Vytas A. Petrulis

• Represented the developer of a mixed use, high rise Class A luxury multifamily residential and hotel project in the Texas Medical Center submarket of Houston, Texas, including 375 apartment units in a 35-story building. Work included structuring, negotiating and documenting a joint venture with the landowner, creating a condominium regime and development agreement covering the apartment, hotel and parking components of the project, and negotiating a $130,000,000 construction loan.
• Represented the developer of a mixed use, office, retail and multifamily residential project in Charleston, South Carolina. Work included structuring, negotiating and documenting a joint venture with the landowner and an institutional equity provider, negotiating the construction loan and representing the developer in its headquarters office lease as the lead tenant of the project.
• Represented the developer of a mixed use, hotel and multifamily residential project in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. Work included structuring, negotiating and documenting a joint venture with an institutional equity provider, and negotiating the construction loan.
• Represented a national apartment developer in multiple conventional multifamily, student housing and senior housing development projects in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, including site acquisition, land development agreements, joint ventures with institutional equity providers and loans from construction lenders.
• Represented an international financial services company as the lead tenant under a 150,000 square foot lease for its new United States headquarters in a to-be-built Class A office building in the Galleria area of Houston, Texas.
• Represented the landlord under a 190,000 square foot lease to an international law firm in a Class A office building in the Central Business District of Houston, Texas.
• Represented the landlord under a 167,000 square foot lease to an energy company in a Class A office building in the Central Business District of Houston, Texas.
• Represented the purchaser in the buyout of a ground lessee’s interest in a 193,000-square-foot Class A shopping center and three adjoining parcels of land in the Rice Village area of Houston, Texas.

• Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 2009-Present
• The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), Real Estate Law, 2014-2023
• Texas Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2022
• Texas Rising Star, Super Lawyers – Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters, 2006
• Top Lawyers, H Texas Magazine
• Houston Professionals on the Fast Track, H Texas Magazine

• State Bar of Texas – Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Section
• American Bar Association – Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section
• Houston Bar Association – Real Estate Law Section
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers. Fellow. Member Selection Committee.
• Houston Real Estate Lawyers Council
• NAIOP Houston Chapter. Board Member. Counsel

Multifamily Experience

• Represents national and local apartment developers and investors in acquisitions and dispositions of multifamily communities. These transactions include properties in Houston and throughout Texas, out-of-state properties in states such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington.
• Represents new developments and redevelopments of multifamily communities being actively involved in every step of the development process, from initial deal structuring, land acquisition and entitlement review, to creating restrictive covenants, reciprocal easements and condominium regimes, drafting architect’s and construction contracts, and negotiating joint ventures and construction and permanent financing.
• Experience in addressing emerging areas of risk in apartment transactions such as mold contamination and remediation, Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act accessibility standards, construction defects and condominium conversion liability, and residential utility allocation and submetering.
• Straightforward acquisitions to complex mixed-use development projects, Vytas has the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience to achieve the goals of his multifamily clients.

Office Leasing Experience

• Provides day-to-day assistance to his office landlord clients in drafting and negotiating office leases and giving guidance to asset management, property management and leasing professionals on leasing and operational issues.
• Assists his office landlord clients in creating strategies to control risks and to identify opportunities in leasing and managing office properties on both a portfolio-wide and property-by-property basis.
• Experience in the area of Green Leasing and the furthering of landlords’ and tenants’ sustainability goals
• Appointed to the Green Lease Task Force formed by the Leasing Group of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section.
• Member of the Green and Sustainable Transactions Committee of the Commercial Real Estate Transactions Group of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section.
• Spoken to property managers, brokers, building owners and real estate groups on Green Leases and the issues presented to landlords and tenants in the leasing of space in LEED-certified office buildings.