Geoffrey F. Fay

Geoffrey F. Fay’s practice focuses primarily on real estate development, finance and leasing.  A partner in Pullman & Comley’s Real Estate Department, Geoff has extensive experience representing developers, public corporations, national retail chains, real estate joint ventures, investment partnerships, auto dealerships, colleges, universities and municipalities in the acquisition, development, financing, loan restructuring, leasing and sale of office, health care, retail, multi-family, charter school, athletic, industrial, research laboratory, and airport facilities. 

With more than 38 years’ experience representing parties in a wide array of complex real estate matters, Geoff is skilled at finding practical solutions that assist clients in achieving their goals.   Having represented, buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, lenders and borrowers, Geoff is able to provide knowledgeable and practical advice. 

Geoff has substantial experience advising and representing clients with:

• COVID-19-related real estate issues, including negotiating and drafting rent forbearance agreements, loan restructurings and licenses for medical personnel and first-responders’ temporary use of college dormitories.  
• the purchase, financing and sale of developed and undeveloped real estate, including remediation and redevelopment projects
• drafting and negotiating covenants, easements, conditions and restrictions to govern the development and operation of mixed-use projects
• the creation of integrated mixed-use projects facilitated by the condominium form of ownership
• municipal-collegiate shared library partnerships
• negotiation and structuring real estate joint venture agreements; architect and construction contracts; commercial real estate brokerage agreements; property management agreements and easements
• real estate leasing, including bondable, ground, office, health-care, retail and industrial

Geoff has participated in numerous commercial real estate seminars devoted to leasing and development, and is a regular writer on real estate topics.  In 2012, Geoff authored "Things I've Learned As a Business Transaction In-House Attorney and in Private Practice" for ExecSense.

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Honors & Recognitions

Named a Moffly Media Top Lawyer in Fairfield County, 2021 - Real Estate

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of real estate law since 2013

Selected to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list in 2007 in the area of real estate, (business/corporate, environmental)

Received the highest peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell (AV)

• Served as lead real-estate counsel chosen by the University of Connecticut Health Center in the negotiation and drafting of a joint-venture, and 99-year ground lease, with Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor Maine, to construct a billion-dollar personalized medicine laboratory, on the UCONN Health Center’s lower campus in Farmington, Connecticut.  The Magazine of Corporate Real Estate Strategy and Area Economic Development identified the ground lease transaction as one of the top ten real estate transactions in North America in 2011.
• Represents Yale-New Haven Hospital in the development of a cancer-treatment facility in Bridgeport that is 100 percent financed with a credit-tenant lease. The $90 million project will eventually contain 210,000 square feet of medical office space and a shared parking garage
• Represented the developer with the development, lease and financing of an 168,000 square foot building to serve as a data and disaster recovery center in Norwalk, Connecticut.  The Fairfield County Business Journal identified this project as the largest build-to-suit project in Fairfield County, CT in 11 years and the largest real estate transaction of the year for Fairfield County.
• Represented the developer of a $100 million multi-family project in Stamford, Connecticut with the financing, construction and sale.
• Extensive retail leasing experience includes 25 years representing a foreign, upscale perfume and cosmetics corporation in all of its U.S. retail leasing. In addition, Geoff regularly represents large regional developers in leasing transactions involving major retail tenants such as Whole Foods, CVS, Petco and Urban Outfitters.
• Represented a private aviation service in its successful proposal to the city of Bridgeport (including presentations to the Bridgeport mayor, City Council and Airport Authority), and the negotiation and drafting of an airport ground lease for redevelopment of the main terminal at Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Connecticut. Also represented the client in procuring land use approvals from the Stratford Zoning Commission, as well as in the negotiation and drafting of a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement with the town of Stratford. The transaction involved three additional expansion options, which, if exercised, would permit the development of additional aviation facilities at the airport.
• Represented a joint venture, comprised of several regional commercial real estate investment/development companies, in connection with the acquisition of an 80-acre industrial/office park in Connecticut, and with subsequent refinancing (securitized), redevelopment, leasing, subdivision and sale; received the 2006 “Fairfield County Deal of The Year” award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
• Represented a major publishing company with the acquisition and sale of office properties and with the subleasing and leasing of office space in Connecticut; received the 2003 “Fairfield County Deal of The Year” award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
• Represented Fortune 20 company in connection with the credit lease refinancing and leasing of 1 million sq. ft. office park in Connecticut.
• Represented large financial institution in connection with financing, leasing and sale of several large office buildings in downtown Stamford, Connecticut.
• Represents many companies with their Class-A office leases.
• Represents a major regional developer in acquisition, financing and leasing transactions, which included the largest leasing transaction in Connecticut in 2003.

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