estate. Mr. Decker represents a wide range of clients in diverse matters such as corporate and asset based lending, healthcare finance, real estate investment trusts (REITs), acquisitions and dispositions of owned and leased assets, general corporate and business matters, and contract issues.

Representative Experience

  • Representing institutional lenders, commercial banks and specialty finance companies in secured lending transactions, focusing on commercial real estate security in multistate transactions and related documentation and negotiations, in all asset classes, including industrial, office, multifamily, retail, healthcare assisted and senior living, skilled nursing and medical office
  • Counsel to institutional and specialty lenders in connection with origination of loans to operators of multi-state healthcare portfolios of assisted and senior living, skilled nursing and medical office buildings
  • Counsel to an institutional lender in connection with the origination of a $100 million mortgage loan secured by an 800,000 square foot office building in Atlanta, Georgia
  • Counsel to an institutional lender in connection with the origination of a $14 million new market tax credit note and refinancing of a $75 million mortgage loan secured by an industrial distribution and warehouse center in Commerce, California
  • Counsel to an institutional lender in connection with the origination of a syndicated construction mortgage loan for a $140 million acquisition and construction of two Class A corporate headquarters office buildings and parking complex in Los Gatos, California
  • Counsel to a specialty lender in connection with $60 million loans to finance, among other things, the acquisition of movie theater grill locations in California, Texas, Illinois and Florida
  • Counsel to an institutional lender in connection with the origination of a $188 million syndicated mortgage loan to be secured by warehouse/distribution centers located in Connecticut, Indiana and Wisconsin and consisting of over 2.75 million rentable square feet
  • Counsel to an institutional lender in connection with the origination of a $48 million mortgage loan secured by a 200,000 square foot multi-office complex in New York, New York
  • Counsel to an institutional lender in connection with a $100 million mortgage loan secured by 300,000 square foot Class A office and retail building in Washington, D.C.

  • Represented student housing developer in a $565 million, 65-year public-private partnership with the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia for the construction of seven new student housing facilities, and management and operation of 12 existing student housing facilities, on nine campuses, including Georgia State University
  • Represented a private developer in connection with its acquisition, development, and financing of a $60 million, 4+ star Solis-brand hotel adjacent to Porsche Cars North America’s headquarters, and closely integrated with the “Porsche Experience” test track
  • Counsel to a real estate fund in connection with the $77 million acquisition of an historic hotel in Rhode Island
  • Counsel to a real estate fund in connection with the sale of a 414,000 square foot office building located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia
  • Representing owners, landlords and tenants in the structuring, negotiation and drafting of purchases; sales and leasebacks of commercial property assets; and matters related to commercial leases and licenses, including office; retail; restaurant and telecommunication spaces

  • Advising REITs as well as other public and private companies in multiple property acquisitions, leasing, financing, dispositions and corporate matters as well as tax-deferred real estate transactions, such as operating partnership unit transactions
  • Counsel to a REIT in connection with the internal restructuring of its hospitality portfolio, the $1.1 billion disposition of a 52-hotel portfolio, and the spinoff and public listing of an upscale portfolio of 50 hotels with an asset value of more than $3.5 billion

  • Working on matters in the hospitality industry involving hotel acquisitions, dispositions and financings, management and franchise agreements and public offerings
  • Representing national and regional full-service, fast-casual and quick-service restaurant companies in financings, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and strategic initiatives
  • Counsel to publicly-traded casual dining restaurant company in connection with a $250 million syndicated revolving credit facility and subsidiary multistate mortgage loan portfolio

  • Counseling borrowers, lenders and other transaction parties in connection with a wide range of matters, including entity formation, real estate acquisition, disposition, and finance and tax matters
  • Advising clients with respect to workouts and troubled assets

Credentials

Education
  • University of Tennessee College of Law, J.D., Business Transactions
  • University of Virginia, B.A., History and Environmental Science
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • Georgia
  • Tennessee
Memberships
  • Georgia Bar Association
  • Tennessee Bar Association
  • Atlanta Bar Association
Honors & Awards
  • Influencer in Retail Real Estate - Holland & Knight's Retail Development and Leasing Team, GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, 2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Real Estate Law, 2021-2025; Leisure and Hospitality Law, 2023-2025
  • The Legal 500 USA, Real Estate, 2017; Real Estate – Finance, 2024

Publications

News