Ted Hunter
A respected dealmaker, Ted Hunter is a Manatt Real Estate partner in the New York office, counselling clients as they navigate their real estate investments across the country—particularly in New York, New Jersey and the balance of the East Coast. Ted’s experience in commercial real estate is broad and deep, ranging from complex acquisitions and dispositions to headquarters leases, and from financing, joint ventures and workouts to multi-phased development transactions. He regularly brings real estate deals to successful conclusions on behalf of clients, including investors, developers, lenders, owners and tenants.
In addition to providing legal advice, Ted serves as a strategic business advisor for clients. He is experienced in negotiating every aspect of sophisticated commercial real estate matters and is focused on both his clients’ and the other transacting parties’ objectives. His collaborative, solution-driven approach to client service allows him to help both parties find common ground in high-stakes negotiations while achieving significant outcomes for his clients.
Additionally, Ted is known as an “exceptionally competent” and “incredibly smart” lawyer who possesses significant experience in public-private partnership (P3) transactions and multijurisdictional portfolio deals.
Prior to joining Manatt, Ted was the long-time leader of another leading firm’s national real estate practice and was instrumental in building and expanding its real estate capabilities.
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Ted Hunter
A respected dealmaker, Ted Hunter is a Manatt Real Estate partner in the New York office, counselling clients as they navigate their real estate investments across the country—particularly in New York, New Jersey and the balance of the East Coast. Ted’s experience in commercial real estate is broad and deep, ranging from complex acquisitions and dispositions to headquarters leases, and from financing, joint ventures and workouts to multi-phased development transactions. He regularly brings real estate deals to successful conclusions on behalf of clients, including investors, developers, lenders, owners and tenants.
In addition to providing legal advice, Ted serves as a strategic business advisor for clients. He is experienced in negotiating every aspect of sophisticated commercial real estate matters and is focused on both his clients’ and the other transacting parties’ objectives. His collaborative, solution-driven approach to client service allows him to help both parties find common ground in high-stakes negotiations while achieving significant outcomes for his clients.
Additionally, Ted is known as an “exceptionally competent” and “incredibly smart” lawyer who possesses significant experience in public-private partnership (P3) transactions and multijurisdictional portfolio deals.
Prior to joining Manatt, Ted was the long-time leader of another leading firm’s national real estate practice and was instrumental in building and expanding its real estate capabilities.
Experience
A selection of Ted’s most significant transactions includes representation of:
Acquisitions and Dispositions
- A private equity firm in its $450 million bid to buy a 44-building office portfolio in California, Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey
- A hedge fund-backed, quantitative-driven real estate investment firm with the $250 million acquisition and financing of a portfolio of 30 manufactured housing parks in Texas, Alabama and Georgia
- The private equity fund-backed owners of four self-storage facilities in NYC in connection with the sale of those facilities to a leading private equity firm for over $110 million
- The parent of national retail brands in the sale of its headquarters complex to Volvo for its North American Headquarters facility
- A national developer with its build-to-suit development, construction financing, net lease and ultimate sale of three warehouse/office/retail buildings for Crate and Barrel totaling approximately 950,000 square feet (development undertaken in three phases)
- The owner of more than 200 acres of commercial property near Princeton with the phased sale and redevelopment of the property for commercial and multifamily uses, including the build-to-suit construction and leaseback of an office building and R&D facility
- A real estate investor with a $42 million acquisition, as controlling investor, of a commercial design center in San Francisco’s Inner Potrero neighborhood of SoMa. The transaction included negotiation of a “Tenancy-in-Common” agreement, a 1031 exchange, $35 million in CMBS acquisition financing, and property and asset management agreements
- A national developer with its bid to acquire and redevelop a 147-acre headquarters facility which was expected to yield ~700,000 square feet of office space and ~200 town homes
Leasing
- The operator of the largest marine container terminal in the Port of NY/NJ with a 40-year extension to its lease with the Port Authority calling for upwards of $1.3 billion in investments to wharf replacement and over $400 million in other infrastructure investments over the first ten years of the extended lease term
- One of the largest global electronics companies in the world, in connection with its lease of a new North American headquarters facility, in a transaction that adds a 320,000-square-foot office campus in suburban NYC to its portfolio of assets. We also represented this company, ranked in the top 25 on the Forbes 500, in connection with its lease of 58,000 square feet on three floors in one of Manhattan's marquee office buildings
- A national real estate asset management firm with the office lease of ~236,000 square feet of “building within a building” space in midtown Manhattan
- A Venture Capital firm with its new full floor, Silicon Valley headquarters lease, including building signage and naming rights
- A leading global, multiplatform media and entertainment company that is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content with its headquarters lease in Manhattan and its production facility in Los Angeles
- Filene’s Basement and Syms with the leasing of their retail space at 530 Fifth Avenue; the deal was recognized as one of NYC’s most creative and significant retail deals by REBNY and was awarded the 2010 “Retail Deal of the Year”
- A national developer with its ground lease of government-owned land, development and construction financing of a mixed-use office and retail complex on 125th Street in Manhattan (Harlem Center) that was made possible by Empire State Development Authority and NYC Economic Development Corporation incentives
- A hotel operator in preparing a lease calling for one of its hotels in North Carolina to be converted into an emergency COVID-19 quarantine facility for U.S. Army soldiers infected with the virus, who were airlifted out of bases in Northern Italy at the outset of the pandemic
Joint Ventures, Financings, Workouts and Public-Private Partnerships
- A multinational social infrastructure privatization firm that is the nation’s leader in public/private community development with the privatization of both housing and lodging on over 30 U.S. military bases, including the privatization, leasing, acquisition, development and financing of multiple 50-year projects—one of which, the Privatization of Army Lodging (PAL), was recognized as the “North American Real Estate Deal of the Year” by Project Finance Magazine
- A private equity firm in taking over control from its defaulting developer co-investor of an approximately $550M portfolio of 19 commercial properties in and around NYC. This engagement included litigation, workout negotiations and loan modifications with various lenders, partnership modifications with various limited partners, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions, refinancings and the sale of several properties
- The special servicer of a single asset securitization in the enforcement of its rights against a defaulting borrower of an $846 million mortgage loan portfolio secured by liens on 34 Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor stores across the U.S.
