John T. Metzger

John's lending experience includes:

• Real Estate secured mortgage financing, including land loans, development loans, construction lending, private equity financing, mezzanine financing, permanent financing and distressed lending
• Loan workouts, forbearance arrangements, mortgage foreclosures, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure arrangements, and receiverships
• Lender liability claims Non-recourse financing

John’s real estate practice also includes:

• Construction Contracts, Construction liens, and Contract Disputes
• Land use, platting, zoning, road right-of-way, easements, and permitting
• Commercial Leasing
• Agricultural Use Classification and Real Estate Tax Appeals
• Title Insurance claims

Recent real estate development projects include:

• The Royale (375 unit apartment project with commercial out parcels), Lake Worth, FL
• Atlántico at Palm Aire (240 unit residential apartment project), Pompano Beach, FL
• The Ray (mixed used luxury boutique hotel and retail project), Delray Beach, FL
• Delray Beach Market (mixed use food hall and parking garage project), Delray Beach, FL
• Monarch Station (a 296 unit residential apartment project), Coconut Creek, FL
• Atlántico at Alton (353 unit residential apartment project), Palm Beach Gardens, FL
• The Fitzgerald (300 unit residential apartment project), Tampa, FL
• Cannery Row (90 unit townhome project), Delray Beach, FL
• Valiente Polo Farm (equestrian polo facility), Wellington, FL
• Port Mayaca Plantation (residential and polo project) Martin County, FL
• Everglades Polo (equestrian polo facility), Wellington, FL

Other significant real estate matters include:

• Pioneering the first sale of Transferable Development Rights under the City of West Palm Beach’s Historic Preservation Program on behalf of the Diocese of Palm Beach. The sale resulted in the transfer of over 200,000 square feet of “Air Rights” to Kolter Properties for the construction of a 20-story residential condominium in downtown West Palm Beach.
• Representing a national lender in numerous distressed loan matters including the foreclosure and ultimate bankruptcy sale of a failed waterfront condominium project and the foreclosure/workout of numerous failed residential development mortgage loans.
• Negotiating a Public/Private agreement with the South Florida Water Management District and Martin County, Florida for the creation of a public stormwater management facility and recreation area on 2,200 acres, reserving 20 year mining rights for his client during the excavation of the facility.
• Negotiating multiple New Market Tax Credit mortgage financings for an aggregate rock mining project, and later assisted with EB-5 Financing for related mining and trucking operations.
• Buyout of a national REIT as part of the recapitalization of an investment partnership owning over 1 million square feet of multi-tenant industrial properties located In Chicago.
• Sale of Gulfstream Polo Club to Pulte Homes for redevelopment as a residential P.U.D.
• Acquisition and redevelopment of a 135 room Airport Hotel and IHOP Restaurant ground lease, including senior mortgage financing and a subordinated SBA renovation loan.
• Representing the buyer/developer of a self-storage building in Delray Beach, Florida, including zoning and subdivision approvals.
• Obtaining County zoning and land use approvals for a distributor of compressed atmospheric gases. Representing a contractor in the successful enforcement of a $1 Million construction lien on a hotel project in Miami Beach, Florida.
• Successfully appealed the denial of an Agricultural Classification for an equestrian facility in Wellington, Florida owned as a condominium.
• Representing the borrower in a $45 Million CMBS loan on a mixed use Office/Retail project in Downton West Palm Beach, FL.
• Representing the developer of a prominent Palm Beach Gardens retail center in the $88 million sale to a national REIT. https://mcdonaldhopkins.com/Insights/News/2018/05/22/PGA-Plaza-in-Palm-Beach- Gardens-FL-sells-for-88-million

Recent expert witness matters:

• Consulting and Testifying Expert for the Defendant in a wrongful death action regarding status of decedent as a trespasser upon a roadway easement, resulting in a Summary Judgment in favor of the Defendant/easement holder controlling the roadway.
• Consulting and Testifying Expert for the Plaintiff in a real estate related litigation matter regarding the premises liability of a property owners’ association and a golf club resulting from the shared use of a “promenade” where a bicyclist suffered devastating injuries, resulting in a Plaintiff’s verdict of over $40 million.
• Consulting and Testifying Expert for the defendant (the owner of a title insurance agency) in a criminal fraud prosecution regarding an alleged mortgage fraud scheme arising from a series of “short sale” transactions. Upon disclosure to the prosecution of the expert analysis of the transactions, including expert analysis of all relevant closing files with respect to the roles and duties of the title agent under then State and Federal laws, the U.S. Attorney’s Office elected to drop all charges immediately prior to trial.

Litigation Management:

• From 2002 to 2008, John managed a complex mass tort litigation against the government of Libya on behalf of the owner of a DC-10 aircraft which was destroyed, and the families of the seven (7) American passengers who were killed, when a suitcase bomb planted by Libyan agents exploded over the Niger desert in North Africa in 1989 (UTA Flight 772).  In 2008, the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, entered a $1.7 Billion judgment against the government of Libya, ultimately resulting in Congress's passage of the Libyan Claims Resolution Act (LCRA) to settle all claims of American nationals (including the Pan Am Lockerbie and LaBelle Disco bombings) and to normalize commercial and diplomatic relations between the United States and the government of Libya. Since the passage of the LCRA, John has assisted with the filing and successful prosecution of approximately $100 million of claims with the U.S. Department of State and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission on behalf of the aircraft owner and the families of the American passengers. In 2017, the book "The Forgotten Flight" chronicled the UTA 772 litigation and its impact on international relations with Libya. The book was favorably reviewed in the Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/terrors-tailwind-1499029226

Education

University of Pennsylvania

Florida State University

Admissions – State

Professional Activities

Community Involvement