Bob specializes in complex civil litigation and real estate
matters. After service in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, Bob
spent 25 years with the Chicago law firm of Jenner & Block,
where he served on the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the
Finance Committee and Chairman of the 26 lawyer Real Estate
Department. Since 1993 he has run his own firm, Keck &
Associates, P.C.. In 2011, Bob also became Of Counsel with
RSG. The following is a sampling of matters which Bob has
handled.
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Prime/ Mansur Investment Partners, LLC et. al. v. Prime
Group Realty Trust, Circuit Court of Montgomery,
Maryland
Bob represented Chicago real estate developers Michael Reschke
and Barry Mansur (Prime/ Mansur) in the suit to enforce a merger
agreement under which Prime/ Mansur would acquire for $180 million
plus assumed debt the ownership of Prime Group Realty Trust which
owned $868 million in real estate, including, among other
properties, the IBM Building, the 208 S. LaSalle Building, the 180
N. LaSalle Building, the 77 West Wacker Building (now the United
Airlines Building) and Bank One Center (131 South Dearborn) in
Chicago and Continental Towers in Rolling Meadows. The case was
settled with Prime/ Mansur receiving 208 S. LaSalle (valued at $56
million, which Prime/ Mansur recently sold for $212 million) and
the Thistle Landing Complex in Phoenix, AZ.
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Ritchie Capital Markets v. 2207 Pavilion Ventures, LLC
et.al., Supreme Court of New York, Manhattan
Bob served as lead counsel in defending developers of a
$36,000,000 housing project in St. Louis in a suit filed by hedge
fund Ritchie Capital to recover a $10,000,000 investment. The case
was settled with the clients recovering $1.8 million from Ritchie
Capital and AIG.
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Robert James Holdings, Inc. v. Plato Foufas et. al.
Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois
Bob defended Chicago developer Plato Foufas in the suit brought
by a money raiser claiming $1.6 million in fees on numerous Foufas
transactions. The case was tried before Judge Judith McCarthy over
two weeks, after which Judge McCarthy issued a twelve page opinion
and order which denied all of the Plaintiff's claims. Plaintiff did
not appeal.
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Murphy v. Murphy, Circuit Court of Rock Island County
Illinois
Bob represented the wife in a $40 million divorce case tried to
decision over 45 days. The wife obtained millions in property and
the largest maintenance award in the history of Rock Island
County.
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Bank of Commerce v. Antioch East End Development
Company, LLC, Circuit Court of Lake County, Illinois
Bob represented Lake Forest real estate developers Michael and
Timothy LeVert who were sued for $7,500,000 on their personal
guarantees regarding their development of a shopping center in
Antioch, Illinois. Bob developed a defense that the Bank defaulted
on their Construction Loan Agreement and the case was settled with
the LeVerts being released on their personal
guarantees.
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Plato Foufas
Bob handled all major real estate transactions for Chicago real
estate developer and syndicator Plato Foufas for over 30 years.
Following is a list of transactions handled for Foufas by
Bob.
Acquisitions/ Developments
Residential
|
Location
|
Apt # /
Net Sq Ft.
|
| Ridge Apartments |
New Albany, Indiana |
384 / 25,000 |
| Biscayne Place Apartments |
North Miami, Florida |
871 |
| Mansards Apartments |
Griffith, Indiana |
1,432 |
| Elmhurst Terrace Apartments |
Elmhurst, Illinois |
315 |
| Briarcliffe Lakeside Apartments |
Wheaton, Illinois |
204 |
| Covered Bridge Apartments |
Carol Stream, Illinois |
362 |
| Forest Cove Apartments |
Mt. Prospect, Illinois |
300 |
| Versailles Apartments |
Rockford, Illinois |
124 |
| L'Atriums
Apartments |
Dallas, Texas (Metro Area) |
1050 |
| Summit Estate Apartments |
Swampscott,
Massachusetts |
261 |
| Villa Fontana Apartments |
Tulsa, Oklahoma |
1022 |
| Almonte Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
118 |
| Woodridge Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
209 |
| Winding Hill Apartments |
Davenport, Iowa |
300 |
| Haystack-Bayside Apartments |
Clearwater, Florida |
417 |
| Woodland Oaks Apartments |
Houston, Texas |
362 |
| Cambridge Squares Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
100 |
| Cartage East Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
98 |
| Del Coronado Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
60 |
| London Towne
Apartments |
Richmond, Virginia |
682 |
| |
|
|
Residential
|
Location
|
Apt # /
Net Sq Ft.
