Thomas Fawell

Thomas Fawell is a partner in Rimôn’s Houston office where he brings a high level of experience and a practical approach to problem solving in transactional real estate, real estate development, and capital formation. In addition, as part of a family legacy, he advises collectors and institutions in fine art acquisitions, dispositions, insurance, and finance.

His real estate experience is comprehensive, including the representation of financial institutions, municipalities, real estate funds, banks, and developers.  Mr. Fawell has particular experience in real estate acquisitions and dispositions, including 1031 exchanges & reverse exchanges, horizontal and vertical development, construction, leasing and disposition, sophisticated ground-lease structures, submerged land lease harbor structures, as well as joint venture and preferred equity transactions, including transactions involving office buildings, retail developments, industrial facilities, and hotels.

His breadth and background in real estate is extensive and also includes prior experience in zoning, real estate tax appeals, mechanic’s lien execution, and defense, as well as three jury verdicts in significant condemnation awards.

In the intersection of capital formation and real estate, Mr. Fawell has developed a practice in (i) securing asset funding of offshore income property; (ii) advising in-bound foreign capital for U.S. investments through the Cayman Islands and other tax neutral venues; and (iii) the design and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering / OFAC & FATCA compliance procedures.

As a second natural convergence of his capital-focused practice and his heritage as the son of a renowned commercial artist,   Mr. Fawell advises collectors and institutions in the strategic acquisition, disposition, insuring, and financing of high value art.

Before joining Rimôn, Mr. Fawell served as Partner and Member of the Management Committee at Katten Muchin.

SELECTED EXPERIENCE

• Jiffy Lube – Site Expansion and Asset Disposition: Managed and coordinated Midwest acquisition/expansion of independent and corporate acquired units for Jiffy Lube as well as disposition of redundant sites. Also, managed resolution of territorial disputes in overlapping acquired franchises. This was Jiffy Lubes largest and fastest expansion and made the company the leader in its category. Mr. Fawell reported directly to the CEO.
• Waste Management – World Headquarters Site Acquisition and Development:  Formulated expansion versus relocation evaluation and implementation for Waste Management world headquarters. Earned legal services contract award directly from CEO for facility expansion. Coordinated acquisition, entitlement and zoning approvals and coordinated all legal management of architectural and engineering design and construction contracts for headquarters relocation and expansion.
• Submerged Land and Upland 30-Year Marina Lease –  The Jockey Club, Miami FL: Combined state of Florida governmental submerged-land leasehold with upland private property interests as a 30-year private-capital lease. This was effected with a parallel resolution of hard money mortgage covenants on uplands. Transaction was a matter of first impression with both the Submerged Land Section of the Florida Dept. Environmental Protection and with the hard money lender. This prevented foreclosure by the hard money lender for the owner.
• Royce Renaissance – Wetland Litigation & Resolution with Dept. of Justice: Orchestrated resolution of multiple egregious wetland violations in Chicago with pending charges from the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in two commonly owned, mixed-use office, retail and multi-family golf communities. The successful resolution was achieved by the payment of significant fines and the avoidance of incarceration of the developer client. Both projects went forward and were completed within EPA parameters and DOJ oversight.
• Sale of Indonesian Toll Road: Mr. Fawell was engaged to negotiate the acquisition of a toll road in Indonesia where the bidding client had defaulted on the closing when its financing failed.  Mr. Fawell successfully negotiated an extension of time to close and was able to secure a commitment from a global infrastructure investor for the $200M acquisition.
• General Counsel and Direct Investor / Development: As General Counsel and direct investor, Mr. Fawell managed a 22-story residential ground-up development in Miami, and 2 Core Asset retail centers in Chicago. In this capacity, he directed all complex title resolutions, survey and plat issues, right of way vacation, utility easements, wetlands relocation and environmental remediation strategies, capital formation and third-party A&E and General Contractor agreements. Also, he negotiated all bank debt terms and documentation and managed verification of draw statements with lenders and Chicago Title.
• Financial Services and Capital Formation: Assembled $115M in a private equity acquisition of a credit card processing operation, and its equipment lease subsidiary. In this acquisition, Mr. Fawell structured and negotiated the multi-level private equity shareholder preferences & capital structure, management and investor rights, and the terms of the corporate governance structure. He also resolved critical FIRREA   issues with the OCC.
• Art Sales and Finance: Mr. Fawell has advised in the sale or financing of numerous works of art from Jackson Pollock, Mario Correño, Egon Schiele, Jean-Michel Basquiat, José Clemente Orozco, Paul Gauguin and of course, his own father.

PUBLICATIONS

• The Most Significant Change to AML Rules Since the USA Patriot Act, Rimonlaw.com, January 4, 2021