Akerman's New Los Angeles CRE Expert

LOS ANGELES—Akerman is expanding its Los Angeles footprint, and it now has a big name on the front lines. Attorney William Ellis has joined the firm as a partner in the real estate practice group. Ellis has lofty experience working at major firms, like Sidley Austin and NASDAQ-listed Reading International, which has afforded him ample experience working with private equity funds, global financial institutions, investment banks, real estate investment trusts, investment funds and private developers and plenty of hospitality market knowledge. To find out why he found Akerman attractive and for a look inside his conversations with clients, we sat down with him for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: Why are you returning to the deal side of the business and why was Akerman a good fit for you?

William Ellis: I had two prior stints with large law firms, 16 years with Morgan Lewis and Bockius and 16 years with Sidley Austin, and I consider both of them quite good runs, and they spanned various economic cycles. At the end of my Sidley run, I decided to try something different, and I went in house as general counsel with a public company. That was quite interesting, but I realized that I missed the deal flow. I am a deal junkie, and I missed the thrill of the deal and the atmosphere of the real estate world. I wanted to be back with my clients. Akerman itself is a real estate oriented shop. It is certainly not all that we do, but it is a good place to practice law, and it starts at the top. Our chairman is a real estate lawyer himself, so real estate is not an after thought; it is a real focus here. We have more than 20 offices across the country, and almost all of them practice real estate, so this was really a great opportunity to get back with my clients. There has been general excitement about getting back into the mix, and it has all been good so far.

GlobeSt.com: What are you going to be focusing on in your practice?

Ellis: I am going to be reconnecting with the folks that I worked with so many years before, and that includes lenders, equity partners and some developers. It really is pretty broad based. I have always represented investors, the folks in the equation with the money; so, I am making calls to those people I have dealt with in the past and I have gotten a pretty good reception. There are some exceptions. I have done some telecommunications work and some leasing work, but often it is investors or lenders financing one way or another in the capital stack for real estate projects. That is going to be my focus as it really has been for 35 years.

GlobeSt.com: You have a lot of experience in the hospitality sector. We have seen so many changes in this sector. How has hospitality evolved, and what are your clients asking you for now that is different than in the past?

Ellis: It is interesting because I have been out of the hospitality market for 17 or 18 months now, and what a difference that has made. When I left in October of 2014, hospitality was one of the hottest segments. Everyone wanted to buy hotels, and hotel loans were easy to get. There has certainly been a slowing down, and hospitality is no longer the favored asset class that it was when I left. People are concerned about overbuilding, people are concerned that if the economy turns, hotel occupancy is going to be the first thing to go as businesses cut back. I think there is a real caution in the hotel world right now, and that really goes for the more domestic segment. I think the foreign investors will continue with their hospitality spree, but I don't think domestic investors can justify the pricing that foreign investors are willing to pay. I have a client with a fully entitled ground up development that is having trouble finding partners. It is tough, and ground up is the hardest part of hospitality.  There is a concern and there is a caution with hospitality.

GlobeSt.com: How do changes in the real estate cycle affect your business?

Ellis: It adds leverage to many of my clients who are the financial partners as they can be pickier on deals and tougher on term sheets. There is a point in the cycle that is perhaps 12-18 months from now where hotel deals that were done two years ago will struggle and won't be able to finish or get the occupancy, and you will move into a workout cycle. I don't think that I have ever been busier in the hotel work out world of 2009, 2010 and 2011. I did works outs on hotels from Aspen to New York to Park City. For me, it is challenging to figure out how to put a deal back together. Often that is harder than putting a deal together in the first place, so I really enjoy the intellectual challenge. Coming up in the next 12 to 36 months, if we move into a slowdown, I certainly enjoy that part of it as morbid as that may sound, and I like to help my clients through the tough times.

GlobeSt.com: What product types are most popular now?

Ellis: Certainly it has evolved. The targets for asset classes has changed, and the low hanging fruit was picked off in 2010-12, and the easy deals are gone. My clients are really spreading their scope for deals to easier asset classes. I have been hearing a lot about senior housing and student housing, especially as the enrollment applications are booming. In a recent trip to New York, I heard a lot about senior housing and student housing from clients, but very little about hospitality and shopping centers.

GlobeSt.com: Which geographic regions will you focus on in this new position?

Ellis: It breaks down into two parts. The clients I work with are going to be L.A. and New York based, so that is my territory for clients and client development. In terms of doing the deals themselves, they really have been all over, from Florida to New York to Chicago and Texas. I have done deals across America, and I plan to continue to do that.

