Audrey L. Sokoloff

Ms. Sokoloff’s practice includes real estate private equity fund formations, joint ventures and investments in Asia, the Americas and Europe. She represented Google LLC in connection with St. John’s Terminal in New York, Anbang Insurance Group in its acquisitions of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York and Strategic Hotels & Resorts from affiliates of the Blackstone Group, Sungate Properties in its acquisition of interests in the General Motors Building and other New York properties, and sovereign wealth funds in acquisitions of U.S. and European real estate assets and developments. She also represented Asia Pacific Land, K.K. in connection with the sale of the Tiffany Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.

In the area of real estate finance, Ms. Sokoloff represents financial institutions and real estate companies in the origination and sale of a wide range of debt instruments, including traditional mortgage loans, revolving credit facilities, Sharia compliant financings, single- and multiple-tiered mezzanine financings, and preferred equity, as well as in the acquisition, restructuring and sale of debt, including distressed and non-performing loans. Representative clients have included Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Aozora Bank, S.L. Green Realty and UBS. Notable transactions include the $1 billion financing of Brookfield Place, New York, and construction financing for the American Dream development, and a first-of-its-kind combined sharia and conventional construction loan facility for the IHG Barclay Hotel.

Ms. Sokoloff represents REITs and other public and private real estate and infrastructure companies in mergers and acquisitions, as well as in financings and joint venture arrangements globally. Representative clients include S.L. Green Realty, Boston Properties, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and The We Company.

She has practiced at Skadden since 1990 and was resident in New York, London, San Francisco and Los Angeles before relocating to Asia in 2008, where she served as co-head of Skadden’s Asia Pacific practice, head of the Real Estate and Investment Finance Group and leader of the firm’s Tokyo office. She returned to New York in 2011.

In 2022, Ms. Sokoloff was named a Dealmaker of the Year by the New York Law Journal and, in 2021, she was named a Diversity Champion as part of the GlobeSt. Women of Influence Awards. Additionally, she was named as one of New York’s Notable Women in Law by Crain’s New York Business in 2019, has repeatedly been selected for inclusion in Cham­bers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2020. In 2018, she was named to The Women of Influence Hall of Fame in Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence 25th Anniversary Special, after previously being named as one of its Women of Influence in 2014 and 2015. She also was named a 2019 Real Estate MVP and a 2014 Hospitality MVP by Law360.