Overview

Melissa is a member of the firm’s Real Estate and Banking & Financial Services Practice Groups and represents financial institutions in various types of residential, retail, and office development projects, in syndicated secured real estate credit facilities, and in the structuring, drafting, and negotiation of workout and forbearance agreements. She also represents investors and institutional clients in complex real estate sales and acquisitions. In addition, Melissa has significant experience representing landlords and tenants in commercial leasing transactions.

Representative Experience

  • Representation of a mission-driven nonprofit lender in connection with multiple lending transactions for the purpose of promoting economic and community development.
  • Representation of a developer in connection with the real estate aspects of multiple joint venture partnerships for the development of real estate throughout Philadelphia
  • Representation of a national bank in connection with a construction loan for the improvement of a retail shopping center
  • Local counsel representation in connection with financing for the construction of a car dealership in New Jersey
  • Representation of a lender in connection with the financing of a chain of five (5) supermarkets serving low-income areas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Construction Loan for the construction of a fitness center, a bank, and a 43,800-square-foot medical office building
  • Representation of national bank in connection with a Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility for the construction of active adult communities throughout Pennsylvania and Virginia
  • Representation of landlord in the leasing of an approximately 211,000-square-foot medical office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Representation of purchaser in the acquisition and financing of a sound studio, recording company and production company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Professional & Community Activities

  • University of Pennsylvania Law School, Adjunct Professor, Real Estate Finance
  • Fleisher Art Memorial, President of Board of Directors, Executive Committee Member, Investment and Finance Committees, Chair of New Building Taskforce
  • Support Center for Child Advocates, Volunteer Attorney
  • Forum of Executive Women – Membership Committee
  • Certified by the Miller Center for Public Interest Advocacy for work in Elder Law
  • Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Project
  • University of Pennsylvania, adjunct professor
  • Forum of Executive Women, member
  • Philadelphia Bar Association, member
  • American Bar Association, member
  • National Association of Women Lawyers Award Selection Committee – The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, 2012- Present
  • Pennsylvania Bar Institute – Philadelphia Real Estate Institute Course Planner – January, 2017- Present

Professional Recognition

  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Law, 2021-2023*
  • Selected as one of Pennsylvania’s “Lawyers on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer, 2013*
  • Recognized by the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia as the “Business On Board Volunteer Leader of the Year,” 2013
  • 2016 Committee Champion Award, National Association of Women Business Owners (South Jersey Chapter)
  • Honored with the National Association of Women in Business Committee Champion Award, 2016
  • Listed in “Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars” for real estate, 2010-2018*
  • Woolsack Honorary Society, 2003
  • The National Association of Women Lawyers Recognition Award, 2003*

Representative Experience

  • Representation of a mission-driven nonprofit lender in connection with multiple lending transactions for the purpose of promoting economic and community development.
  • Representation of a developer in connection with the real estate aspects of multiple joint venture partnerships for the development of real estate throughout Philadelphia
  • Representation of a national bank in connection with a construction loan for the improvement of a retail shopping center
  • Local counsel representation in connection with financing for the construction of a car dealership in New Jersey
  • Representation of a lender in connection with the financing of a chain of five (5) supermarkets serving low-income areas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Construction Loan for the construction of a fitness center, a bank, and a 43,800-square-foot medical office building
  • Representation of national bank in connection with a Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility for the construction of active adult communities throughout Pennsylvania and Virginia
  • Representation of landlord in the leasing of an approximately 211,000-square-foot medical office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Representation of purchaser in the acquisition and financing of a sound studio, recording company and production company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Insights