Steven P. Katkov

Member

: Minneapolis
33 South 6th Street
Suite 3800
Minneapolis, MN 55402
P: (612) 260-9037
F: (612) 260-9080

Steven P. Katkov

Steven is first and foremost a business lawyer and applies his strong business sense to a practice focused on real estate. He comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs and has an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset. He is familiar with accounting, tax, economic, and risk management concepts, and has held significant management positions in two public Fortune 300 companies with an emphasis in real estate, banking, and finance. His diverse business and legal experience allows him to understand clients' objectives and help them develop creative and efficient strategies for achieving them.

Steven represents buyers and sellers in commercial real estate transactions, lenders, and borrowers in commercial loan transactions, and tenants and landlords in leasing transactions. He also advises builders, developers, and landowners seeking government approvals to pursue project entitlements and in defending alleged regulatory violations. Steven’s zoning experience spans across seven states, and he often advocates land use approvals for controversial installations of telecommunications and signage facilities. He is frequently called upon to assist in the resolution of difficult land title issues. Additionally, he represents tenants in the negotiation of leases involving institutional landlords, as well as large owners and developers in situations in which the tenant often has little negotiating leverage.

Steven also advises clients on a variety of business, transactional, corporate, and tax matters. He has represented closely held corporations, partnerships, emerging businesses, lenders, and individuals throughout the United States. He also provides business and corporate law services to a number of clients, with an emphasis on software and hardware solutions.

Steven currently serves on several advisory boards, including the Hennepin County Sheriff Foundation. He served three terms as treasurer and executive committee member of the Federation of Exchange Accommodators (FEA), the only national trade association organized to represent professionals who conduct like-kind exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. FEA members include qualified intermediaries (QIs), their primary tax and legal counsel, and affiliated industries (such as tenancy in common investment sponsors, banks, real estate brokers, title companies, and escrow agents). Steven has chaired the FEA’s Annual Conference Committee, among other activities.

He has spoken at various organizations around the country, including the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Federation of Exchange Accommodators, and the Indiana Society of Public Accountants. For more than a decade, he has taught as an adjunct professor of real estate and business law in the evening MBA program at the University of St. Thomas. In 2013 and 2016, Steven’s commitment to providing an annual minimum of 50 hours of pro bono services in the calendar year to Minnesota’s low-income residents and nonprofit organizations earned him recognition from the Minnesota Bar Association as a North Star Lawyer.

Steven received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. He was a staff member and then managing editor of Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice and was a graduate research assistant to Professor Carol Chomsky, professor of American legal history. He earned his M.S. in justice studies from Arizona State University, during which he was a graduate research assistant for Professor Pat Lauderdale. He received his B.A. in sociology, magna cum laude, from Macalester College.

Experience

Represented the tenant in the negotiation of a Minneapolis/St. Paul-area office lease in a major downtown high-rise involving a California landlord.

Represented the tenant in the negotiation of a Minneapolis/St. Paul-area office lease in a major high-rise involving a New York landlord.

Represented the tenant in the negotiation of a Minneapolis/St. Paul-area office lease in a major suburban high-rise involving a New York landlord.

Represented the tenant in the negotiation of a Minneapolis/St. Paul-area office/warehouse lease in a major suburban industrial complex involving a California landlord.

Represented the tenant in the negotiation of a Des Moines-area office lease in a new development involving a major Des Moines real estate firm.

Represented the landlord in the negotiation of a long-term Minneapolis/St. Paul-area office lease for the corporate headquarters of a large, privately held national business.

Won a motion to dismiss all claims brought by the purchaser of certain trademarks against our client, a secured creditor with a blanket security interest. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, sought a declaration that the secured creditor had no interest in various trademark applications and registrations, and an injunction barring the creditor from interfering with the purchaser's rights in the trademarks. In granting the motion, the court accepted our argument that the plaintiff had not stated any basis for challenging the secured creditor's interest in the trademarks under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, failed to allege an actual case or controversy and, in effect, sought an improper advisory opinion.

Represented a majority partner in a multi-state Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange of real property. The "build to suit" reverse 1031 exchange required Fannie Mae approval for a "drop and swap" of the relinquished property and the exchange into a multi-family portfolio of partially completed buildings, and buildings to be constructed, as the replacement property.

Represented Spell Capital Partners, LLC in its acquisition of Viking Plastics, a leading manufacturer of tight-tolerance proprietary and custom injection molded products and assemblies for the automotive, HVAC, and industrial markets.

Represented a wireless communications company in connection with post-IPO development site acquisition efforts across five states. This representation included overseeing acquisition and land use approvals for more than 350 cellular sites and serving on a regional management team that actively participated in the integration of business practices and operations to assist in the launching of the client’s VoiceStream brand and "Get More" marketing strategy. Subsequently represented the client in connection with its acquisition by T-Mobile USA, Inc., which included being involved in the acquisition and land use approval process of roughly 500 cellular sites.

Obtained a $5 million settlement on behalf of limited partners in litigation filed in state court in Minnesota and Texas which centered on enforcing the clients’ put options against the developer of the first hotel-suite concept in the nation.

Served on the legal team representing aggrieved condominium owners in the landmark title insurance decision involving unmarketable title of condominium units at Telemark Ski Resort, which centered on whether a "unit" was an "investment contract" under Section 5 of the Securities Act or a leasehold interest. Allison v. Ticor Title Ins. Co., 979 F.2d 1187 (7th Cir. 1993).

Secured a complete defense verdict on behalf of a maxillofacial surgeon sued by minority members of a limited liability company he formed to purchase and reconstruct a commercial building. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit despite a Special Litigation Committee's conclusion that their claims should not be pursued on behalf of the company. After prior counsel for the client unsuccessfully moved for summary judgment, we convinced the court at trial that the plaintiffs' claims were time-barred and/or were derivative claims which the plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue.

News

Cozen O’Connor Welcomes Steven Katkov to the Firm’s Real Estate Practice in Minneapolis

October 26, 2015

Steven brings over 25 years of experience representing a wide variety of closely held corporations, partnerships, emerging businesses, lenders, and individuals throughout the United States.

Recent Federal Court Decision Adds Clarity to “Ordinary Wear and Tear” Lease Provisions [Real Estate Alert]

March 15, 2017

Steven P. Katkov discusses a recent federal court decision in a case involving a landlord-tenant dispute regarding the Woolworth Building in St. Paul, Minn., in which Foot Locker Foot Locker was the tenant under a lease from 1920. The landlord claimed that Foot Locker failed to keep the building in good repair, and the court considered the measure of damages for the landlord’s claims.

Text Messages Add New Layer of Risk to Deal-Making in the Modern Age [Real Estate Alert]

June 09, 2016

Steven P. Katkov discusses a recent decision in Massachusetts Land Court that text messages between two real estate brokers regarding the purchase and sale of a commercial building may constitute a “writing” sufficient to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Statute of Frauds.

2016 Real Estate Institute	St. Paul, MN	11/03/2016
The Fundamentals of 1031 Exchanges and Some Surprising Revelations	St. Paul, MN	05/17/2016

Practice Areas

Office/Retail/Industrial Leasing & Development

Real Estate Finance

Zoning, Land Use & Development

Real Estate

Education

University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., 1989
Arizona State University, M.S., summa cum laude, 1986
Macalester College, B.A., magna cum laude, 1984

Bar Admissions

Court Admissions

Affiliations

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