Practice Areas
LIBOR Transition Team
Loan Sales
Mezzanine Finance
Mortgage Finance
Real Estate
Real Estate Workouts & Restructurings
Admissions
New York
North Carolina
Education
New York Law School - J.D., 1997, magna cum laude
Binghamton University - B.A., 1992
|
Profile
Holly Chamberlain is co-chair of Cadwalader’s Finance Group, head of the firm’s Real Estate Finance practice and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Her practice focuses on real estate finance as well as matters affecting property owners’ ownership, acquisition and disposition of real estate interests. She represents lenders in the financing of a range of properties, including: office, retail, hotel, multi-family, industrial and skilled nursing facilities through single asset as well as multi-state and multi-property transactions. She advises clients on a wide range of transactions, such as: the origination of mortgage and mezzanine loans (including stabilized and unstabilized assets, term loans, bridge loans, revolving credit facilities and future advance facilities), preferred equity investments in real estate joint ventures, unsecured real estate loans, single-family rental portfolios, bridge and term facilities, loan workouts and consensual foreclosure.
Holly also advises on the negotiation of co-lender and intercreditor agreements, secondary market mortgage and mezzanine loan sales, loan servicing, the acquisition and disposition of properties, negotiations of property management agreements and the renegotiation, acquisition and sale of stressed real estate loans.
Holly was recognized in Forbes’ 2025 America’s Best-In-State Lawyers guide for her work in Real Estate Law in Charlotte. She was named to Lawdragon’s inaugural “Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers” guide, and was among 25 women recognized by the Charlotte Business Journal as part of its “2023 Women in Business Awards.” Holly was also recognized by Law360 as a Real Estate MVP for advising on many of the most significant commercial real estate financings in 2022 and 2024. Holly is regularly recognized as a leading real estate lawyer by Chambers USA, Legal 500 U.S., IFLR 1000, Best Lawyers in America, and is a recipient of Connect Media’s inaugural “Lawyers in Real Estate” award recognizing the top 50 real estate lawyers in the country as well as the 2022 awards.
A member of Cadwalader's Women’s Leadership Initiative, Holly also serves as partner mentor for several associates and summer associates, is a primary representative for the firm in its recruiting efforts, both on and off campus, and is a sponsor to “protégées” in the firm’s Sponsorship Program. Holly is also a member of the CREFC Women’s Network.
Holly received her J.D., magna cum laude, from New York Law School, where she was an Executive Articles Editor of the New York Law School Law Review, and her B.A. in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She is admitted to practice in the states of North Carolina, New York and Massachusetts (inactive).
Experience
Recent transactions on which Holly has advised include her representation of:
- Administrative agent and lenders in origination of a $1.85 billion loan secured by a portfolio of 98 industrial, warehouse and manufacturing properties located across nine states.
- The lead lender in the $1.4 billion financing secured by 11 Madison Avenue, a premier Class A office tower in Manhattan’s Midtown South.
- The lender in a $275 million SASB for 24 industrial properties located in Ohio and Michigan.
- The lender in the origination of a mortgage secured by the Sheraton San Diego.
- Lenders in the $900 million refinancing of 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York, which is owned by the Paramount Group and is a LEED Gold Certified Class A office building.
- Lenders in the $1.3 billion refinancing of One Five One, a LEED Gold Certified Class A office tower owned by The Durst Organization and located at 151 West 42nd Street, New York, New York.
- Lenders in connection with a $2.75 billion refinancing transaction of a 129-property industrial portfolio. The portfolio consists of industrial properties spanning 12 states, including California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. The transaction consisted of three loans: one balance sheet loan and one bridge loan, both of which refinanced existing indebtedness secured by the portfolio, and one CMBS loan.
- The lender in the $735 million financing of three state-of-the-art data centers owned by Retained Vantage Data Centers, LP, located in Goodyear, Arizona—one of the top five data center markets in the United States.
- Lenders in a $250 million financing for The Durst Organization, the New York-based investment manager, in connection with its flagship Midtown Manhattan property at 1155 Avenue of the Americas.
