By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
During his first six months at Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, attorney Brian Raznick was engaged by a client working on his first real estate development deal.
“Neither of us had much experience and I barely knew how to work the copy machine,” Raznick said with a smile. “But I was exposed to all of the various aspects of real estate law, including acquisition, construction, financing and leasing.”
That was then, this is now. A partner in the firm’s Southfield office and a member of the Real Estate Group, Raznick has been practicing for almost two decades at Jaffe.
His practice includes a full range of real estate activities, including acquisitions, sales, leasing, financing and development for a wide array of clients, including private equity funds and office building, industrial building, apartment and shopping center developers and owners.
“I’ve always been interested in real estate, and real estate law allows you to practice many different disciplines and to make a meaningful impact on your clients’ projects,” he said.
In addition to working on numerous transactions based in Michigan, Raznick has developed a national practice and has completed major transactions in more than 20 states.
These include the recent completion of a securitized loan refinancing for a client in excess of $50 million consisting of 39 different properties across seven states, the acquisition of an office building for some $150 million and related financing and the sale of 17 apartment complexes across the country for a price exceeding $300 million.
A graduate of the University of Michigan and Boston University School of Law, Raznick followed his father into the practice of law.
“I grew up watching my father help his clients solve problems and treating their issues as if he was the business owner,” he said. “I would witness his satisfaction with, and the clients’ appreciation for, the positive outcomes.”
Raznick said he tries to I try to employ “the same entrepreneurial techniques and treat each of my clients’ issues with the same degree of attention, expertise and understanding.”
Named among Michigan Rising Stars, Michigan Super Lawyers and dbusiness Top Lawyers, Raznick is enjoying the “renaissance” of the Motor City.
“It’s amazing to think that five to six years ago, outside investors had no interest in the City of Detroit,” he said.
Raznick said he currently has several clients, inside as well as outside of Michigan, “who want to own or lease both residential and commercial property in the City.”
“I recently represented a company located in the suburbs with 30 employees in their 20s who couldn’t wait to make the move, he said. “The really exciting news is that we only seem to be in the
early stages of this transformation.”
These improvements, he said, “couldn’t have happened without the investment, dedication and foresight of prominent Detroit leaders like Dan Gilbert and Mike Ilitch.”
Jaffe is also part of that renaissance — with a growing presence in Detroit at the firm’s relocated office in Grand Circus Park — to address the growing markets downtown that need more support, such as medical, technology, intellectual property, manufacturing and entrepreneurial start-ups.
“While we’ve always maintained a Detroit office, we look forward to reinvigorating our presence and being an integral part of the continuing growth of the city,” Raznick said.
In addition to being the youngest member of the Jaffe board of cirectors, Raznick serves on the board for ORT Michigan, served on the Pathways to Jewish Leadership – Jewish Federation and is active in JARC and Jewish Federation.
The West Bloomfield native makes his home in Bloomfield Township with Rochelle, his wife of 15 years, and 9-year-old twins, Jake and Gracie.
“I enjoy spending time with my family, and supporting the Wolverines, Tigers and — painfully — the Lions,” he said.
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