
Rebecca is a preeminent commercial real estate lawyer who skillfully steers developers, lenders, companies and nonprofit organizations through a wide array of real estate transactions and matters. She has particular expertise in land use law and development permitting in the Greater Boston area, and she frequently draws upon her earlier experience as chief of staff / special counsel to the director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority — now known as the Boston Planning & Development Agency. In addition to development permitting at the federal, state and local levels, her practice encompasses a broad range of acquisitions / dispositions, condominium creation and financing, including matters that involve historic preservation and tax incentive elements. She has deep experience with development projects involving public/private partnerships and the negotiation of ground leases with public agencies and authorities.
Rebecca is Chair of the firm’s Real Estate Development Practice. She is also an avid baseball fan and regularly participates as a pianist in the Chamber Music Conference of the East held each summer.
Education
- Brandeis University (BA, cum laude)
- John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (MPA)
- Yale University (JD)
Experience
Representative permitting and real estate matters include:
- Redevelopment of the former Bayside Exposition Center property into a 5 million+ square foot mixed-use development to include office, laboratory, residential, retail and other commercial uses, as well as new open space areas.
- Development of new office building, parking garage, and City-owned park, including a new City street.
- Development of a multiple residential rental and condominium projects (including affordable housing).
- Development of a Fortune 500 company corporate campus, including the rehabilitation of an historic building, in Boston’s Fort Point Channel area.
- Development of a 1,555 key branded convention center hotel on a site ground leased from a public authority.
- Development of two branded hotels on a South Boston site ground leased from a public authority.
- Development of a branded hotel on a downtown Boston property ground leased from a public agency.
- Development of mixed-income housing in the Mission Hill and Chinatown neighborhoods of Boston on sites ground leased from public agencies, utilizing public subordinate debt and low income housing tax credit equity.
- Representation of a major institutional lender making mortgage and construction loans for residential and office projects.
- Historic rehabilitation for office and commercial space.
- Development Agreement for construction of a minor league baseball stadium
Recognition & Awards
- Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers
- YW Boston Academy of Women Achievers (2017)
- Chambers USA: Massachusetts – Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use (2007–2020)
- Included on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Real Estate list (2004, 2009–2020)
- Best Lawyers in America: Real Estate Law (2018 – 2021)
- Networking Award (One Greenway Project, W Hotel and Residences, 10 St. James Avenue) - CREW Boston
- American Lawyer Media and Martindale Hubbell: Top Rated Lawyer in Land Use and Zoning (2013–2014)
- Bisnow: one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Boston Commercial Real Estate (2015)
- Boston Business Journal’s Advancing Women Event: Legacy Award (2014)
- Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts: Founders Award (2013)
Involvement
- Steering Committee, Ricesticks and Tea Asian Food Pantry
- Trustee, Eastern Bank
- Member, WGBH Finance Committee
- Member, Asian Community Development Corporation Board of Directors
- Member, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Board of Directors
- Member, Board of Directors, Boston Municipal Research Bureau
- Member, Boston Harbor Now Advisory Board
- Past President, Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts
- Past Northeast Regional Governor, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association