- Lenders in a $650 million refinancing of One Congress, a newly delivered trophy office tower in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Lenders in the origination of a mortgage loan to Ares Industrial Real Estate Trust, a subsidiary of Ares Management, for the refinancing of a 37-property, 7.4 million-square-foot industrial portfolio.
- The administrative agent and lenders in providing financing for the origination of a 59-property retail portfolio spanning 25 states.
- The lender on a $415 million transaction backed by a three-year, fixed-rate loan to JDL Development and Wanxiang America Real Estate on One Chicago, a 735-unit luxury apartment complex in downtown Chicago.
- The lender in the origination of an 8 property multi-family portfolio loan for a large multi-family developer/owner on properties in California and Chicago.
- The lender in acquisition CMBS financing for 37 properties together with a balance sheet backup commitment letter each in connection with Blackstone's acquisition of Air Communities.
- The lender in the $735 million financing of the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel, Dolphin Hotel and Swan Reserve Hotel, a 2,600+ key resort situated directly adjacent to the Disney World theme parks in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
- Lenders in the $525 million refinancing of the Hilton Orlando hotel in Florida. A 1,400-room resort located next to the Orange County Convention Center.
- The lender in a $500 million fixed rate financing of a loan secured by an office building in Burbank, California.
- Administrative agent and senior lender in a loan modification in connection with a mezzanine loan assignment-in-lieu of foreclosure transaction.
- The lender in a $155 million floating-rate mortgage loan and $27 million mezzanine loan to finance the acquisition of three office buildings in Massachusetts for an aggregate value of $182 million and the related refinance into a SASB execution a year later.
- The administrative agent and senior lender in the maturity default and negotiation of a joint "short sale" and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure escrow transaction related to a large office complex in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
- The lender in a $425 million mortgage loan secured by a 42 property portfolio of triple-net leased properties located in eight states, comprising 31 retail properties, seven industrial properties and four office properties.
- Lenders in a $610 million single-borrower securitized mortgage loan and a $140 million of subordinate mortgage note to refinance the Center for Life Sciences building, a 704,000-square-foot office and laboratory property.
- The administrative agent (which is an insurance company real estate lending arm) and lender in a $147.2 million mortgage loan secured by a Class A industrial warehouse distribution facility in York, Pennsylvania.
- Lenders in an aggregate $2 billion syndicated mortgage financing for the acquisition of American Campus Communities, Inc., the largest developer, owner and manager of high-quality student housing communities in the United States with 166 owned properties in 71 leading university markets.
- The lenders in a $465 million securitized mortgage loan to refinance a portfolio of 36 hotel properties for Hospitality Investors Trust, Inc.
- The lender in a $355 million securitized mortgage loan to refinance a portfolio of 19 primarily single-tenant office properties in multiple states.
- The administrative agent and lender in a $551.9 million syndicated mortgage loan and $95 million mezzanine loan secured by 77 properties located in multiple states.
- The lender in a $670 million securitized mortgage loan and two mezzanine loans aggregating $125 million to refinance the Helmsley Building, an iconic trophy office property located at 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan.
- The lender in a $350 million securitized mortgage loan for Kushner Real Estate and National Real Estate Advisors to refinance Tower 2 of the Journal Squared residential development in Jersey City, New Jersey, which comprises 704 apartments, approximately 18,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and a 351-space garage.
- Lenders in a $100 million securitized mortgage loan secured by The Eddy, a luxury apartment building in Harrison, New Jersey.
- The lender in a $259.8 million securitized mortgage loan secured by the Modera Metro Dadeland Apartment complex in Miami, Florida.
- The administrative agent and lender in an $84.95 million mortgage loan secured by two industrial parks in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- The lender in a $421.8 million mortgage and mezzanine financing, including a future funding component for renovations and leasing costs, secured by an office complex in Atlanta, Georgia together with the related post-default asset management and disposition of the loan and asset.
