The National Association of Real
Estate Investment Trusts has honored Gil Menna with the NAREIT Industry
Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the REIT industry. The
award was presented in New York City at this year’s annual REITWorld 2010
Conference, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the legislation establishing
real estate investment trusts. Each year, NAREIT honors an industry
professional whose acumen and integrity have helped raise awareness and
understanding for the value of REITs and publicly traded real estate.
Menna is co-chair of the Real Estate Capital Markets Group at Goodwin Procter, a
national Am Law 50 law firm.
"Goodwin Procter, and its partners Charlie Post and Bill King, played an
instrumental role in the creation of the REIT industry by helping craft the tax
and legal structure underlying the Real Estate Investment Trust Act of
1960. I'm honored to be able to represent the many past and present
colleagues at our firm who have carried on our firm's tradition of service to
this important industry and to NAREIT, the organization that supports its growth
on so many levels," said Menna.
Menna represents some of the nation's leading publicly traded real estate
operating companies in connection with their corporate finance, corporate
governance, and merger and acquisition transactions. Over the past five
years, he has assisted clients in REIT transactions totaling over $109 billion,
with $94 billion in M&A transactions and $15 billion in equity or debt
securities transactions.
Since its role in the inception of the industry in 1960, Goodwin Procter has
continued to assist its clients and NAREIT in connection with the modernization
of the REIT vehicle. In 1992, in connection with the Taubman Centers, Inc.
initial public offering, Goodwin Procter helped to create the first public
UPREIT structure by providing the first UPREIT tax opinion used in a public
securities offering. This work proved to be a turning point in the modern
REIT era, with the UPREIT structure paving the way for the tax advantaged
initial public offerings of a large number of widely respected private real
estate operating companies.
Today, Goodwin Procter continues its leadership role in the industry and
represents both public and private REITs and real estate investment bankers in a
variety of transactions, including REIT M&A transactions, complicated REIT
joint venture investments, and REIT equity and debt offerings, including initial
public offerings.
Menna is a member of the New York, California and Massachusetts Bars.
He serves on the Advisory Board of New York University’s Real Estate Institute's
REIT Center, is a Board Associate member of NAREIT and a member of the Real
Estate Roundtable. He is a frequent guest lecturer at Columbia Business
School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate,
where he lectures on the legal representation of publicly traded real estate
operating companies.