AGG Boosts Real Estate, Affordable Housing, and Retail Practices in Washington, D.C. With Addition of Four Attorneys

Atlanta, September 18, 2023 – Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG) is pleased to announce the addition of four attorneys to its Real Estate practice. Kelly B. Bissinger joins as a partner, along with associates Ari D. Cohen, Nicholas “Nick” P. Tsimortos, and Megan E. Wemmer. Kelly, Ari, and Nick, residents in the Washington, D.C., office, also join AGG’s Affordable Housing industry team. Megan, who joins the firm’s Retail industry team, will be located in the Atlanta office. Today’s announcement marks the continued expansion of the firm’s D.C. office following its relocation to accommodate ongoing growth in the market earlier this year.

“Our firm has a strong reputation for depth of service in affordable housing. These attorneys drill down on our firm’s commitment to build our team in support of the wide-ranging needs of our clients,” said Orlando J. Cabrera, co-chair of the Affordable Housing industry team. “We are fortunate to have Kelly, Ari, and Nick on our Affordable Housing team to assist our clients with important, and often complex, legal and business challenges.”

“As our Retail industry team and Retail Real Estate practice continue to grow, we are constantly looking for opportunities to further enhance our high level of client service and market reputation by adding talented, enthusiastic, and experienced team members,” said Jonathan L. Neville, co-chair of the Retail industry team. “We are thrilled to add Megan to our team.”

“We are excited to welcome such coveted legal talent in our D.C. office as we continue our focus on attracting, developing, and retaining skilled and knowledgeable lawyers, who can assist our local, national, and international clients,” said Michael E. Burke, administrative partner of AGG’s Washington, D.C. office. “Kelly, Ari, Nick, and Megan are amazing additions that will continue to build upon our great firm culture and significantly bolster our Real Estate, Affordable Housing, and Retail counsel throughout the region.”

Kelly Bissinger brings 15 years of experience representing clients nationally, primarily in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, in commercial real estate, tax, and transactional matters. She counsels owners, investors, and developers in a broad range of transactions related to acquisition, financing, ownership, development, and sale of multifamily, mixed-use, office buildings, and other commercial projects. Kelly also has extensive experience navigating the unique aspects of affordable housing, historic properties, and new market tax credit matters, as well as counseling on the tax planning, structuring, and negotiations for real estate joint ventures. Additionally, she serves as the co-chair for the 2023 and 2024 Annual Conference for the American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. Kelly earned her law degree and LL.M., with distinction, in taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Tulane University.

Ari Cohen focuses his practice on complex transactions related to the acquisition, financing, ownership, development, and sale of commercial real estate projects, including multifamily, mixed-use, and other properties. He is experienced in counseling clients related to structuring and negotiating real estate joint ventures connected to low-income housing, historic, and energy tax credits. Ari also advises clients in matters involving various housing agencies, such as USDA Rural Development, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and state tax credit agencies. Ari earned his law degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his Bachelor of Talmudic Studies from Yeshiva Toras Chaim.

Nick Tsimortos represents public and private companies on the transactional and regulatory aspects of affordable housing projects. He helps clients navigate the complicated federal approval requirements that surround projects involving government-held debt and subsidies from HUD and USDA Rural Development, as well as comply with the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which offers tenant organizations the opportunity to purchase a project being sold in D.C. Further, Nick advises his clients through environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters and the evolving disclosure requirements from regulatory agencies. He also works closely with national trade organizations on advocacy efforts related to new federal and state housing legislation. Nick earned his law degree from the New England School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Roger Williams University.

Megan Wemmer is deeply experienced in handling commercial real estate financing transactions, including matters involving commercial mortgage-backed securities, multifamily acquisitions, refinances, new construction transactions, affordable and market rate transactions, joint ventures, and bond financing. She has represented financial institutions and investment banks in their roles as issuers, underwriters, and mortgage loan sellers in public and private offerings of commercial mortgage-backed securities and other structured finance products. Further, Megan has represented developers and mortgage lenders in a wide range of commercial real estate financings, including bridge loan financing, tax credit financing, healthcare facilities transactions, multifamily portfolios, affordable housing transactions, Fannie Mae MBS as tax-exempt bond collateral financing, Freddie Mac transactions, tax increment financing, and mezzanine debt. Additionally, she has experience working with HUD financing and other affordable housing products, as well as advising clients on the corporate structuring of entities and the transfer of partnership, corporate, and limited liability company interests in relation to real estate transactions. Megan earned her law degree from the George Washington University Law School and her undergraduate degree from George Washington University.

ABOUT ARNALL GOLDEN GREGORY LLP

Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG) is an Am Law 200 law firm with offices in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Our client-service model is rooted in taking a “business sensibility” approach to fully understand how our clients’ specific legal matters fit into their overall business objectives. Our transactional, litigation, and regulatory counselors serve clients in healthcare, real estate, litigation and other dispute resolution, business transactions, fintech, life sciences, technology, intellectual property, global commerce, economic development, public finance, and government investigations. With our rich experience and know-how, we don’t ask “if,” we figure out “how.” Visit us at www.agg.com.