|
| Villa Granada Apartments |
Jacksonville, Florida |
140 |
| Windsong Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
312 |
| 1020 Esplanada Condominiums |
New Orleans, Louisiana |
23 |
| Chapel Tower Apartments |
Durham, North Carolina |
392 |
| Wakefield Apartments |
Raleigh, North Carolina |
780 |
| Crestview Apartments |
Nashville, Tennessee |
120 |
| Franciscan Apartments |
Orlando, Florida |
188 |
| Mt. Vernon & Monticello Apartments |
Newcastle, Delaware |
264 |
| Forest Rain Apartments |
Atlanta, Georgia |
582 |
| Tall Oaks
Apartments |
Atlanta, Georgia |
540 |
| Brookwood Apartments |
Nashville, Tennessee |
206 |
| Tanglewood Apartments |
Hammond, Indiana |
408 |
| Westmore
Apartments |
Lombard, Illinois (Chicago) |
230 |
| |
|
|
Commercial / Retail
|
|
|
| 100 N. LaSalle |
Chicago, Illinois |
135,000 |
| 990 Paradise Road Office Complex |
Swampscott, Massachusetts |
23,000 |
| ARC Mall of Swampscott |
Swampscott, Massachusetts |
135,000 |
| Sheraton Century Center Plaza (HOTEL) |
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma +10 |
110,000 |
| Lundy Industrial Building |
Glen Head, New York |
115,000 |
| Crossroads Shopping Center |
Dallas, Texas |
187,000 |
| Jack In The Box Restaurants (22) |
Chicago, Illinois |
57,000 |
| Boulder Crest Mall |
Atlanta, Georgia (Metro Area) |
57,000 |
| Forest Prairie Mall |
Atlanta, Georgia (Metro Area) |
81,000 |
| Northgate Mall |
Atlanta, Georgia (Metro Area) |
59,000 |
| Woodfield Executive Plaza Office Building |
Schaumburg, Illinois |
123,000 |
| Sheraton Plaza (HOTEL) |
Tempe,
Arizona
223 |
198,000 |
In addition to the foregoing, Bob has handled numerous
re-financings of the above properties with securitized mortgage
debt sold on Wall Street. As example, Bob handled a $54,000,000
refinancing of Mansards Apartments (1,432 housing units) with
Lehman Brothers.
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Illinois Housing Development Authority
While Chairman of Jenner & Block's Real Estate Department,
Bob served as chief real estate counsel to the Illinois Housing
Development Authority (IHDA) for nearly 10 years. IHDA sells bonds
and funds residential developments for low and moderate income
housing all over the State of Illinois. Among many others, Bob
handled all real estate aspects of the largest project IHDA ever
built:
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Illinois Center Apartments, 175 N. Harbor Drive,
Chicago, Illinois
Bob served as IHDA's real estate counsel in a $69,800,000 bond
offering sold by Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs and the mortgage
investment of the proceeds in a 60-story 600 unit apartment tower
on Chicago's lake front developed by Metropolitan Structures and
Metropolitan Life.
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Michael Reschke and Barry Mansur
See matters handled for Prime/ Mansur Investment Partners, LLC
above.
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Canyon Hotel and Country Club, Palm Springs,
California
Bob handled the acquisition of this property with a 300-room
hotel and 18-hole golf course made famous by Frank Sinatra's Rat
Pack for Chicago developer Robert Bicek.
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Ontario Mills Shopping Center, Ontario,
California
Bob and his team at Jenner & Block drafted the initial
documents establishing the legal framework governing access roads,
parking, condominium ownership of individual store units and all
common areas in what became the world's largest shopping
center.
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Sycuan Casino, El Cajun, California
Bob represented First Astri Corporation, the developers of what
at the time was the largest Indian gaming casino in America, which
was owned by the Sycuan Indian Tribe.
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Crain Communications
Bob has represented Rance Crain, President of Crain
Communications (publishers of Automotive News, Ad Age and Crain's
Chicago Business), in the acquisitions of the following
publications:
-
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Golfweek Magazine
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Main Events Guide
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Midwest Direct Mailers, LLC
Bob became the general counsel for Jetson Midwest Mailers, LLC,
one of the nation's largest direct mailing houses (representing
Publishers Clearing House and America Online, among others), and
its owner, Richard C. Carosella, Sr. America Online
discontinued issuing direct mail marketing and Jetson became
insolvent, leaving Mr. Carosella liable for its debt. Bob developed
and implemented a plan whereby Jetson made an assignment for the
benefit of its creditors and its assets were acquired from the
Trustee by a new company named Midwest Direct Mailers, LLC set-up
by his son, Richard M. Carosella, Jr., with new financing and the
assumption of Jetson's debt which Bob negotiated down by over 50%.
Midwest Direct Mailers, LLC is today one of the largest mailing
houses in the country.
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Spurgeon Investment Company
Bob was voted onto the Board of the Spurgeon Mercantile Company,
which operated 40 development stores throughout the Middle West, as
an independent outside director to give the firm directions. After
a six-month investigation, Bob recommended to the Board that the
company hire an investment banking firm to find a buyer for the
company because Walmart was expanding in the Midwest, which the
Board approved. Bob handled the sale of Spurgeon's assets for
$25,000,000, and Spurgeon was converted into Spurgeon Investment
Company, of which Bob remains one of the three directors monitoring
its investments. The purchaser of Spurgeon's assets went bankrupt
within two years as Wal-Mart developed stores in Spurgeon's market
areas, as Bob had predicted.