Kim Pagotto

Kim Pagotto practices in commercial real estate, including leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, development and finance. She handles major transactions for top developers, Fortune 500 clients and private individuals and has significant experience with office, retail, industrial, federal and state agency, telecommunications, utility and multifamily residential projects.

In addition to standard commercial leasing and acquisitions and dispositions, Kim has established herself as one of the leading experts in the area of government real estate, particularly GSA leasing. The Federal Government is the largest user of real estate in the country, including as a tenant of leased space. Those leases require a highly specialized hybrid expertise that only a handful of attorneys in the country possess. Kim is one of those attorneys. She represents clients all over the United States in responding to expressions of interest, requests for proposals, Automated Advanced Acquisition Program submissions, lease negotiations, lease administration, audit responses, compliance, and acquisitions, dispositions and financing of individual and portfolio properties with a government component.

Chambers USA has recognized Kim as one of America’s Leading Lawyers. Clients described her as “practically-minded, very organized, responsive and a pleasure to deal with,” and “excellent at navigating the varied and complex aspects of each deal.” Clients also say, "Kim is especially responsive and is able to make complicated issues more understandable."

Kim’s pro bono work includes contributions to the Leadership Council for Miriam’s Kitchen, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit working on ending chronic homelessness for veterans in that city.

• Acquisitions / Dispositions
• Alternative Property
• Commercial Leasing
• Corporate Real Estate
• Development and Construction
• Government Real Estate
• Real Estate
• Real Estate Litigation

Private Sector Lease Transactions

• Columbia Property Trust in ongoing leasing work, such as: Numerous office and retail leases at buildings across the country, including leasing and related activities at Market Square, a two-building complex, that includes retail, residential, office and a national memorial with tenants such as Edison Electric Institute, leases for CBS, Ford Motor Company, Bayer, several restaurants and numerous law firms. Ms. Pagotto also negotiated a lease for Columbia Property Trust with WeWork.
• Beacon Capital Partners in ongoing leasing work, such as a 115,000-square-foot, 15-year lease with MedStar Health for an outpatient surgical center in downtown D.C.; a lease for The Philanthropy Roundtable; and multiple leases at 601 New Jersey Avenue in the Capitol Hill submarket, including Amazon, Leavitt Partners, One Medical, Summit and AT&T.
• Multiple Landlords in restaurant and retail leases, with tenants such as The Smith, in its first white tablecloth expansion from New York City to the D.C. area, and Circa in a new bar/restaurant concept near the Nationals Baseball Stadium.
• Morgan Stanley, TF Cornerstone, Prudential, Rockefeller and numerous others in ongoing leasing work in the D.C. area.
• Skanska CDUS in ongoing leasing work, including a 114,000-square-foot, 16-year lease of a large international law firm for the Washington, D.C. office (one of only two offices located in the U.S.).

Government Real Estate Transactions

• Owners of trophy and Class A commercial office buildings in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Denver, New York and Washington, D.C., in leases with the GSA and federal agencies such as the FBI, DOD, Social Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, TSA, Bureau of Prisons, Census Bureau, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Education.
• The landlord for an 839,000-square-foot, two-building government lease for the Department of Justice, the largest federal government lease in D.C. since 2002.
• The landlord for a lease to the U.S. government for ~300,000 square feet of space in the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center, which increased the occupancy rate of the 104-story tower to over 50% and marked the long-awaited return of the government to the World Trade Center site.
• Beacon Capital Partners in a 560,000-square-foot lease, and a 350,000-square-foot consolidation lease, for multiple divisions of the Department of Defense.
• The landlord for an approximately 100,000-square-foot lease with the District of Columbia to serve as the new headquarters for the D.C. Department on Disability Services.
• Various headquarters leases for government agencies, such as: the Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service in Rosslyn, Virginia; the PBGC at 1200 K Street; the National Park Service at 1201 Eye Street; and NASA at Independence Square.
• The owner of a downtown Washington, D.C. office building in a 250,000-plus square-foot lease with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
• An owner of a first-class office building in the lease negotiation for the office of a former U.S. President.

Other Transactions

• A foreign corporation in its acquisition of majority interests in two premier office properties in Boston, Massachusetts. One building is a 22-story, 475,000-square-foot mixed-use office and retail trophy asset and the second is an 11-story, 174,000-square-foot office building, home to WeWork, among other tenants. Together, the properties were valued in excess of $175 million.
• An Israeli company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, in establishing a U.S. joint venture with JP Morgan Special Situations Fund and others with respect to Carr Properties, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate operating company. The newly-created, $1 billion company, with 24 real estate projects at closing, is continuing to invest in and develop office properties in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
• A publicly traded REIT in the portfolio disposition of 19 office buildings in the Midwest.
• An international pharmaceutical company on real estate related matters including coordination of local counsel in 15 countries.
• An international telecommunications company on real estate related matters including third party data center leases and telecommunications equipment licenses.
• A major regional petroleum distributor in the acquisition and financing of more than 180 gasoline service stations in the mid-Atlantic region.
• The owner of a suburban Maryland warehouse/industrial space in a 145,000-square-foot lease with the Department of Defense.
• The purchase of a multi-state building portfolio with numerous government leases and facilitation of the transfer of the leases through the novation process.

