Practice areas: Real Estate
Licensed in New York since: 1989
Education: New York University School of Law
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2008 - 2025 Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP
1325 Avenue of the Americas16th Floor
New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-451-2263 Email: Hyman Kindler Visit website
Prominent real estate owners, developers and lenders all rely on Hyman Kindler to help them structure and successfully execute sophisticated, often cutting-edge real estate deals in New York City and other important U.S. markets.
Hymie advises and represents purchasers and sellers looking to acquire, sell, develop or finance properties throughout the U.S. He focuses much of his practice on transactions involving large-scale commercial properties, including high-rise office buildings, major retail spaces and shopping centers, condominiums, residential and mixed-use apartment complexes, and expansive warehouse/industrial facilities.
In recent years, Hymie has closed more than a $1 billion in real estate deals. He has extensive experience representing clients looking to sell or acquire air rights or other transferable development rights in New York City—including those executing complex deals that involve assembling and combining multiple land parcels into a single development site.
Among his many deals, Hymie represented Kaufman Astoria Studios in the sale of its historic, century-old studio complex—the original home of Paramount Pictures—to a joint venture consisting of Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management. The deal generated substantial headlines and earned Olshan an M&A Advisor Award in the category “Private Equity Deal of the Year (between $500MM - $1B).”
Described by one client as “pleasantly unrelenting,” Hymie is in high demand across the nation. He worked with a West Coast joint venture to secure and close a complex $268 million refinancing for a triple net leased Amazon office building located in Seattle, WA, and then transfer the property to two tenants in common. He also represented the Korein family—one of the country’s leading real estate families—in its sale of 605 Lincoln Road in Florida’s South Beach to Thor Equities for $22.5 million. The retail property includes three street-level retail suites in the heart of Miami’s famous and highly sought-after Art Deco district.
Thorough, dedicated and extremely hardworking, Hymie drills down to the bottom line, finds solutions and gets deals done.
First Admitted: 1989, New York
Professional Webpage: https://www.olshanlaw.com/attorneys-Hyman-Kindler.html
Bar / Professional Activity
- New York, 1989
- New York University School of Law, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, Transferable Development Rights Advisory Committee
Transactions
- Represented Kaufman Astoria Studios in the sale of the historic, century-old studios to the joint venture of Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management. Olshan was named a winner in the 21st Annual M&A Advisor Awards in the category “Private Equity Deal of the Year (between $500MM - $1B)” for this sale.
- Represented the seller of Independence Plaza North, a Mitchell-Lama apartment complex in New York City, for $156 million.
- Represented the Korein family in its sale of 605 Lincoln Road in Miami’s South Beach to Thor Equities for $22.5 million. The retail property includes three street-level retail suites in an office building in the heart of the city’s Art Deco District.
- Represented the joint venture of Property Markets Group and Madison Equities in the acquisition of the assemblage for a new 18-story tower in the West Village on Sullivan Street.
- Represented a joint venture in securing a $268 million refinancing for a triple net leased Amazon office building located in Seattle, WA, and transferring the property from the joint venture to two tenants in common.
- Represented the Kaufman Organization in its acquisition of 56 West 22nd Street, New York, NY for $48,500,000.
- Represented joint venture of Boston Properties and Madison Equities for the office building assemblage on Manhattan's 8th Avenue—consisting of nine lots, two air rights parcels, and three different sellers—for more than $200 million.
- Represented sellers and developers in the transfer of air rights in connection with the construction of the following NYC condominiums: Vesta 24 Condominium (24th Street and 10th Avenue), The Urban Glass House Condominium (330 Spring Street), Park Avenue Place Condominium (55th Street and Park Avenue), 425 Fifth Avenue Condominium (38th Street and 5th Avenue), Crossing 23rd Condominium (Gramercy-Flatiron District), Jade Condominium (Chelsea), Impala Condominium (76th Street and First Avenue), and The Porter House Condominium (Meatpacking District).
- Represented the Korein family, owners of 240 Central Park South, in negotiating the sale of air rights and various easements relating to the settlement between Extell Development and Vornado Realty Trust (VNO).
- Represented Bonjour Capital in securing a $115 million Fannie Mae loan for its property at 1735 York Avenue. Previously represented Bonjour in the acquisition of the building from Glenwood Management, including the acquisition financing.
