Joel Sirkin is a retired partner in the Real Estate Practice Group. He joined the firm in 1974. He maintained a varied national real estate practice, and is a member of the firm's Real Estate Capital Markets Committee.

Practice

Mr. Sirkin has represented clients in the acquisition, development, and financing of apartment projects, hotels, office buildings, and shopping centers in more than 25 states. His major projects included the acquisition, repositioning, and sale of a portfolio of 14 Boston office properties for a German overseas investor group, and the implementation of a regional partner UPREIT strategy for a major multifamily REIT client. Mr. Sirkin has been involved in the development of Boston office towers and several major suburban office parks.

Mr. Sirkin was real estate counsel for Berkshire Realty Holdings, L.P. In that capacity, he assisted in a going-private transaction pursuant to which Berkshire converted from a public company to a private equity joint venture. He has represented Berkshire in numerous multi-state portfolio property transactions. He has also served as outside counsel to joint ventures between General Investment and Development and each of the Dupont Pension Funds and CalPERS in connection with the acquisition of multifamily apartment properties and office buildings across the eastern United States.

Mr. Sirkin served as lead counsel for Novartis International Pharmaceuticals in connection with the creation of the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. On behalf of Novartis, he directed the development of the institute’s world headquarters and research lab facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mr. Sirkin has represented a number of banks and financial institutions in the financing of Massachusetts and out-of-state construction projects, including Fidelity Investments; State of New York Pension Fund; British Shell Pension Fund; AEW Capital Management, L.P.; Berkshire Mortgage Company and United States Trust Company. Among the clients for whom he has served as real estate counsel are Liberty Real Estate Corporation, Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, General Electric Credit Corporation, Taurus Investment Group, The Krupp Companies and Winthrop Financial Associates.