Nicholas J Kaiser

Partner, New York

Nicholas J Kaiser

Partner, New York

Nicholas Kaiser is a partner at Cohen & Gresser’s New York office. He has over thirty years of experience as a real estate, corporate and tax lawyer, providing business solutions to publicly and privately held companies. Nicholas began his career at the Wall Street law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel as a transactional tax attorney focused on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, and tax-structured real estate investments including state, federal and international issues. Nicholas advises clients in structuring corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships to acquire real estate, operating businesses and other investments. He also represents clients in structuring sales, mergers, spin-offs, and other commercial transactions and in the day-to-day tax issues that arise in operating businesses. He works seamlessly with clients’ internal and external accountants and advisors to optimize clients’ outcomes.

Nicholas’s broad-based real estate practice focuses on all aspects of property acquisition, development, construction, finance, disposition, and leasing. He has served for more than 25 years as general counsel to one of the largest boutique hotel owners/operators in Manhattan. Nicholas is lead counsel to several of the earliest and most significant developers of luxury property in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Nicholas closed the largest development site acquisition in North Williamsburg. He is also lead counsel to the developers of the four largest hotels and mixed use projects in Williamsburg and the 25 Kent Complex – Brooklyn’s first speculative office buildings since the 1950s. Nicholas also represents national and individual retail tenants in leasing matters. He has represented borrowers and lenders in over $1 billion of mortgage loans since 2010. Nicholas structures tax-free 1031 exchanges, sponsor/investor operating agreements with complex waterfalls, and local and state tax, transfer tax, and mortgage recording tax matters. He also has extensive experience advising both lenders and borrowers on asset-based and project financing. Nicholas is recognized as one of New York’s Super Lawyers for real estate.

Nicholas received his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, a J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University.

Nicholas Kaiser is a partner at Cohen & Gresser’s New York office. He has over thirty years of experience as a real estate, corporate…

Education

New York University School of Law (LL.M. in Taxation); Washington and Lee University School of Law (J.D., cum laude); Duke University (B.S., magna cum laude).

Bar Admissions

New York State

Activities and Affiliations

Member, American Bar Association

Cohen & Gresser advised Procuritas, a mid-market private equity firm with the longest track record in the Nordics, and its portfolio company Nature Planet, in its cross-border acquisition of American company Phillips International, known under the brand name Cool Jewels. Cool Jewels is a leading sustainability-focused provider of jewelry for the attractions industry in the United States.

Nature Planet was founded with a clear focus on building strong long-term relationships with its customers in the attractions industry, particularly focused on the zoo and aquarium segment. Today the company supplies more than 5,000 customers in Europe and the United States. The acquisition of Phillips International adds jewelry as a new product category, making Nature Planet a one-stop-shop for the attractions industry.

Cohen & Gresser served as counsel to our client Procuritas and its portfolio company Nature Planet on all aspects of the transaction. The Cohen & Gresser team was led by Daniel H. Mathias and Robert Gavigan, with assistance from associates Myia Williams and James Mossetto. C&G partners Karen Bromberg (Employment and Intellectual Property), Bonnie Roe (Corporate) and Nicholas J. Kaiser (Tax) provided additional deal support. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

Mergers & Acquisitions magazine announced that its 2022 Deal of the Year is global investment firm Francisco Partners’ acquisition of Trading Screen and Imagine Software within a 14-day period in the spring of 2021. Cohen & Gresser represented Imagine Software, a global portfolio risk management technology company, in the deal.

Francisco Partners, which specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses, soon after merged the two acquired entities to create TS Imagine, a dynamic end-to-end trading and portfolio management software platform that is now used by 500 financial institutions worldwide. In awarding the “Deal of the Year” distinction, the magazine praised the deal’s formation of a “singular company poised for growth across both the buy and sell-side.”

The C&G team representing Imagine Software included Lawrence T GresserKwaku AndohKaren H BrombergBonnie J RoeNicholas J KaiserRonald F WickAlexandra K Theobald, and Drew S Dean. Learn more about the deal in Francisco Partners’ press release and C&G’s news alert.

Mergers & Acquisitions, founded in 1965, is the oldest trade brand for the dealmaker community and is where private equity professionals, strategic acquirers and advisors turn for news, analysis, data and community around deals and dealmakers.

