Joan B. Velazquez

Partner & Chair of the Real Estate Department

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Joan Velazquez is a partner and chair of the Real Estate Department at Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. As chair of the Real Estate practice, she is a creative problem solver and proven deal maker who never loses sight of her clients' business goals. She understands that her job is to mitigate her client’s legal risks while letting them realize the business opportunity in every deal. Velazquez represents real estate owners, developers, investors, lenders, contractors and asset managers in connection with a wide range of projects.

Velazquez is experienced in the formation of partnerships, joint ventures, limited liability companies and arranging complex capital structures, including highly leveraged mezzanine financing, subordinated lending arrangements and other creative solutions. Having structured, documented and closed more than one billion dollars of financing transactions, she guides clients with distressed properties successfully restructuring existing debt.