Darwin Huang represents developers, investors, owners, and institutional and private lenders in a wide range of transactional real estate matters, including acquisitions/dispositions and financings of commercial, condominium, hotel and mixed-use properties. He also represents landlords and tenants in the leasing of office and retail space.
Darwin regularly negotiates loan workouts, foreclosures, joint ventures, leasing and licensing agreements on behalf of his clients.
Darwin is recognized in Chambers USA where clients note that he “is strategic and extremely knowledgeable” with “very strong connections in the industry,” and in The Legal 500 where clients describe him as an “exceptional” lawyer. He has also been shortlisted as a Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year by The American Lawyer, recognized as a Notable Asian Leader by Crain's New York Business, included in City & State's Power of Diversity: Asian 100 List, included on Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Dealmakers in America and 500 X – The Next Generation lists, and named a Rising Star by IFLR1000 and Legal Media Group: Expert Guides in the area of Real Estate.
Darwin is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Brooklyn Hospital Center and of Law360's Real Estate Authority Editorial Advisory Board.
Darwin is fluent in Mandarin.
Work Highlights
- KT Capital Group in the closing of a $40 million EB-5 loan to Fortuitous Partners to fund the construction of the Tidewater Landing stadium, home to the Rhode Island FC, a professional soccer club in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship.
- Young Nian Group in the $104 million sale of a development site located at 131-01 39th Avenue in Flushing, Queens in New York City, to United Construction and Development Group.
- Cottonwood Group in the closing of a $240 million senior mortgage financing to Cronin Development for the St. Regis Residences, a 114-unit luxury condominium tower in Boston’s Seaport District.
- Cottonwood Group in the closing of a $180 million construction loan to Five Points Development to build New York’s skinniest residential skyscraper at 262 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
- JDS Development in the closing of a $664 million construction loan to build a 1,066-foot tower located at 9 DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Upon completion, the mixed-use luxury tower will be Brooklyn's tallest skyscraper.
- F&T Group in the closing of a $57.1 million refinancing for Queens Crossing, a mixed used commercial development in Flushing, Queens. The loan covers 17 commercial condo units totaling over 200 thousand square feet, with TD Bank and New York Life Insurance among the property’s tenants.
- Cottonwood Group in the closing of a $105 million bridge loan to real estate developer Savanna for the refinancing of a maturing construction loan and the capitalization and lease-up of The Six, a newly-developed, 26-story, 90,000 square foot office building located at 106 West 56th Street near Central Park in Manhattan.
- AEW Capital in the joint acquisition and financing of a residential condominium development project with Silverback Development in Long Island City, New York.
- Icon Realty Management in securing a $425 million mortgage loan from Bank of the Ozarks and a mezzanine loan from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance for the construction of two condominium towers on the Upper East Side in Manhattan.
- GFI Capital in the $425 million acquisition and financing of the Parker New York Hotel in Manhattan and the negotiation of a joint venture with Elliot Management.
- Midtown Equities in securing approximately $280 million in mortgage and mezzanine loans for the refinancing of Empire Stores located at 55 Water Street in Brooklyn, New York.
- Slate Property in a joint venture with the Carlyle Group to establish a $750 million lending platform.
- JDS Development in one of the largest proposed mixed-use developments in Miami, Florida, consisting of more than 1,000 residential units plus office, retail, hotel and parking components with more than 2.5 million square feet.
- Quinlan Development Group in a $152 million senior loan to finance the recapitalization and lease-up of the iconic Pioneer Building located at 41 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, consisting of office and retail space.
- Land and Sea Development in negotiating a ground lease to affordable housing developers Phoenix Realty and Artimus Construction as ground tenant, which will include a new 25-story mixed-use building on the property with 408 units of affordable housing and 135 market-rate units.
- The Related Companies in multiple retail leases at Hudson Yards in Manhattan.
- Quinlan Development Group in providing a mezzanine loan as part of $100 million construction financing to a major New York developer for a 110,000-square foot, 41-unit residential tower in downtown Manhattan.
- MRR Development in the $104 million acquisition of (and zoning issues for) a development site located at 126 East 57th Street in Manhattan, which was one of the five largest land transactions in the United States in 2019, and the negotiation of a joint venture with Zahi Hagag, Israel’s largest developer.
- GFI Capital in various rounds of modifications of $100 million in senior and mezzanine construction financing for the development of the Ace Hotel Brooklyn, a 157,000-square-foot, 13-story hotel located at 61 Bond Street in Brooklyn, New York.
- Turnbridge Equities in a joint venture agreement to acquire, develop and operate the property known as Burnet Gateway and Innovation Park in Austin, Texas.
- Starwood Property Trust in numerous sales and mortgage loan matters across the nation, including in North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, California and New Jersey.
- Arbor Realty Trust in originating bridge mortgage loans on underperforming or value-add multi-family assets in Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana and Texas.
- U.S. Realty Advisors in the acquisition and financing of a 48-acre industrial facility in Massillon, Ohio, from Geis Companies.
Prior to joining Kasowitz:
- Fosun International in securing a $800 million loan to reposition a landmark 60-story office tower located at 28 Liberty Street in Manhattan.
- XIN Development, a subsidiary of Xinyuan Real Estate, in securing a $55 million EB-5 loan for construction of a 216-unit condominium development located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
- Greenland Group in securing construction financing from institutional and EB-5 lenders for the development of a $1 billion project involving three residential towers in downtown Los Angeles, California.
- A major Chinese asset manager in providing over $600 million in EB-5 loans to real estate developers for projects in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York.
- Bank of America in various mortgage and mezzanine loans to finance the operation of Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, the W Hotel Atlanta, the Le Pavillon Hotel, DoubleTree Santa Ana, and other various hotel properties.
- Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in various mortgage and mezzanine loans to finance the acquisition, development and operation of condominiums, mixed-use and other properties in New York, Massachusetts, and Florida.
- Atalaya in a $10 million mezzanine loan secured by a property located at 320 E. 82nd Street in Manhattan.
- Natixis in various mortgage and mezzanine loans secured by properties in California and New Jersey.
- Citi Bank in various mortgage loans to finance the operation of retail and supermarket properties in New York, Alabama, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nevada, Texas and Mississippi.
- Macquarie Bank in various construction loans for the development of condominiums in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- RCG Longview in various mortgage and mezzanine loans to finance the acquisition, construction and operation of mixed-use and commercial buildings and condominiums in New York City.
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