• Chambers District of Columbia, Real Estate (2022)
• Best Lawyers, Real Estate Law
• Bisnow, “35 Under 35: Rising Stars of Commercial Real Estate” in Washington, D.C.
• Chambers USA, Real Estate—District of Columbia
• Connect CRE,  Lawyers in Real Estate Award
• Georgetown University Law Center’s Advanced Commercial Leasing Institute, Rising Star
• The Legal 500, Real Estate—Nationally Recommended

• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
• Member, Michigan Bar Association

• Speaker, "Post-Closing Responsibilities When Selling or Purchasing Real Estate Leased to the Federal Government," 12th Annual National Conference of the National Federal Development Association, October 18, 2022
• Speaker, “Reentry in the New Normal: Real Estate and Tax Considerations,” Stroock and KPMG Webinar, May 7, 2020
• Guest, “How We’re Surviving as a Shut-In Workforce: ‘Know Where Your Mute Button Is’ and Be Patient,” Law.com Legal Speak, March 23, 2020
• Moderator, “Running Your Business: Managing Your Outside Resources,” Women, Influence & Power in Law 2019, Washington, DC, October 17, 2019

• Co-author, "GSA To Review Update Of Lease Measurement Standards," Stroock Client Alert, January 14, 2022
• Co-author, "Stopping The Clock: CFIUS Gives 'Excepted Foreign States' Another Year To Get Their House In Order," Stroock Client Alert, November 17, 2021
• Co-author, “New FAR Clause Imposes Vaccine Mandate on Most Federal Government Contractors (and their Subcontractors) – Including GSA Lessors,” Stroock Client Alert, October 20, 2021
• Co-author, “D.C. DOEE Issues Proposed Building Energy Performance Standards,” Stroock Client Alert, January 21, 2021
• Co-author, “New Foreign Ownership Disclosure Requirements may go Beyond CFIUS if you Have a High-Security Federal Lease,” Stroock Client Alert, December 10, 2020
• Co-author, “Executive Order Instructs Federal Government Agencies to Prioritize Moving to Opportunity Zones,” Stroock Special Bulletin, September 10, 2020
• Co-author, “Maryland, Virginia to See Increases in Transfer and Recordation Taxes,” Stroock Special Bulletin, June 24, 2020
  Co-author, “DC Again Amends Consolidated COVID Relief Legislation,” Stroock Special Bulletin, June 22, 2020
• Co-author, “‘Reopening’ Considerations for Funds and Asset Managers,” Stroock Special Bulletin, June 5, 2020
  Co-author, “DC City Council Passes Consolidated COVID Relief Legislation,” Stroock Special Bulletin, May 27, 2020
• Co-author, “Landlord Concerns for ‘Reentry’ – A Deeper Dive,” Stroock Special Bulletin, May 11, 2020
• Co-author, “Some Practical Building Reentry Concerns for Landlords and Tenants,” Stroock Special Bulletin, April 29, 2020
• Co-author, “DC Passes Sweeping Commercial Rent and Mortgage Relief,” Stroock Special Bulletin, April 23, 2020
• Co-author, “An Old Law for the New War: Defense Production Act Not Just for Government Contractors,” Stroock Special Bulletin, April 2, 2020
• Co-author, “Mapping Risk: New CFIUS Tool for Real Estate Investors,” Stroock Special Bulletin, March 31, 2020
• Co-author, “Rent Abatements and Other Relief for COVID-19 Business Disruptions?,” Stroock Special Bulletin, March 17, 2020
• Co-author, “COVID-19: Practical Steps for Landlords and Tenants,” Stroock Special Bulletin, March 16, 2020
• Co-author, “Steps for Businesses to Consider as Coronavirus Spreads,” Stroock Special Bulletin, March 3, 2020
• Co-author, “Real Estate Transactions Impacted by New CFIUS Regulations,” Stroock Special Bulletin, September 23, 2019
• Co-author, “D.C. Council Approves Increase in Transfer, Recordation Taxes,” Stroock Special Bulletin, June 3, 2019
• Co-author, “July 6th – ‘Not So Independent’ Day?,” Stroock Special Bulletin, July 11, 2016
• Co-author, “What Real Estate Cos. Need To Know About CFIUS Reviews,” Law360, January 5, 2016
• Co-author, “CFIUS and the Waldorf Astoria,” Stroock Special Bulletin, December 21, 2015

District of Columbia; Michigan

J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 2000

B.A., with honors, University of Michigan, 1996