KARIS CLIENT SPOTLIGHT:
Firm client Karis is a private investment and development company with expertise in the warehouse/distribution,
STEVE SCHUSTER
MATT NORTON
BETSY GATES-ALFORD
JOHN STEPHENS
cold storage, and data center infrastructure industries. Founded in suburban Chicago and now based in Naples, Florida, Karis invests in and develops properties across the U.S. with a platform covering the entire spectrum of development and investment including land positioning, build-to-suit solutions, sale leaseback financing, and expansions and redevelopment of existing facilities. Burke Warren Partners John Stephens , Steve Schuster , Matt Norton , and Betsy Gates-Alford work closely with Karis on their real estate needs nationwide. Karis’ business has rapidly expanded and is poised for continued growth in 2025 and beyond. As an example, the team at Karis Cold Storage, one of Karis’ operating companies, is pursuing and executing on a variety of deal structures within the complex cold storage sector, including state-of-the-art new build-to-suit facilities, sale leasebacks, expansions, and redevelopments of existing temperature-controlled facilities. In 2024, ground breaking commenced at 3815 South Ashland Avenue in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood; construction work that will soon result in the development of a nearly 100,000-square-foot cold storage facility by KCS. The new facility will replace the long-empty Continental Can Co. building and fill a tremendous need in the Chicago market. The firm’s Real Estate and Government and Regulatory groups collaborated to navigate the transactional, entitlement, and incentive processes to make this complex project a reality.
AUTO DEALER CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: Victories Over Mercedes Benz and Ford Burke Warren attorneys Ira Levin , Eric VanderPloeg , and Victoria Collado recently secured significant victories for a firm client in parallel cases filed in Illinois
IRA LEVIN
ERIC VANDERPLOEG
VICTORIA COLLADO
federal court ( Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC v. JP Motors, Inc. , No. 23-cv-02281 (N.D. Ill.) and before the Illinois Motor Vehicle Review Board ( JP Motors, Inc. v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MVRB 339-23). The dispute involved the enforceability of a manufacturer’s right of first refusal under the limitations in the Illinois Motor Vehicle Franchise Act, an issue of first impression in Illinois. Mercedes attempted to avoid having the Board hear the issue at all by filing a complaint in federal court, but with Burke Warren’s lead, the client was successful in having the federal action dismissed so that the Board could resolve the issue. The Board then ruled that Mercedes-Benz violated several sections of the Illinois Motor Vehicle Franchise Act by trying to enforce a right
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