Legal assistance and advice on Real Estate Law

Michele Rizzo Law Firm offers legal assistance and advice in court and especially out of court to private individuals (aspiring entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs), associations, other consultants, public sector bodies, real estate investment funds and companies (including real estate companies and real estate management companies) on Real Estate Law matters, and more specifically, in relation to:

• sale, lease, financing and other transactions involving private and public real estate assets;
• building and urban planning regulations;
• contracts for the construction of buildings and their management (public and private procurement contracts, property management contracts and facility management contracts); and
• contracts, funding and facilitations for seismic upgrading interventions and for increasing the energy efficiency of public and private buildings.

More specifically, the Firm provides legal assistance and advice in relation to the transfer of ownership and other rights on private immovable property, and in particular:

• structuring and carrying out of transactions related to the acquisition and transfer of immovable properties, including the financing of such transactions. These activities also include the performance of urban-construction and environmental due diligence on the target assets;
• drafting and negotiating contracts relating to the transfer of ownership or other rights to immovable property, such as:

–      contracts for sale of real estate asset (the so-called asset deals) or contracts for the sale of shares in real estate companies (the so-called share deals);

–      lease contracts;

• drafting and negotiating contracts with banks and leasing companies for the financing of real estate transactions, such as – by way of example – land loan contracts, mortgage loans and real estate leasing contracts.

With regard to transactions involving the transfer of ownership or destination of the real estate assets of public entities, the Firm offers legal support to public entities – Municipalities and other local authorities – and private persons in relation to:

• transfer to local authorities and regions of State property free of charge, in implementation of the so-called public property federalism;
• privatization of public assets forming part of the non-disposable assets of local authorities that are no longer functional to the carrying out of the institutional functions of the reference body and which are susceptible of valorization or disposal;
• transfer (disposal) and lease of immovable properties included in the available assets of public entities, in accordance with the public sector accounting regulations;
• establishment of real estate funds with public-sector contributions, namely the transfer of public immovable goods in those funds.

With specific reference to the town-planning and building regulations, on the other hand, the Firm provides local authorities and private individuals with legal assistance and consultancy before administrative courts and in extra-judicial settings in relation to:

• the procedures for drafting, adopting and approving general and detailed urban plans and their variants.

Moreover, as part of these proceedings, legal support is provided to private individuals and associations promoting the protection of the landscape and the environment with the submission of applications, statements and observations;

• the identification of the applicable urban and building regulations and of the building permits necessary for the new construction, renovation and restoration/conservation of individual buildings or building complexes.

The Firm provides the aforementioned legal services also (i) in the field of complex real-estate development projects aimed at establishing residential, commercial, industrial and artisanal, managerial, tourist-accommodation and public or of public interest functions, (ii) in the field of public housing and social housing initiatives, as well as (iii) in the field of rehabilitation of degraded immovable properties and disused sites initiatives.

In particular, the legal services offered by the Firm to private individuals and Municipalities also include out-of-court assistance in proceedings before administrative courts regarding (i) the issue, refusal to issue and annulment of a building permit or other measure enabling construction activity, warnings against the continuation of works, orders to suspend works or orders for the demolition of buildings made without a building permit or in contravention thereof, but (ii) also regarding opinions, visas and permits issued by the health authorities or the various authorities responsible for managing historical, landscape and environmental constraints;

• administrative sanctions for buildings violations and, in any case, for the violation of planning and building regulations.

Finally, among the legal services offered by the Firm, we highlight those relating to contracts for the construction and management of real estate, such as:

• drafting and negotiation of private procurement contracts – including international engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for industrial plants and civil works – and legal advice in the performance of the same contracts;
• drafting and negotiation of contracts regarding the management of real estate, such as property management and facility management contracts, and legal advice in the performance of the same contracts;
• legal support and advice regarding the award and performance of  public procurement contracts for the supply of works, goods and services relating to public real estate assets – including real estate management contracts and facility management contracts –  in accordance with the rules laid down by the new public contracts code approved by the legislative decree n. 50/2016 and the public sector accounting legislation.

Finally, we would like to point out the legal support provided by the Firm regarding contracts, funding and facilitations for seismic upgrading interventions and for increasing the energy efficiency of public and private buildings.