Robert B. Koonin
Partner and Real Estate Practice Co-Leader
Rob heads ArentFox Schiff’s national Real Estate Practice, leading a group of more than 120 real estate and finance attorneys across the United States. Rob’s clients include some of the nation’s largest banks, senior living operators, family offices, PE funds, and real estate owners.

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Rob handles the purchase, sale, financing, leasing, and development of real estate in various sectors, including healthcare, multifamily, senior living, industrial, self-storage, hotel, and shopping center. Rob and his colleagues advise lenders and investors at all levels of the capital stack on senior and mezzanine loans, and preferred equity and debt investments, covering a broad range of projects across virtually all asset classes.
Representative Matters
- Counsel to multiple national banks in connection with loans (ranging from $25 million to $250+ million) to finance the acquisition and/or development of various real estate properties throughout the United States, with a special emphasis on financing healthcare and senior living facilities.
- Represent one of the nation’s largest physical therapy networks, handling all real estate and leasing matters for more than 500 therapy clinics across the United States.
- Advise private equity firm on the purchase of shopping centers in multiple states, including Florida, Illinois, Nevada and New Jersey.
- Represent the buyer of a portfolio of twenty-two senior living facilities in the Midwest, handling the acquisition and related financing of the properties.
- Represent one of New York’s largest hospital systems in connection with the acquisition and related leaseback of a 15-acre campus in Suffolk County, New York.
- Advise a joint venture in the acquisition and related financing of ~ 700,000 square feet of retail and office space in Virginia.
- Counsel to a private family office acquiring over 600,000 square feet of industrial warehouse space in New York City.
Prior Work
Prior to joining ArentFox Schiff, Rob was a Partner and Vice-Chair of the Real Estate practice at a major law firm and was previously the Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at the London-based software company, Metric Gaming.
Publications
- The Un-Real Estate Boom: Buying Property in the Metaverse, The Fashion Law.com, April 22, 2022
- Arent Fox Attracts Garfunkel Real Estate Team in New York, New York Law Journal, December 21, 2021
- Co-Authors Robert Koonin and Cynthia Thomas, Ventilation and air quality: Post-pandemic considerations for property owners, New York Real Estate Journal, November 23, 2021
- Co-Authors Robert Koonin and Cynthia Thomas, Look before you lease: Landlord considerations in renting to the cannabis industry, New York Real Estate Journal, June 11, 2021
Professional Activities
- New York State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- American Health Lawyers Association
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IndustriesPractices
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Education
Brooklyn Law School, JDUnion College, BA