John Rafkin has more than 30 years of experience representing lenders and borrowers in complex senior and subordinate real estate financings, including single property and multi-asset construction, acquisition, revolver, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan-on-loan, and Shari'ah-compliant financing. John has substantial experience with mezzanine, A/B, and preferred equity forms of subordinated financing. The security for these loans covers all types of real estate, including industrial and corporate, office, retail, student housing, senior housing and multifamily buildings, and portfolios. He has especially deep experience with hospitality financing.
John's practice also focuses on the workout of troubled real estate loans, including complex, multi-tiered loan restructurings, discounted payoffs, bankruptcy, deficiency notes, and other settlement structures. He has extensive experience in the syndication, assignment, and participation of all forms of financing and represents purchasers and sellers of performing and nonperforming loans and loan pools. In addition, he represents developers and other property owners in the acquisition, development, construction, and sale of real estate and landlords, lenders, and tenants in office, retail, and industrial leasing.
John is chairman of the board of directors of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, the organization that restores and operates the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Robie House, Unity Temple, and other Chicago area sites. He is also vice president of SELVN, a Chicago political advocacy organization, where his interests and energies are directed toward historic and architectural preservation.
Experience
The following represents experience acquired prior to joining Jones Day.
Represented a large institutional lender in connection with its mezzanine positions in a $1.5 billion debt stack on a portfolio of Chicago office buildings.
Represented a large institutional lender with an approximately $400 million Shari'ah-compliant construction financing for a multiuse (office, retail, and multifamily) project in Washington, DC and closed Shari'ah-compliant acquisition loans on a portfolio of industrial and office buildings in Florida and on an office building in Houston.
Represented a large institutional lender on an approximately $140 million acquisition loan for an office building in Chicago.
Represented a large institutional lender on an approximately $100 million senior loan (and negotiation of a mezzanine intercreditor) for a portfolio of logistics and bulk distribution industrial facilities located throughout the United States.
Represented a large institutional lender in the restructuring and transfers in lieu of foreclosure of a portfolio of loans totaling approximately $700 million. The properties included housing projects, undeveloped land, and multifamily, resort, retail, and office properties located throughout the United States.
Represented a large institutional lender in the restructuring of an approximately $1.5 billion multilevel debt stack on a portfolio of 25 hotels, with related transfers, bankruptcy structure, and litigation.
Represented a large institutional lender in the restructuring of an approximately $1.5 billion debt stack (for both its senior and mezzanine positions) relating to a pool of office buildings in Chicago.
Represented a large institutional lender on its purchase of multiple pools of performing and nonperforming real estate loans, totaling hundreds of loans with an aggregate value of $2 to 3 billion.
Represented the purchaser of a portfolio of approximately 2,500 single family homes throughout the United States (which was then the largest purchase of its kind to date).
- Northwestern University (J.D. cum laude 1989; Order of the Coif); Harvard University (A.B. cum laude 1983)
- Illinois
- Recognized by The Legal 500 United States