Gavin Williams

Gavin Williams is a Miami real estate attorney who serves as the head of Public and Charitable Services for Holland & Knight's Real Estate Section and is the co-chair of associate mentoring for the Miami office. He also is actively involved in the firm's Artificial Intelligence Committee.

Mr. Williams concentrates his practice in commercial real estate and finance law, including all aspects of real estate acquisition, disposition, financing, leasing and development.

Mr. Williams has represented lenders of all sizes and scale in their real estate finance needs for more than 15 years. He has extensive experience working with national banks, regional and community banks, private lenders, life insurance companies, as well as bridge and mezzanine lenders. He also advises lenders on disposition of loans, including participation and assignments and loan sales. While his primary focus is on Florida-based transactions, Mr. Williams routinely advises lenders in multistate portfolios. He also is well-versed in assisting lenders with their financing of inventory, accounts receivable and other balance sheet assets, including specialized assets such as works of fine art.

In addition to his lending work, Mr. Williams spends a great deal of his practice advising real estate developers. His practice includes assisting clients in their acquisition and disposition of vacant and developed property, negotiating financing arrangements with both lenders and equity providers, reviewing and obtaining land-use entitlements, as well as advising on all the legal needs for these construction projects. He also represents the equity interests of developers by negotiating joint venture and operating agreements.

Mr. Williams also assists private equity funds in their credit finance needs. He handles the credit finance work for many of the Miami office's private equity clients. This representation includes work with traditional banks and private lenders in loans and advising funds in their acquisition of interests in already closed loan facilities.

In addition to his real estate work, Mr. Williams is outside counsel to the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach.

Representative Lender Engagements

• Represented the same national bank for more than 15 years in all aspects of real estate finance, including a $100 million portfolio of properties, hotel loans, construction and renovation loans, as well as owner-occupied facilities 
• Represented a local bank in a $25 million loan to finance construction of a multifamily project 
• Represented a bank in a $20 million loan to a retail center 
•  Represented a community bank in a $22 million loan secured by accounts receivable

Representative Developer Engagements

• Represented a multifamily developer in the acquisition of a vacant parcel, reviewing entitlements and obtaining construction financing from a global bank
• Represented a developer in a $660 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan secured by 41 properties located throughout the United States
• Represented a hotel chain in its acquisition of a leasehold interest in a parcel of property, the further subleasing of a portion of the property to a food and beverage operator and negotiating a joint venture agreement with its partner

Representative Private Equity Engagements

• Represented a Miami-based fund in a loan secured by the balance sheet of various operating companies providing primary care physician services to Medicare-eligible patients 
• Represented a fund in a $35 million loan secured by the various loans made by the operating company
• Represented various operating companies in a loan facility providing both working capital and a revolving feature to permit the companies to acquire additional providers of dental care services