Stuart M. Lee

Practice Areas

Corporate Transactions

Corporate Finance

Entity Merger/Dissolution

Lender’s Counsel

Liquidations and Workouts

Non-Profit Organizations

Stock Purchase Transactions

Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate Development

Government Guaranteed Loans and Economic Development Loans

Permitting and Zoning

Career

Stuart serves as the Department Head of the Firm’s Business Banking and Professional Practices Department and serves on Rogers Townsend’s Executive Committee.

His practice involves a wide variety of commercial and industrial transactions, representing commercial lenders as lender’s counsel in complex commercial and industrial finance transactions, workouts, and related compliance matters. Stuart’s practice deals with many aspects of economic development throughout the region, whether by lender representation in project financing or by representation of developers, utilities, and end users in the commercial and industrial projects which grow the local and state economy. Clients have utilized Stuart’s experience in the drafting and implementation of governing documents for master planned developments in order to provide for orderly and sustainable growth the developments while preserving the project’s initial vision.

Stuart has worked extensively with lenders and developers in multi-family project financing and development, including low income tax credit transactions and student housing. He has also handled numerous acquisitions and dispositions of retail shopping centers and developments and handled post acquisition leasing matters. Stuart often works on finance transactions that involve franchisees of nationally recognized hotel brands, and navigates the complexities of the franchise relationship in order to protect lender interests through the negotiation of “comfort letters” as well as other agreements with property managers, vendors, licensees and other parties that ensure the ongoing operations of project in the event of lender intervention. Stuart’s commercial finance practice is not limited to real estate based lending transactions, and he regularly assists in inventory, equipment, and receivables based transactions. Further, his knowledge of a wide variety of finance transactions enables him to develop and implement master loan agreements for multiple loan facilities to a single borrower or multiple related borrowers.

In addition to finance and development work, Stuart also represents utility companies in matters involving easements and rights of way, substations, and other utility facilities together with the negotiation and implementation of master utility agreements for large scale developments. He regularly assists with condemnation actions for utilities, and negotiates resolutions of eminent domain issues ranging from just compensation disputes, right of way placement and facility relocations, as well as associated Constitutionality issues.

Professional Memberships

South Carolina Economic Developers Association

Committee of 100 (Central SC Alliance)

Urban Land Institute (ULI)

Leadership South Carolina, Class of 2013

South Carolina Bar

Richland County Bar Association

Lexington County Bar Association

Palmetto Land Title Association

Columbia Bank Counsel Association

Carolina Wireless Association

Leadership Columbia Class of 2004

Leadership Columbia Alumni Association

Leadership Lexington, 2011