LOS ANGELES—Akerman is expanding its Los Angeles footprint, and it now has a big name on the front lines. Attorney William Ellis has joined the firm as a partner in the real estate practice group. Ellis has lofty experience working at major firms, like Sidley Austin and NASDAQ-listed Reading International, which has afforded him ample experience working with private equity funds, global financial institutions, investment banks, real estate investment trusts, investment funds and private developers and plenty of hospitality market knowledge. To find out why he found Akerman attractive and for a look inside his conversations with clients, we sat down with him for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: Why are you returning to the deal side of the business and why was Akerman a good fit for you?

William Ellis: I had two prior stints with large law firms, 16 years with Morgan Lewis and Bockius and 16 years with Sidley Austin, and I consider both of them quite good runs, and they spanned various economic cycles. At the end of my Sidley run, I decided to try something different, and I went in house as general counsel with a public company. That was quite interesting, but I realized that I missed the deal flow. I am a deal junkie, and I missed the thrill of the deal and the atmosphere of the real estate world. I wanted to be back with my clients. Akerman itself is a real estate oriented shop. It is certainly not all that we do, but it is a good place to practice law, and it starts at the top. Our chairman is a real estate lawyer himself, so real estate is not an after thought; it is a real focus here. We have more than 20 offices across the country, and almost all of them practice real estate, so this was really a great opportunity to get back with my clients. There has been general excitement about getting back into the mix, and it has all been good so far.

GlobeSt.com: What are you going to be focusing on in your practice?

Ellis: I am going to be reconnecting with the folks that I worked with so many years before, and that includes lenders, equity partners and some developers. It really is pretty broad based. I have always represented investors, the folks in the equation with the money; so, I am making calls to those people I have dealt with in the past and I have gotten a pretty good reception. There are some exceptions. I have done some telecommunications work and some leasing work, but often it is investors or lenders financing one way or another in the capital stack for real estate projects. That is going to be my focus as it really has been for 35 years.

GlobeSt.com: You have a lot of experience in the hospitality sector. We have seen so many changes in this sector. How has hospitality evolved, and what are your clients asking you for now that is different than in the past?

Ellis: It is interesting because I have been out of the hospitality market for 17 or 18 months now, and what a difference that has made. When I left in October of 2014, hospitality was one of the hottest segments. Everyone wanted to buy hotels, and hotel loans were easy to get. There has certainly been a slowing down, and hospitality is no longer the favored asset class that it was when I left. People are concerned about overbuilding, people are concerned that if the economy turns, hotel occupancy is going to be the first thing to go as businesses cut back. I think there is a real caution in the hotel world right now, and that really goes for the more domestic segment. I think the foreign investors will continue with their hospitality spree, but I don't think domestic investors can justify the pricing that foreign investors are willing to pay. I have a client with a fully entitled ground up development that is having trouble finding partners. It is tough, and ground up is the hardest part of hospitality.  There is a concern and there is a caution with hospitality.

GlobeSt.com: How do changes in the real estate cycle affect your business?

Ellis: It adds leverage to many of my clients who are the financial partners as they can be pickier on deals and tougher on term sheets. There is a point in the cycle that is perhaps 12-18 months from now where hotel deals that were done two years ago will struggle and won't be able to finish or get the occupancy, and you will move into a workout cycle. I don't think that I have ever been busier in the hotel work out world of 2009, 2010 and 2011. I did works outs on hotels from Aspen to New York to Park City. For me, it is challenging to figure out how to put a deal back together. Often that is harder than putting a deal together in the first place, so I really enjoy the intellectual challenge. Coming up in the next 12 to 36 months, if we move into a slowdown, I certainly enjoy that part of it as morbid as that may sound, and I like to help my clients through the tough times.

GlobeSt.com: What product types are most popular now?

Ellis: Certainly it has evolved. The targets for asset classes has changed, and the low hanging fruit was picked off in 2010-12, and the easy deals are gone. My clients are really spreading their scope for deals to easier asset classes. I have been hearing a lot about senior housing and student housing, especially as the enrollment applications are booming. In a recent trip to New York, I heard a lot about senior housing and student housing from clients, but very little about hospitality and shopping centers.

GlobeSt.com: Which geographic regions will you focus on in this new position?

Ellis: It breaks down into two parts. The clients I work with are going to be L.A. and New York based, so that is my territory for clients and client development. In terms of doing the deals themselves, they really have been all over, from Florida to New York to Chicago and Texas. I have done deals across America, and I plan to continue to do that.