Brooke Baird Smith is a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group, providing counsel in real estate finance, real estate acquisitions and dispositions, real estate development and healthcare lending. Brooke represents numerous life insurance companies, national, regional and local banks, and corporate clients in a wide variety of commercial and real estate lending matters secured by real property, including office, multifamily, industrial, retail, hospitality and other commercial projects. She also represents a number of real estate developers, assisting with due diligence, acquisition and entitlement for residential and commercial developments. Brooke received her law degree, cum laude, from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she completed a concentration in Business Transactions. In addition, she was the managing editor for the Tennessee Law Review and was very active in moot court, serving as a member of three moot court teams. Brooke and her teammates received multiple competition honors, including the Regional Runner-up in the ABA Representation in Mediation Competition and Negotiation Champion of the FINRA Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon. She and her teammates were also named Southeast Regional Champion of LawMeets Transactional Law Moot Court and advanced to the National Competition, where they placed third in the nation, winning the distinct honor of National Best Draft. As a result, Brooke was named to the Order of Barristers.
Brooke received her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, in Law, Justice, and Society with an emphasis in Conflict Management from Lipscomb University, where she was a Presidential Scholar and a Serving and Learning Together Scholar.
Listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Real Estate Law, 2023-2024 Represented financial institution in construction loans Representation of financial institution in connection with a construction loan in the amount of $35.25 million to a developer and owner of large, single-tenant industrial facilities for the construction and development of an 815,670-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in Portland, Tennessee, to be occupied by a subsidiary of a leading automotive parts and hardware supplier. Represented financial institution in construction loans Representation of financial institution in connection with a construction loan in the amount of more than $28.93 million to an international logistics real estate developer for the construction and development of a 615,440-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in Memphis, Tennessee, to be occupied by one of the largest internet retailers in the world. Represented homebuilder in acquisition and development Representation of a Chicago, Illinois-based homebuilder in connection with the acquisition, entitlement and development of multiple properties in Nashville. Representation of this client involved the negotiation and drafting of purchase contracts for multiple properties, assistance with review of due diligence matters, including title, survey and zoning, and providing counsel with respect to required entitlements for the client’s proposed use and development of the projects. Represented homebuilder in acquisition, entitlement and development projects Representation of an Atlanta, Georgia-based homebuilder in connection with the acquisition, entitlement and development of multiple properties in the Middle Tennessee area. Representation of this client involved the negotiation and drafting of purchase contracts, assistance with review of due diligence matters, and handling the closing of various acquisitions. Represented client in negotiation, structuring and closing of commercial mortgage loans Representation of life insurance company client in connection with the negotiation, structuring, and closing of multiple commercial mortgage loans secured by real estate assets in various states, including Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Minnesota, California and other jurisdictions ranging in amounts from $4 million to $107 million. Represented client in permanent mortgage loan to REIT Representation as lender’s counsel in $33.3 million permanent mortgage loan to a large industrial REIT for the long-term financing of an 832,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in Savannah, Georgia, to be occupied by one of the largest carpet manufacturers in the world. Represented lender in industrial transaction Representation to life insurance company in the negotiation, structuring, and documenting $55 million mortgage loan secured by 350,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Trenton, New Jersey. Represented lender in acquisition and restructuring loans Representation as lender’s counsel in the $22 million acquisition and restructuring loan for 20 operating restaurants in 15 states. Represented investor in sale of office building Representation of client in sale of $15.53 million multi-tenant office building with 68,174 rentable square feet of space. Negotiated and drafted purchase contract, responded to title and survey objections, and facilitated closing of transaction. Acquisition counsel to healthcare REIT Representation of Global Medical REIT in upwards of $900 million of healthcare facility acquisitions across the United States.
