Jennifer A. Wieclaw

Representative Matters

• Represented American Racing and Entertainment, the owner and operator of Tioga Downs Casino Resort and Vernon Downs Casino Hotel, in its $175 million sale and leaseback of the real estate assets of Tioga Downs to Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLPI), a real estate investment trust focused on owning real estate property that is leased to gaming operators.

• Represented a national marina owner and operator in connection with leases of marina properties from governmental agencies.

• Represented the operator of nursing homes in connection with the lease of a portfolio of 18 nursing homes in Pennsylvania.

• Represented tenants in lease negotiations for general office, medical office, laboratory, manufacturing, and warehouse and distribution space ranging from approximately 3,000 square feet to 181,000 square feet.

• Represented a pension fund in the simultaneous acquisition of three multifamily residential properties in Florida with aggregate value of approximately $200 million.

• Represented a pension fund in connection with its $62 million acquisition and financing of a multifamily residential property in Florida. 

• Represented Laguna Development Corporation, a federally chartered corporation formed by the Pueblo of Laguna Tribe in New Mexico, in its $134.5 million acquisition of the Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

• Represented Shelbourne Capital LLC in its new joint venture with Red Lion Hotels Corporation, a Spokane, Washington-based public company, involving the acquisition, equity and debt financing, and a capital improvement program for twelve hotels located in Washington, California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah.

• Closed on the purchase of a twenty-three-property portfolio in Lakewood, Colorado for a purchase price of $104 million. The properties consisted of twenty-one office buildings and two development parcels. In conjunction with the purchase, we closed a $79.5 million purchase money mortgage loan to our client from AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.

• Represented a publicly traded wholesale motor fuel distributor in connection with a syndicated credit facility of up to $324 million.

• Represented an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer in documenting the transfer of an industrial complex to subsidiaries for $60 million.

• Represented a joint venture purchasing foreclosed homes in a $24 million loan secured by a portfolio of approximately 1,300 single-family homes.

• Represented a nonprofit organization in the simultaneous divestiture of six of its seven skilled-nursing facilities, plus a HUD housing facility and a senior-housing facility, to two separate for-profit purchasers for an aggregate purchase price of $83 million.

• Represented the borrower in a $125 million syndicated credit facility secured by 187 service stations in four states.

• Represented the borrower in a $37.5 million syndicated credit facility for the acquisition of 34 service stations.

• Represented the borrower in a syndicated credit facility in excess of $50 million for the acquisition of 85 service stations in two states, along with subordinate purchase money financing in excess of $12 million.

• Represented an affiliate of New Jersey-based Four Springs Capital Trust, a newly formed real estate investment trust, in its purchase of a 14,560-square foot Walgreens in Greenville, North Carolina for $5.625 million. The single-tenant, net-leased transaction included an assumption of the existing commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) loan.

• Represented one of the secured lenders in the General Growth Properties bankruptcy in the modification of loans totaling in excess of $365 million secured by six shopping centers.

• Represented lender in connection with the restructuring of loans in excess of $82 million to a residential real estate developer secured by nine residential developments.

• Represented the purchaser of a biofuels plant through a Section 363 sale.

• Represented a residential real estate developer in connection with construction loans ranging from $2.2 million to $94.8 million.

• Represented a hotel owner/operator in connection with construction loans in excess of $22 million.

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Education

• The George Washington University Law School, J.D., with honors, 2001
  Member, The George Washington Law Review
• Dickinson College, B.A., magna cum laude, 1998

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2016-present
  - Special Counsel, 2011-2015
  - Associate, 2005-2011
• Spector Gadon & Rosen, P.C.
  - Associate, 2004-2005
• Reed Smith LLP
  - Associate, 2001-2002

Professional Activities

• American Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Northern Children's Services
  - Board of Trustees

Honors and Awards

• Pennsylvania Rising Star, 2012-2016

Selected Publications

• Co-Author, "Title Policies," Common Ground, Issues 2 and 3, 2005
• Author, "Waiver by Another Name: The Law of the Case," 69 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 538, 2001

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Moderator, "Road to Recovery: What's Next for CMBS Portfolios," iGlobal Global Leaders in Real Estate Summit, October 22, 2020