Attorney Profile

C.Leslie Banas

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Phone: 248 740 5669

Practice Areas - Business and Corporate Planning, Commercial and Mortgage Financing, Family Business Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions, Non-Profits and Tax-Exempt Organizations, Public (Governmental) Law, Real Estate Transactions / Land Use

Leslie Banas counsels companies and individuals in business and real estate matters. She assists clients in organizing business entities, acquiring assets, negotiating contracts, and satisfying regulatory requirements. Her clients include entrepreneurial and established companies in the real estate, housing, service, health care, manufacturing, hospitality and other industries.

Ms. Banas represents real estate owners and investors in dealing with office, retail, hospitality, industrial and condominium properties. She helps them to assemble land, obtain entitlements and incentives and construct improvements. She negotiates leases on behalf of landlords and tenants, including retail leases with national retailers.

She also works with developers in acquiring and rehabilitating senior, market rate and affordable apartment communities, and obtaining financing through HUD, Fannie Mae, state housing agency bond offerings, and the sale of low income housing tax credits (LIHTCs).

In addition to developers, she helps manufacturers and others deal with their “corporate real estate” including leasing office space, purchasing warehouses and decommissioning obsolete plants.

Ms. Banas has successfully closed over $800M in commercial, multifamily and industrial real estate transactions, as well as over $300M in mortgage loans from financial institutions, life companies, CMBS lenders, government sponsored enterprises and other lenders.

She also assists international buyers in navigating U.S. commercial real estate industry issues when purchasing American commercial properties.

Ms. Banas has extensive experience in the structuring and capitalization of limited liability companies and other pass through entities.

In addition, Ms. Banas works with non-profit educational, health care and community organizations in organizational and governance matters, applying for grants and entering into joint venture arrangements.

Education

J.D., cum laude, Wayne State University Law School
B.A., magna cum laude, honors program, University of Detroit Mercy

Bar and Court Admissions

State Bar of Michigan

Memberships

Member, ABA and State Bar of Michigan
Past Chair, Real Property Law Section, State Bar of Michigan
Advisory Board, Urban Land Institute – Michigan
Past President, Inforum (formerly, Women’s Economic Club)

Honors and Awards

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© – Real Estate Law, Corporate Law
Listed in Michigan Super Lawyers
Listed in Michigan Leading Lawyers
Martindale Hubbell AV Rated
100 Most Influential Women in Southeastern Michigan, Crain’s Detroit Business
Inner Circle Award, Inforum/Deloitte
President’s Award, HAVEN

Articles

“Navigating the Financial Terms of Net Leases, Gross Leases and the Hazy Terrain In Between,” Commentator (Winter 2019).
“Landowner Misunderstands Wetland Review Scope, Can’t Cash In,” SBM Real Property Law Section Newsletter (April, 2012).
Editor, LLC and Partnership Sections, Michigan Business Laws Annotated 2009-2010 (Thomson Reuters).
“Leasing Space – A “Capital” Idea?” SBM Real Property Law Section Newsletter (December, 2009).
“’Rightsizing’ Your Real Estate Footprint – Minimizing Property Costs During an Economic Downturn,” Transportation Club of Detroit Newsletter (April, 2009).
“Caveat Member: Courts Begin to Pierce the Entity Veil, Imposing Personal Liability on LLC Members” Michigan Real Property Review (Spring, 2002).
“HUD and Fannie Mae Requirements for Borrower Entities,” Michigan Real Property Review (Winter, 2000).
“Public Act 52: A Comprehensive Amendment of the Michigan Limited Liability Act,” Michigan Real Property Review (Fall, 1997).