- A hedge fund with more than $7 billion in discretionary assets, as lead lender, with an up to $800 million syndicated secured credit facility made to a leading operator of casinos, as borrower, and funding the borrower’s acquisition of casinos, hotels and card rooms in Nevada, Colorado, Utah and Washington
- A national developer with its $220 million construction financing of its joint venture development with a major investment bank and The New York Times Company of a 52-story office tower in Manhattan that serves as the new international headquarters of The New York Times
- A national developer in the formation of a joint venture to acquire and develop a 40-story residential condominium on Manhattan’s Upper West Side
- One of NYC's largest hospital systems in connection with its development of a $150 million new emergency room and intensive care unit facility on one of its most important critical-care medical centers. This engagement has included securing NYS grant funding and the negotiation of construction and development agreements with the client's development partners
- A family office in the purchase of an 85% equity interest in an Embassy Suites hotel and a DoubleTree hotel located near Wilmington, Delaware, including amendments to the respective hotel franchise agreements, the negotiation of new management agreements for the hotels, and new mortgage and mezzanine loans totaling $42 million for funding PIP improvements and the operation of the hotels
- A leading urban redevelopment company in connection with the workout and restructuring of a community development project on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Newark, New Jersey, including restructuring debt and equity investments and tax credits and modifying lease obligations with various commercial tenants
Accomplishments
Moderator, “Building a Recession-Proof Portfolio,” Real Estate Global Forum, New York, New York, December 4, 2024.
Moderator, “Career Journeys–A Conversation with Kurt Spring,” Young Real Estate Professionals of New York (YREPNY), New York, New York, October 8, 2024
Speaker, “An Update on the Current Market Cycle,” Young Real Estate Professionals of New York (YREPNY), New York, New York, September 20, 2023
Moderator, “Unearthing Opportunities Amid a Recession,” Real Estate Global Forum, New York, New York, December 5, 2023.
Moderator, Fireside Chat, “Real Estate Dinner with Tom Shapiro, Founder of GTIS Partners,” Young Jewish Professionals, New York, New York, November 18, 2021.
Interview with John Usdan, CEO, Midwood Investment & Development, Young Jewish Professionals In-Person Event, August 3, 2021.
Interview with Peter Palandjian, Chairman and CEO, Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., Young Jewish Professionals Webinar, January 14, 2021.
Speaker, “INDIE Confab New Orleans,” Independent Lodging Congress, January 13–14, 2020.
Named a Notable Leader in Real Estate, Crain’s New York Business, 2022–2024
“America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” in the area of Real Estate Law by Chambers USA (2009–2016)
Recognized among “Top Lawyers in America” in Best Lawyers for Real Estate Law (2016–2025)
Admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey
Member, Bar of the United States Supreme Court
Former Member of Board of Trustees, Executive Board Member, First Vice President, Master Planning Chair, Development Chair, The Elisabeth Morrow School (2006–2016)
Member, NAIOP-NJ
Member, Real Estate Board of New York
Member, Young Real Estate Professionals of New York
Co-author, “Proposed Expansion of CFIUS Poses Increased Risks to U.S. Real Estate Investors and Operators,” JD Supra, August 15, 2024
Co-author, “Unlocking the metaverse’s potential as a real estate investment,” VentureBeat, December 3, 2022.
Quoted, “Why East Coast Hires Are Buying Into Manatt’s Hybrid Services Strategy,” The American Lawyer, July 21, 2021.
Quoted, “July 2021 Legal Industry News: Attorney Hiring, Law Firm Awards & Innovation,” The National Law Review, July 21, 2021.
Quoted, “Market Forecast,” Real Estate NJ Magazine, January 2021.
Co-authored, “Feds reach into real estate deals extended in name of national security,” Real Estate Weekly, July 3, 2020.
Co-authored, “Why the Federal Government Should Act to Create a New Action Insurance Program,” WealthManagement.com, June 22, 2020.
Co-authored, “A Mortgage Loan Documentation Pitfall,” GlobeSt.com, April 29, 2020.
Quoted, “Will Critics Derail WeWork’s IPO?,” National Real Estate Investor, September 10, 2019.
Authored, “Why Private Equity Firms Are Buying Boutique Hotels,” LODGING Magazine, February 26, 2019.
New York
New Jersey
Fordham Law School, J.D.; Fordham Law Review, Associate Editor, 1995
Washington University, History and Political Science, B.A., 1991
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