The federal Opportunity Zone program offers significant tax incentives to taxpayers who invest in land-use, business or real-estate projects within specified low-income and underserved communities. Investors with the right strategy and long-term investment goals can take advantage of this program to reduce, or event eliminate, their capital gains taxes. 

As a real-estate attorney with Holmquist + Gardiner, I specialize in transactions involving mixed-use development properties and tax-deferred investment strategies, including Opportunity Zone investments. I help clients mitigate risks and successfully take advantage of incentives. 

It’s prime time to talk Freddie Mac Loans. Freddie Mac helps generate loans to large borrowers at highly competitive rates. This summer is no exception as low interest rates offer plenty of incentive for large borrowers to refinance or purchase multifamily residential property. But understanding Freddie Mac’s function, and the process required to secure a large multifamily loan, are important to achieve goals efficiently. 

Holmquist + Gardiner helps borrowers successfully acquire Freddie Mac loans in order to refinance or purchase multi-family residential properties. These are properties with a minimum of five units per building that cater to urban life. When seeking funding over $5 million, it’s important to be prepared.  Below are a few helpful tips…

If you have formed an entity in Washington, you know that there are several forms that must be filled out and exchanged with the Secretary of State’s office. Because the creation of a business entity is visible to the public, some bad actors have recently attempted to take advantage of new business owners by mailing them official-looking letters requesting payment for documents from the Secretary of State.

Partnership disputes aren’t something individuals who own companies think will happen to them, but when they do, things can get messy. One minute you are thriving and growing a strong company together as a team, and the next, you are on opposing sides of the courtroom, knee-deep in costly litigation proceedings.

There is an often overlooked, yet critical moment in every good-faith business relationship between commercial landlords and tenants. It’s not the day the price per square footage is agreed upon, nor the moment the ink burns bright on the lease agreement — or even if/when the lease is renewed. No; a great indication of a smooth landlord-tenant relationship is apparent by its orderly conclusion. When entering a lease agreement, it’s important to remember that the end is inevitable. 

I’m talking specifically about “restoration work,” a provision within every lease agreement that defines the responsibility of landlords and tenants after a lease expires. Restoration work refers to any inevitable preparation required to successfully transition the interior space from past tenant to new tenant. 

Throughout 2019, Holmquist + Gardiner is celebrating its 10-year anniversary by  reflecting on its journey to become one of Seattle’s most comprehensive and admired real-estate law firms. Read our first article in the series to discover the power of a radical idea when scrawled on the napkin of a Capitol Hill bar.

To celebrate their law firm’s 10th year providing dedicated legal services to Seattle-area clients, founding partners Imants Holmquist and Hamilton Gardiner reflected on the phrase that fortified Holmquist + Gardiner’s most distinctive quality:

Relationships make the difference.