Jonathan Henry Canter

Jonathan H. Canter represents leading developers, lenders and investors in a range of real estate matters, with a particular focus on condominium, cooperative and shared-ownership projects. Jonathan advises on the planning, development, structuring and implementation of sophisticated ownership, operation and management regimes. He also advises on the legal, regulatory and business aspects of the registration, marketing and sale of luxury and mixed-use condominiums in public and nonpublic offerings. He brings his prior experience as a litigator to his real estate work, shaping transactions to help his clients avoid lawsuits and providing strategic counseling when disputes do occur.

Described by Legal 500 US as “the lead on all things condo,” Jonathan represents a roster of New York’s most prominent real estate players in connection with some of the highest-profile developments in recent years. Jonathan continues to play a key role as lead condominium counsel on the development of Hudson Yards by Related/Oxford. When completed, the 28-acre, $18 billion project in midtown Manhattan will contain over 18 million square feet of commercial and residential space. Jonathan’s work on the project to date involves creating a projectwide ownership association and management regime to govern all the individual development parcels on the site. He also implemented distinct condominium structures for each of the project’s individual buildings, including the recently opened 30 Hudson Yards. This 2.6 million-square-foot tower serves as Warner Media’s new world headquarters, home to Wells Fargo and KKR, and includes an adjoining 1 million-square-foot retail complex. Other work at the complex involves registering the offering of $3.3 billion of luxury condominium residences for sale and establishing condominium regimes for 15 Hudson Yards and 35 Hudson Yards, which include commercial condominium units for The Shed, an Equinox-branded hotel, first-class retail space and fitness facilities, and affordable rental apartments.

Separately, Jonathan has served as counsel to The Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust in the $1.6 billion redevelopment of the James A. Farley Post Office Building into the new Moynihan Station across from New York’s Penn Station. His work has involved structuring and implementing a complex condominium regime that facilitates the separate ownership or net lease by each participant of its portion of the project which, upon opening in 2021, will include a state-of-the-art train hall, a new 255,000-square-foot hub for Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road, a modified U.S. Post Office facility, 450,000 square feet of office space, and more than 135,000 square feet of retail.

In the past several years, Jonathan has facilitated the registration for sale of nearly $30 billion of luxury condominium offerings in New York City, including, among many other marquee developments, 15 and 35 Hudson Yards; Central Park Tower; 432 Park Ave.; One, Two and Three Waterline Square; 108 Leonard St.; 111 Murray Street; 70 Vestry Street; 56 Leonard Street; 30 Park Place Four Seasons Residences; One West End Avenue; and The Mark Hotel, and in prior years, Time Warner Center and the redevelopment of the iconic Plaza Hotel into luxury residences, for-sale hotel suites and world-class retail.

In addition to lauding him as “exceptional” and “brilliant,” Legal 500 US has repeatedly ranked Jonathan as a leading real estate attorney. He is also credited as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, which reports that clients laud him as “instrumental and fantastic to work with.” He has received numerous other honors, including recognition as Legal MVP in Real Estate by Law360. Best Lawyers in America described him as “very creative, innovative, and a problem solver.” The Commercial Observer recognized Jonathan for his work on the Moynihan Station and Hudson Yards projects in “Power of Attorneys: The Lawyers Who Shape Everything in the World of Real Estate” (2017), highlighting some of the most prominent real estate attorneys in New York City. The Real Estate Forum featured his work for Hudson Yards in “Dealmakers: Deals of the Year 2015.”