- Represented the Kaufman Organization in its acquisition of 40 West 25th Street, NY, NY for $121,500,000.
- Represented an industry-leading cancer research institution in the creation of a leasehold condominium on a parcel of land on the Upper East Side, permitting it to obtain a tax exemption under Section 420-a of New York's Real Property Tax Law. The client then cooperated with the landlord to permit a $130 million mortgage on the fee estate.
Educational Background
- J.D., New York University School of Law
- B.S., New York University
Scholarly Lectures / Writings
- New York Real Estate Journal recently published an article authored by Co-Chair of Olshan’s Real Estate Law practice Thomas Kearns and real estate partner Hyman Kindler entitled “Contract Vendee Title Insurance” (subscription required). In the article, they discuss how buyers and sellers allocate the risk of a recorded title exception first being discovered after executing a real estate contract of sale. “A contract vendee title insurance policy (the premium for which is calculated only on the amount of the contract deposit, and is paid for on the day the contract is signed) shifts the risk onto the title company by insuring a buyer as to the state of title as of the day the contract is executed. The insured amount is equal to the contract deposit,” they explain. Tom and Hymie proceed with an example of the appeal to the seller of shifting the risk to the title company: “We were involved in one transaction where the seller kept insisting that the buyer take subject to all matters of record, but the buyer kept insisting that it was not going to risk its significant deposit on the accuracy of the title report it had obtained (even though the report was from its title company). The resolution: seller paid the premium for the buyer’s vendee policy!” Furthermore, since there are often several other requirements for issuance of a vendee policy in addition to payment of the premium, they suggest to “include a clause in the contract that the funded deposit does not become the contract deposit unless seller has made the required deliveries, and get the title company involved early.” They conclude, “Contract vendee polices can be a useful tool in resolving certain title negotiations between buyers and sellers, and, while beyond the scope of this article, can also be useful when navigating and negotiating complicated title insurance matters with title insurance companies prior to contract signing.”, Co-Author, Contract Vendee Title Insurance, New York Real Estate Journal, 2023
- New York Real Estate Journal recently published an article authored by Co-Chair of Olshan’s Real Estate Law practice Thomas Kearns and real estate partner Hyman Kindler entitled “Non-Imputation Title Insurance” (subscription required). The article discusses an “investor’s” title insurance policy when a real estate investor purchases an ownership interest in existing entities that own commercial real estate rather than acquiring the property by deed. This policy insures the purchaser of the equity instead of the entity that owns the real estate. “If there was a recovery under a claim made such a policy,” Tom and Hymie write, “only the purchaser would receive the insurance proceeds (and not the entity that owns the real estate). However, in either a partial ownership purchase or a purchase of 100% of the ownership interests, title insurance policies typically have a big hole in these circumstances: all New York title policies have an exclusion for the knowledge of the insured.” The issuance of a non-imputation endorsement by the title insurer, which removes the knowledge exclusion but is heavily dependent on the facts and circumstances of the transfer and seller, resolves this problem. Because the title insurer often insists on a detailed affidavit from the seller and often insists on an indemnity to back up that affidavit from a credit-worthy individual or entity even to the extent of insisting on financial disclosure from the indemnitor, a non-imputation endorsement needs to be carefully negotiated. Tom and Hymie go on to discuss the factors that impact the structuring of the transaction and the possible policy. They conclude that, “While navigating non-imputation issues requires diligence, non-imputation coverage can be key to successfully concluding a transaction.”, Co-Author, Non-Imputation Title Insurance, New York Real Estate Journal, 2023
- The New York Real Estate Journal published an article by Olshan Real Estate partners Thomas Kearns and Hyman Kindler entitled, “Overview of New York State Lien Law and Building Loan Soft Costs.” Tom and Hymie discuss the uses of building loan proceeds and the common misconception that building loan proceeds cannot be used for soft costs. , Co-Author, Overview of New York State Lien Law and Building Loan Soft Costs, New York Real Estate Journal, 2017
Other Outstanding Achievements
- I was named to the New York University School of Law, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, Transferrable Development Rights ("Air Rights") Advisory Committee., 2011
Honors
- Consistently named to the New York Metro Super Lawyers list since 2008, New York Metro Super Lawyers
Office location for Hyman Kindler
1325 Avenue of the Americas
16th Floor
New York, NY 10019
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2008 - 2025