Pawel Debowski, previously Co-Chairman of the Group and Head of Central Europe Real Estate, joined the firm’s Warsaw office with his team from Clifford Chance in 2010. He is one of the most widely recognized and respected real estate professionals in Europe, and in the Central and Eastern European region in particular. Debowski has significant expertise in real estate M&A, finance and investment matters, particularly in the office, retail and hospitality sectors. In this capacity, he will continue to act for international and domestic clients including investors, developers, lenders and construction companies in the Polish market and beyond.
Debowski will head the European Real Estate practice, which consists of more than 200 lawyers based in 15 offices across mainland Europe. This market-leading group is regularly involved in high-profile multi-jurisdictional transactions, advising many of the top institutional real estate players, such as Starwood Capital Group, Tristan Capital Partners, Heitman International, Deka, Union Investment and GLL Real Estate Partners, amongst others.
Evan Lazar, co-founder of legacy Salans’ (now Dentons) Global Real Estate Group who has been with the firm since 2004 will remain as one of the Co-Chairs of Dentons Global Real Estate Group. Since the launch of Dentons in April 2013, the Global Real Estate Group has tripled its size, and now, with nearly 600 members globally, has one of the largest offerings amongst leading international law firms.
Lazar commented: “Pawel leads a very strong team which will continue to work on large-scale, complex transactions for both local and international clients. Since joining us he has been one of our key leaders in Europe and he will continue to play a critical role in the continued success of the group.”
Pawel Debowski, added: “It’s been a great year for the Real Estate Group. We have added some exceptional talent to the team and continue to represent an impressive client roster. I am proud to lead such an outstanding team and I expect to see some great successes as we move forward.” He also noted: “Last year saw the highest pan-European commercial real estate investment volume since 2007 with approximately €166 billion transacted, and this volume is expected to continue to increase this year. Our European Real Estate Group is perfectly positioned to serve clients across the Western, Central and Eastern European markets during the eurozone credit crisis market recovery.”
