John Zizzo's practice is concentrated in real estate finance.  He has spent the majority of his career representing sophisticated institutions in all aspects of real estate and real estate finance, including extensive work in all of the following areas: construction, permanent and interim financing arrangements (offices, multifamily rental complexes, hotels, condominiums and cooperative projects, shopping center developments, and mixed use projects), fee and leasehold mortgages, LBO financings, convertible and shared appreciation mortgages, sale-leaseback financing, and mezzanine loans.  He has considerable experience in the closings of large mortgage loans earmarked for securitization, including the recent closings of mortgage loans for Morgan Stanley secured by 1251 Avenue of the Americas, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, 1 New York Plaza, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, and The Crowne Plaza Hotel (Times Square), all in New York City; the San Francisco and Chicago Hiltons; and the Oakbrook, Woodfield, Danbury, Freehold Raceway, and Sawgrass Mills Malls.  He also recently represented Hypo Vereinsbank in the construction loan for the multiuse high-rise project (retail, office, and condominium) at the old Alexander's site at 58th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

Mr. Zizzo was the lead attorney for the lending group providing acquisition, conversion, and mezzanine financing for the recent Plaza Hotel transaction in Manhattan.  This transaction combined his skills in CMBS lending, construction lending, mezzanine lending, and condominium conversion and development.  This deal was the first of its kind and has spawned other similar developments.

Most recently, Mr. Zizzo represented the first mezzanine holder (consisting of five major lenders with an aggregate exposure of $800 billion) in the workout/mezzanine foreclosure related to the Macklowe EOP Pool 1 (four major office buildings in New York City). There were five levels of mezzanine debt. Our representation resulted in the three lenders who were not otherwise involved in the transaction being bought out at par.

Moreover, Mr. Zizzo has additional extensive experience in workouts, foreclosures, and bankruptcies, having gone through the bottom of several real estate cycles.  In the mid-1970's, after working out or foreclosing many loans made by Chase Manhattan Mortgage and Realty Trust, Mr. Zizzo joined Bankers Trust Company in an elite group designed to work out all of that Bank's real estate problem loans, which were essentially fully resolved in two and a half years.  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he worked out, foreclosed on and negotiated through bankruptcies for Cadwalader real estate clients, namely: Manhattan Savings Bank, Republic National Bank of New York, GECC, and Mutual Benefit Life.  While working for GECC, Mr. Zizzo became expert in techniques to assist in partnership arrangements to solve control and tax problems.  Moreover, Mr. Zizzo has worked on several UCC foreclosures, including foreclosure upon cooperative shares in the early 1990s and upon Mezzanine pledge collateral in recent years. 

Mr. Zizzo has extensive developer experience (most importantly for Arvida Corporation while practicing in Florida) and its attendant responsibilities: land use planning, conveyancing, leasing, handling contracts with architects and contractors, and creating mixed and multiple land use restrictions and easements. 

Mr. Zizzo has represented a tenant in one of New York City's largest office leases after 9/11 and the buyer in a major acquisition of office and warehousing facilities (seven major properties in four states).  In addition, Mr. Zizzo has extensive experience in acquiring and disposing of all types of real estate interests and in creating real estate partnerships (general and limited) and other joint venture vehicles.

Before joining Cadwalader as a partner, Mr. Zizzo was a real estate partner at the Miami-based firm of Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody & Cole and at Breed, Abbott & Morgan.  Prior to that time, he was an associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, and served as Assistant General Counsel to Bankers Trust Company.

Mr. Zizzo is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the State of Florida; he is currently an out-of-state member of The Florida Bar.  He is also a Member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Bar Association.

Mr. Zizzo earned his B.A. at Fordham College and his J.D. at Columbia University Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.