International law firm Cohen & Gresser represented Sierra Space Corporation, a commercial space company that is building and delivering the infrastructure and systems required for the future of space travel, in its record-breaking $1.4 billion Series A financing round. The private funding round represents the largest aerospace and defense capital raise in the world in 2021 and the second-largest private capital raise of all time in the aerospace and defense sector. Leading global investors including General Atlantic, Coatue, and Moore Strategic Ventures, along with private equity funds managed by firms including Black Rock and AE Industrial Partners and various family offices, all participated in the transaction. Cohen & Gresser served as counsel to our client Sierra Space on all aspects of the transaction. “We are proud of the opportunity to assist Sierra Space in this groundbreaking transaction to support the future of space travel,” said Jeffrey M. Bronheim, lead partner on the engagement for Cohen & Gresser. The Cohen & Gresser team was led by Jeffrey M. Bronheim, Bonnie J. Roe, and Daniel H. Mathias, with assistance from associates Winnifred A Lewis and Georgia Moorhouse. C&G partners Nicholas J. Kaiser (tax), Ronald F. Wick (antitrust), and David F. Lisner (litigation) provided additional support. Read Sierra Space Corporation’s press release here.
Cohen & Gresser is pleased to announce that 38 of the firm's New York and Washington D.C.­based attorneys have been named to the 2021 Super Lawyers List across a wide range of practice areas. C&G co­founder Mark S Cohen and partners Jonathan S Abernethy and Daniel H Tabak have also been named to the Super Lawyers list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partner Karen H Bromberg has been recognized as one of the top 50 women lawyers in the New York metropolitan area. Super Lawyers ranks outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected as Super Lawyers, and only 2.5 percent are selected as Rising Stars. Super Lawyers Jonathan S Abernethy: Criminal Defense: White Collar Kwaku Andoh: Mergers & Acquisitions Elizabeth Bernhardt: Business Litigation Thomas E Bezanson: Personal Injury – Products: Defense Colin C Bridge: Criminal Defense: White Collar Karen H Bromberg: Intellectual Property Jason Brown: Criminal Defense: White Collar Damir Cefo: Intellectual Property Litigation Joanna K Chan: Securities Litigation Mark S Cohen: Business Litigation S Gale Dick: Business Litigation Christian R Everdell: Criminal Defense: White Collar Lawrence T Gresser: Business Litigation Oliver S Haker: Business Litigation Johannes Jonas: Mergers & Acquisitions Nicholas J Kaiser: Real Estate Jeffrey I. Lang: Business Litigation Melissa H Maxman: Antitrust Litigation Ellen Paltiel: General Litigation Nathaniel P T Read: Business Litigation Bonnie J Roe: Securities & Corporate Finance Stephen M Sinaiko: Business Litigation C Evan Stewart: Securities Litigation Daniel H Tabak: Business Litigation Scott D Thomson: Business Litigation Alexandra Wald: Business Litigation Ronald F Wick: Antitrust Litigation Rising Stars Luke Appling: Civil Litigation Sharon L Barbour: Criminal Defense: White Collar Drew S Dean: General Litigation William Kalema: Business Litigation Sri Kuehnlenz: Civil Litigation Winnifred A Lewis: Securities Litigation Marvin J Lowenthal: Criminal Defense: White Collar Barbara K Luse: Criminal Defense: White Collar Matthew V Povolny: Business Litigation Benjamin Zhu: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Cohen & Gresser represented Imagine Software, a leading global portfolio risk management technology company, in its sale to Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Francisco Partners has announced that it will combine Imagine Software with the recently acquired TradingScreen to form TS Imagine – a new dynamic end-to-end trading and portfolio management software platform that will be one of the most robust SaaS cloud-based software platforms in capital markets and investment management. The combined company will offer integrated and complete front office solutions, complementary product capabilities, best-in-class technology, global geographic coverage, and deep expertise to investment firms and financial institutions around the world. The C&G team representing Imagine Software in its sale to Francisco Partners included Lawrence T Gresser, Kwaku Andoh, Karen H Bromberg, Bonnie J Roe, Nicholas J Kaiser, Ronald F Wick, Alexandra K Theobald, and Drew S Dean. Learn more about the deal in Francisco Partners’ press release.
Cohen & Gresser is pleased to announce that 35 of the firm's New York and Washington D.C.­based attorneys have been named to the 2020 Super Lawyers List across a wide range of practice areas. C&G co-­founder Mark S Cohen and partners Jonathan S Abernethy and Daniel H Tabak have also been named to the Super Lawyers list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partner Karen H Bromberg has been recognized as one of the top 50 women lawyers in the New York metropolitan area.
We are pleased to announce that 33 of our New York and Washington D.C.-based C&G attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers this year across a wide range of practice areas. Super Lawyers also selected C&G co-founder Mark S Cohen and partners Jonathan S Abernethy and Daniel H Tabak to its list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partner Karen H Bromberg to its list of the top 50 women lawyers in the New York metropolitan area.

