Jay Steele is a member of the firm's real estate section and focuses his practice on commercial real estate
acquisition, development, financing and leasing.
Jay began his practice representing developers and other real estate entrepreneurs in the go-go days of the mid
1980s. Jay's early work in handling the purchase and sale of many types of real estate grew into a practice
focusing on the needs and concerns of real estate investors and developers. In his tenure with the firm, Jay has
provided legal services and counseling to a wide array of businesses and individuals, including builders, investors,
institutional pension funds, major lending institutions and other entrepreneurs in connection with the acquisition,
development, leasing and sale of office buildings, apartment projects, shopping centers and raw land.
Jay's practice has been unlimited by geographical territory, with his work in connection with leasing, sale and
acquisitions involving commercial properties from New York to Florida and from Maryland to Illinois. Statewide,
Jay's practice involves representation of clients in Richmond and in northern Virginia, including, primarily,
Fredericksburg and its surrounding counties. Jay spearheaded the establishment of a satellite office for the firm
in downtown Fredericksburg and counts among his clients the primary Food Lion shopping center developer in northern
Virginia and the largest commercial real estate developer in the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania County/Stafford County
region. Jay's practice offers to his clients a powerful blend of knowledge of Virginia's real estate markets,
experience in counseling and aggressively representing real estate driven businesses and skill in analyzing and
drafting complex acquisition and financing documents.
- Representation of lenders and borrowers in commercial lending transactions.
- Representation of lenders and borrowers in restructuring troubled loans.
- Foreclosures.
- Representation of landlords and tenants in office, retail, warehouse and ground leases, including complex leases involving nationally known tenants.
- Representation of investors in structuring and negotiating real estate joint ventures and limited partnerships.
- Formation of limited liability companies, partnerships and corporations.
- Representation of buyers and sellers in purchase and sale of real estate.
- Corporate asset acquisition and disposition.
- Structuring and negotiating comprehensive covenants, restrictions and easements for large scale residential, commercial and mixed use developments.
Jay received a B.A. in political science from Randolph-Macon College in 1980 and received his J.D. in 1985 from the
University of Richmond. He has lectured frequently on commercial leasing, forclosures in Virginia and other real
estate topics. He is a member of the Real Property Section of the Richmond Bar Association and the Property and
Probate Section of the American Bar Association. Jay is also a member of the Virginia and Virginia State Bar
Associations.
In 1994 Jay opened the firm's Fredericksburg office and currently serves as its managing partner. He represents
clients in both the Richmond and Fredericksburg offices.
