Joseph M. Fazio

No matter how complex, Joe's emphasis is on keeping the parties engaged and focused on the issues to be resolved for the transaction to come to a successful end.

Joe’s specific areas of expertise include complex commercial real estate acquisitions and developments, with extensive experience in ground leasing, entity formation, public/private development agreements, as well as conventional, securitized and tax-increment financing.

Joe helped a client obtain approval of a site plan for a 10-story student housing project in the face of significant community opposition. In a stunning reversal of fortune, the city council unanimously approved the project after it had been unanimously rejected by the city planning commission.

In another matter, Joe crafted a plan for a regional shopping center anchored by a national retailer. The complex transaction involved the simultaneous closing on about 11 distinct parcels of land, a sale of a significant portion of the assembled land to a third-party national retailer, closing on a significant tax increment financed special assessment district to fund infrastructure costs, the leasing of approximately 70 percent of the project to be built on the client-retained land, and closing a construction loan.

Joe has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, Chambers USA and DBusiness Magazine. He is affiliated with the American Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan, and Wastenaw County Bar Association. His civic and social activities include being on the Board of Trustees for Legacy Land Conservancy and Vice President and Chairman of the Board for Ann Arbor Art Center. Joe completed his B.A. at the University of Michigan in 1980 and his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 1985.