Cohen & Gresser advised Reliance Trust Company, a corporate fiduciary, in its $14.5 million sale of 571 Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn to RedSky Capital. The complex deal spanned nine months and involved complicated lease issues as well as trust and estate and title issues originating in the 1930s. The sale of the property, which had been an asset in a trust for nearly 60 years, is a significant liquidity event for the beneficiaries. The property is also a key asset in RedSky Capital’s extensive redevelopment of Fulton Street. 

Partner Nicholas J Kaiser led the Cohen & Gresser team, which included Matthew V Povolny, David F Lisner, Eliza Sheridan, and paralegal Camille Delgado.

Nicholas J Kaiser assisted developer Murat Agirnasli and partners with the filing of an offering plan for a 54-unit condominium at 570 Broome Street, with the target sellout for the apartments at $149.2 million. Nicholas worked on the real estate assemblage, acquisition, and construction financing, as well as the off-site leasing office work for the project.  

C&G client Toby Moskovits' Heritage Equity Partners successfully secured a $33 million dollar loan from a preeminent debt fund for a new mixed-use office-and-retail project in Bushwick.

Law360's coverage of Empire Hospitality Group's $69.4 million purchase of an Upper West Side hotel. C&G's Nicholas Kaiser and Matthew Povolny represented Empire during this deal. 

The Real Deal covers the selling of a Garment District development site for $54.3 million by Ronald Domb's Empire Hotel Group. C&G attorneys Nicholas Kaiser and Matthew Povolny represented Sam Domb and the Empire Hotel Group in this sale, which was accomplished in ten days from offer to purchase to closing. 

This article provides insight into the key players inside Brooklyn's booming tech startup market. including CartoDB, a software company considered one of the hottest tech startups.  Their space is the first major tech industry lease of office space in Bushwick, and was prepared and facilitated by C&G's Nicholas Kaiser.  

Nicholas Kaiser played an instrumental role in a recent deal for Heritage Equity Partners, who secured a $70 million loan for the construction of an eight-story boutique office property in Williamsburg with floors ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 square feet each. Andrew Por also assisted with the this deal, and it has been covered in Crains New York, The Real Deal, and Law360

C&G Counsel Nicholas Kaiser played an instrumental role in a recent deal for Heritage Equity Partners, who secured a $40 million construction loan for an eight-story, 150-room boutique hotel property in Williamsburg. Andrew Por also assisted with the this deal, and it has been covered in Crains New York and Law360

Experts are saying that macroeconomic changes like rising interests rates could reverse the peaking commercial real estate values in Midtown Manhattan in the near future. C&G's Nicholas Kaiser weighs in on this issue during an interview with Law360. 

Nicholas Kaiser speaks to The Real Deal about the Carlyle Group and Capstone Equities’ plans to rent out their highly lucrative signage in their Times Square office building. 

With inventory low and rents skyrocketing across New York City, retail store owners and developers alike are increasingly being drawn underground. Nicholas J Kaiser speaks to Law360 about cheaper rents and unique store layouts for those who can successfully negotiate the tax and zoning hurdles.

The EB-5 immigration program that allows foreign investors to make equity commitments in real estate developments in exchange for visas has grown in popularity for retail and mixed-use projects. Nicholas J Kaiser speaks about its complexity and impact on various transactions. 
 

C&G further expands its corporate practice with addition of senior tax and real estate attorney, Nicholas Kaiser. 

 

Additional coverage:

New York Law Journal, May 12th, 2014

Le programme portera sur les conséquences juridiques et fiscales dans le pays de situation de l’immeuble et le pays de résidence de l’investisseur, ou encore le pays dont il est ressortissant.  

The program will address legal and tax issues in the country where the property is located, as well as in the investor's country of residence or country of nationality.  

*Program is in French