- Co-lenders in a $370 million securitized mortgage loan secured by the office portion of AMA Plaza, a 52-story skyscraper formerly known as the IBM Building, and a leasehold interest in an adjacent parking garage in Chicago, Illinois.
- The administrative agent and lender in a $108 million mortgage loan secured by Palmetto Bluff, a luxury resort in Bluffton, South Carolina.
- Counsel to U.S. Bank National Association as lender in a $99 million loan-on-loan transaction secured by a pledge of a mortgage and mezzanine loan to refinance a multi-family property in Washington, D.C.
- To the purchaser of a $55 million participation of a $220 million construction loan from a syndicate that was originated for the development of a build-to-suit medical-office building at 1101 Chestnut Street in the Center City district of Philadelphia for hospital operator Jefferson Health.
- The administrative agent and lender in a $35 million mezzanine loan to a wholly owned subsidiary of a SFR owner secured indirectly by their portfolio of SFR homes.
- The lender in a $128.8 million non-recourse loan-on-loan financing secured by two multifamily properties in California and Washington, D.C.
- The lender in a $416.8 million mortgage loan to refinance a 45-property portfolio that is triple-net leased to SaveMart Supermarkets, comprising of 41 supermarkets and two warehouse/distribution centers located throughout California and two office headquarters in Nevada.
- The lender in two mortgage loans aggregating $75.4 million to refinance One and Two Merriweather, neighboring office buildings in Columbia, Maryland.
- The lenders in a $3 billion single-asset/single-borrower securitized refinancing of One Vanderbilt in New York City, the largest-ever fixed rate CMBS financing secured by a single asset.
- The administrative agent and lender in a $100 million revolving credit facility, the proceeds of which are expected to be used to acquire and/or refinance industrial properties located in multiple states.
- The lender in a $110 million mortgage loan in connection with the acquisition of the long term lease of 27 Drydock Avenue located in the Boston Seaport.
- The administrative agent and lenders in a syndicated mortgage loan secured by One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan and the refinance of such loan early in the post-Covid era.
- A hedge fund in obtaining financing for a 1000+ single family home portfolio and the ultimate sale of such residential portfolio to a REIT.
- The special servicer in (a) the foreclosure by the mortgage lender of a defaulted mortgage loan indirectly secured by a well-known hotel resort and casino, (b) general operation of the property as REO and (c) the sale of the property.
- A hedge fund in providing a $300 million subordinate debt credit facility to a real estate FinTech company.
- The administrative agent and lenders in a $740 million syndicated mortgage loan and two mezzanine loans aggregating $178 million secured by 27 shopping centers in connection with the $1.9 billion acquisition of 49 U.S. shopping centers from one of Canada’s largest REITs, by a global real estate investment firm.
- The lender in a $710 million mortgage loan to refinance existing debt secured by fee interest and leasehold interests in an approximately 1.5 million square foot portfolio of eight urban retail and office properties in New York, NY, Boston, MA, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA and Miami, FL.
- The administrative agent and lender in a $100 million credit facility secured by a portfolio of approximately 235 single-family rental properties located throughout the Southwest United States for an affiliate of a preeminent private investment firm in China with over $10 billion of assets under management.
- A hedge fund in the origination of, and ultimate foreclosure on, a $15 million line of credit to the operator of high-end skilled nursing facilities in Texas.
- The lender in three securitized mortgage loans aggregating $101.5 million secured by three multifamily properties in Las Vegas for two global real estate funds.
- The co-lenders in an $870 million floating-rate mortgage loan and two mezzanine loans aggregating $170 million secured by a portfolio of 92 hotels in 30 states.
- The lender in a $335 million single asset single borrower (SASB) securitized mortgage loan secured by 83 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in 12 states; two mezzanine loans aggregating $270 million that are secured by the equity interest in the portfolio and 13 additional facilities; and a $230 million syndicated mortgage loan secured by a number of the properties.
- The co-lenders in a $650 million securitized mortgage loan secured primarily of land under a portfolio of industrial properties located in Oahu, Hawaii.
- The lenders in a $212 million mortgage loan secured by a portfolio of eight data centers.
|
