Byrne, Costello & Pickard, P.C., was founded in 1957 by Matthew V. Byrne, Jr., and John J. Costello. Since inception, the firm has engaged in general practice, but with a significant concentration in the field of real estate and real estate financing, particularly multifamily housing and health facilities. The firm also specializes in construction law and bankruptcy. Its practice now extends throughout the Eastern United States and a number of its partners have multi-state admissions.
Statement of Practice Summary
General Civil Practice before all Federal and State Courts. Real Estate Development, Real Estate Financing, Health and Hospital, Nursing Home and Senior Citizen Housing, Housing and Urban Development, Bankruptcy, Construction, Corporate, Tax (Federal and State), Environmental, Municipal, Wills, Estate Planning and Probate, Not-for-Profit.
Areas of Specialty
With respect to representation of corporate clients, the firm has experience in all aspects of business needs, i.e., corporate organization (business, non-profit, professional), taxation (income, real property, sales), contracts (business agreements, leases, property acquisitions), employee relations (pension plans, profit-sharing plans, tax-sheltered annuities), business litigation and representation before Federal, State and Local Regulatory Agencies. Corporate clients include partnerships of all types, business corporations, professional corporations of all types, limited liability companies, and non-profit corporations in the health, human service and housing fields.
The firm represents subcontractors and suppliers in connection with real estate development and public improvements, and one of its partners currently serves as Chapter Attorney for the Subcontractors Association of Central New York.
The firm has also represented sponsors of health related facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, elderly housing projects, continuing care retirement communities and developers of a wide range of multi-family housing and affordable housing throughout New York State and the Northeast. In that connection, it has experience in the funding of these facilities utilizing credit enhancement available under various HUD, FHA, GNMA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs, and other federal and New York State programs, including the low-income housing tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit and new markets tax credit programs. It is also familiar with and has actively represented proposed sponsors in the Certificate of Need and licensure programs administered by the New York State Department of Health. The firm is also actively engaged in the areas of regulatory compliance and reimbursement for the health care industry.
In the field of estate planning, the firm has been involved in the preparation of estate plans and the drafting and execution of Wills and Trust Agreements in order to implement those plans.
Since inception, the firm has specialized in real property, taxation, corporate and estate practice and has broad experience in industrial, commercial and multi-family and single-family real estate development. It has served as counsel in the development of industrial parks, single commercial buildings, office buildings, multi-family structures and residential real estate tracts. The firm has represented profit-motivated and non-profit developers-mortgagors and mortgagees in numerous transactions involving multi-family housing and health care projects insured under §§ 207, 221(d)(3), 221(d)(4), 232, 236 and 242 of the National Housing Act, and refinancing of existing projects under §§ 223(f) and 223(a)(7). It has likewise represented various sponsors of numerous supportive and disabled housing projects financed under the HUD § 202 and § 811 programs. Experience includes all phases of real estate development including title examination, land planning, zoning, development and financing of utilities, creation of special districts, land leasing and leasing of developed properties; conventional and insured mortgage financing and utilization of tax-exempt securities and low-income housing tax credits; applications to and practice before the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, and other City, Town and Local Governments relating to project approval, approval of sponsoring entity, and negotiations for real property tax abatement and exemption.
The firm is experienced in all facets of construction law, including negotiation and preparation of contracts, filing of mechanic’s liens and public improvement liens, lien foreclosures, Article 3-A Trust Actions, enforcement of performance and payment bonds and related bankruptcy proceedings (including Chapter 11 creditor rearrangements).
