THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009
by Dan RafterKansas CityDavid Frantze admits that it's a little trite. But, he says, the reason that the law firm of
Stinson Morrison Hecker has continued to do solid business even as the commercial real estate industry struggles is that it has for 28 years focused on two things: providing the best client service possible and doing everything possible to help make deals happen.
"I think that really helps us," said Frantze, chairman of the firm's real estate division. "If you talk to members of the real estate community, what you hear them say is that we are a firm that helps make deals happen, we are a firm that figures out a way to make these deals close."
This ability is especially important in today's market. It's no secret that the commercial real estate business is mired in a deep slump. The weak housing market and the United States' recession have combined to make it more difficult than ever for commercial brokers, developers and builders to generate business.
This means that these commercial pros need every deal they do manage to land to reach a satisfactory closing.
This, Frantze says, is one of Stinson's strengths.
"We really work hard on finding ways to make deals happen," Frantze said. "There is a perception among some business people that once they take something to the lawyers, that the lawyers are going to find ways to kill the deal. We are all about finding alternatives for our clients. Our focus is always on figuring out a way to make the deal work and getting it done. Let's not be obstructionists to the deal."
This approach has paid off. Today, Stinson Morrison Hecker operates Midwest offices in the states of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. It also has offices in Washington, D.C. and Arizona.
As an example of the firm's ability to develop alternative solutions to clients struggling to close deals, Frantze points to a deal that the real estate group helped close last year. The real estate attorneys at the firm found a way to help their client attain a tax incentive that it originally appeared would not be in reach.
Frantze points, too, to a recent transaction that started out as an acquisition of property. The firm's attorneys again came up with a better alternative for their client, helping the parties involve structure instead a joint-venture transaction.
"Our client got the deal and the outcome that they needed, but they did it in a way that maximized the opportunities for both parties in the transaction," Frantze said.
This type of resolution - one that benefits everyone involved in a deal - is a common one, he added.
"We believe in working out deals in a way that allows both parties to achieve their goals," Frantze said. "There are times, of course, when you can't do that. If the buyer wants to pay "X" and the seller wants to receive something substantially higher than "X," that is not something that we can necessarily work out. But in most deals, it all comes down to how you balance everyone's interests. I think we do a good job of figuring out what is important and what isn't for everyone involved."
Todd LaSala, partner in Stinson's real estate group, said that the firm's clients actually like working with its attorneys because of their focus on customer service.
Again, it sounds like an overly simplistic formula for success: Provide good service and work extra hard to make sure deals close. But to LaSala, it's a formula that has worked well for nearly three decades.
"We get hired by a lot of players in the real estate industry because we have a reputation for being facilitators," LaSala said.
"We have a reputation for making deals happen as opposed to killing them. In the legal business, there are plenty of folks who like to nitpick documents and find obstacles about why people shouldn't make deals. Certainly we do highlight problems. We see the issues. But we're in the business of finding creative solutions so that our clients can accomplish their business purposes."
For LaSala, this was best highlighted by the work his firm did with the developer of the Village West project in Kansas City, Kan. The project brought 400 acres of destination retail and entertainment to Kansas City, and immediately upon its completion became a top tourist attraction in the state. The project features diverse businesses such as Cabela's, Nebraska Furniture Mart, The Great Wolf Lodge and the Community America Ballpark, home to the T-Bones minor league baseball team.
Stinson's client relied heavily on STAR bonds, a new program at the time in Kansas that funneled sales tax revenue bonds toward developers. During the more than five years that Stinson worked on this deal with its clients, the firm's attorneys helped clarify several ambiguities in the new STAR bonds program.
"Everyone had to work hard to get around those obstacles," LaSala said. "We made the deals happen, though, and Village West became the number-one tourist attraction in Kansas overnight. This deal is also a blueprint for how you do a really big project like this in a community that has been under-serviced for years."
Frantze said that Stinson will certainly tackle more deals like the Village West project in the future. He also said that the firm is prepared to ride out the weak commercial real estate market.
"We are going to continue to focus on developing all of our people so they have all of the necessary skills they need to succeed in this market," Frantze said. "They will then be set to be better attorneys as the market comes back. We are also continuing to work very hard at maintaining relationships.
This is a relationship-based business. When you get a reputation for finding creative solutions to problems, you gain a favorable reputation. We are working, then, on getting the message out there that we do find creative solutions. These are the things that will bear fruit for us in the long term."
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