Practice Areas

Practice Focus

Real Estate

  • Acquisitions
  • Dispositions
  • Commercial Leasing
  • Condominiums and Vertical Subdivisions

Finance

  • Acquisition Financing
  • Bridge Financing
  • Construction Financing
  • Permanent Financing
  • Mezzanine Financing
  • Subordinated Financing
  • Workouts of Distressed Real Estate Loans
  • Deed in Lieu Transactions
  • CMBS Transactions

Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Preferred Equity Transactions
  • Joint Venture Arrangements

EDUCATION

  • J.D., University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
    • Magna cum laude
    • Member, University of Miami Law Review
  • B.A., University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida

Admissions and Memberships

  • Florida Bar, 1987
  • Member, American College of Real Estate Lawyers

Awards and Press

  • Recognized by Chambers and Partners as a leading real estate lawyer whose clients praise his approach as “solution-oriented, pragmatic and responsive.”
  • Recognized as a leading lawyer in The Legal 500
  • Recognized as a “Top Latino Lawyer” in Latino Lawyer’s Magazine
  • Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America as a “Best Lawyer in America” in Real Estate
  • Recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in Real Estate by Super Lawyers
  • 2019 Professional Excellence Award from The Daily Business Review
  • 2015 Dealmaker Award from The Daily Business Review  

Representations

  • Arbor Real Estate Trust in the closing of mortgage loans originated through the company’s bridge lending platform secured by commercial and multifamily residential properties throughout the US
  • LMF Commercial (formerly Rialto Mortgage Finance) and UBS Real Estate Securities in the origination of more than 150 commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans secured by commercial real estate throughout the US
  • Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia and other financial institutions in the closing of hundreds of CMBS mortgage loans (with aggregate principal amounts in the tens of billions of dollars), including the refinancing of trophy assets such as the Watergate 600 Building in Washington, D.C. and the La Playa Resort in Naples, Florida
  • Purchaser in the acquisition of the Southeast Financial Center in Downtown Miami for a purchase price of $517 million 
  • Purchaser in the acquisition of Pacific Place, a mixed-use office, retail and hotel project in San Franciso, California, for $470 million
  • Purchaser in the acquisition of a block of commercial retail property on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach for $370 million
  • Purchaser in the acquisition of the Dana Hotel & Spa, a boutique hotel located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, for $72.5 million and lease of property to Eurostars
  • BRP Development in the acquisition and financing of real estate assemblages in Farmingville, Suffolk County, New York and New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York to be redeveloped as multifamily residential projects
  • GPC Truss in the negotiation of a joint venture with Monument Realty and Junius Real Estate Partners for the development of a $105 million 310-unit apartment btower in Washington D.C.”s Noma district
  • Joint venture between Quinlan Development Group and Building, Land & Technology in the $152 million refinancing of the 41 Flatbush Building in Brooklyn, New York    
  • Wicker Park Capital in acquisition of multi-family project in Huntsville, Alabama
  • Wicker Park Capital in acquisition of multi-family project in Louisville, Kentucky
  • Wicker Park in acquisition of Germantown Collection retail center in Germantown, Tennessee   

Affiliations and Community Activities

  • Member, Knights of Columbus

Manuel A. (“Manny”) Fernandez is a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Transactions group. Manny represents institutional and non-institutional investors and developers in a wide array of real estate matters, including real estate acquisitions and dispositions, commercial leasing matters, distressed real estate transactions, real estate financings, and the formation of real estate joint ventures. He has extensive experience representing both borrowers and lenders in commercial mortgage loan financings, including construction loans and mezzanine loans, and is recognized as one of the leading attorneys in the closing of CMBS mortgage financings.

Over the course of the last two decades, Manny has handled some of the largest real estate transactions in Florida, including the purchase of the Southeast Financial Center in a deal in excess of $500 million, which was hailed by the Miami Herald as the largest single-building transaction ever completed in Miami.

Manny is regularly recognized as a leader in his field by prominent legal publications, including Chambers USA, The Legal 500, The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. He has also been recognized as a “Top Latino Lawyer” by Latino Lawyers Magazine for his instrumental role in closing some of the largest real estate transactions in Florida and throughout the U.S, and his leadership in the Latino Community.

In 2020, Manny was admitted to The American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL). Admission to ACREL, which is the premier organization of U.S. real estate lawyers, is by invitation only after a rigorous screening process. ACREL’s distinguished, nationally-known lawyers have been elected to fellowship in the organization for their outstanding legal ability, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of real estate law.

Manny is fluent in Spanish.