Gould + Ratner

Linsey

Cohen

Managing Partner

With over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, Linsey Cohen has navigated every corner of the field—from retail and office spaces to multifamily developments. Clients value Linsey for her deep knowledge of the real estate landscape and her proven ability to navigate complex transactions. Her impressive client portfolio includes investors and corporations with property interests spanning the United States.

Linsey brings tireless business savvy to every deal, keeping transactions on track even through the most complex negotiations. She advises a notable roster of clients on high-stakes national commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, financing and leasing matters, including:

  • One of the nation’s largest drugstore retailers, helping execute its plans for strategic store development through leasing, acquisition or, when appropriate, repurposing assets
  • A discount supermarket chain with an aggressive nationwide expansion, negotiating leases, serving as outside counsel for all company lease administration matters, serving as outside counsel for various other real estate matters, managing real estate aspects of strategic acquisitions and spearheading the negotiation of long-term lease agreements for the company’s distribution centers
  • The second-largest radio network and media company in the United States, based in Pennsylvania, advising on office leases, tower leasing and acquisitions, dispositions, sales, and vendor agreements
  • A large national private institutional investor in multifamily housing, helping on large complex matters, including the acquisition and disposition of more than $1 billion in assets from its securitized portfolios, as well as the acquisition of large portfolios of apartment complexes around the country
  • A variety of parties in multiple facets of distressed properties, assisting in ongoing representation of several court-appointed receivers and representation of borrowers in asset restructuring
  • A neighborhood-centric, hand-crafted coffee brand, assisting its strategic nationwide expansion
  • A Bay Area ghost kitchen company on its strategic nationwide expansion efforts

Linsey prides herself on her “business-first” perspective, learned early in her career while she was an in-house lawyer, to help her clients find the optimal business solution within a legal context. She often counsels entrepreneurial and middle-market clients on corporate and business concerns beyond real estate, liaising with other Gould & Ratner lawyers in litigation, tax, construction and other related areas to resolve issues.

An important aspect of Linsey’s practice is her active involvement in several real estate industry groups – such as Commercial Real Estate Executive Women (CREW) Chicago’s chapter and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) – as well as the boards of local businesses and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Linsey joined the Board of Directors as a Board Observer for S.I. Container Builds, Inc., a woman-owned business that works with developers, owners, nonprofits and others to provide sustainable and affordable housing options. Also in 2024, she began serving on the Board of Directors for the Israel Tennis & Education Centers, and in 2019 Linsey joined the board of directors of ZCenter, a nonprofit that provides support to sexual abuse survivors in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

Linsey has been recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a “Notable Women in Law” for 2020, 2022 and 2024 and as “Real Estate Lawyer of the Year” for 2020 by Illinois Real Estate Journals. Linsey was recognized in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for her work in real estate law. In 2020, Linsey was inducted into Midwest Real Estate News' Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. In 2021 she was recognized as “Chicago Power Woman in Commercial Real Estate” by Bisnow, a “Notable GenX Leader in Law” by Crain’s Chicago Business and a recipient of Connect CRE’s “2021 Lawyers in Real Estate” award.

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Connect with Linsey

(312) 899-1659 Office
(312) 501-7660 Mobile

Connect with Linsey

(312) 899-1659 Office
(312) 501-7660 Mobile

Credentials

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Education

  • Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D., 1998
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.A., with departmental distinction, 1995

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois

Affiliations

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  • American Bar Association
  • Chicago Mortgage Attorneys Association
  • CREW Chicago (Commercial Real Estate Executive Women)
  • Faculty Lecturer, Institute for Paralegal Studies, Loyola University Chicago, 2003–2004
  • International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
  • Board of Directors, ZCenter
  • Chicago Regional Board of Directors, Israel Tennis & Education Centers
  • Board Observer, S.I. Container Builds, Inc.

Key Cases or Transactions

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  • Represents an impressive list of national retail tenants including:
  • Advising one of the nation’s largest drugstore retailers, by helping to execute its plans for strategic store development through leasing, acquisition or, when appropriate, repurposing assets.
  • Assisting Philz Coffee, a neighborhood-centric, hand-crafted coffee maker, in its strategic nationwide expansion.
  • Representing a discount supermarket chain with an aggressive nationwide expansion, negotiating leases, serving as outside counsel for all company lease administration matters and serving as outside counsel for various other real estate matters.
  • Representing a micro food hall in negotiating leases as a part of its strategic nationwide expansion.
  • Assisting a Bay-area brewery and tasting room in their expansion efforts.
  • Represents a Pennsylvania-based national media company and radio network, including advising on office leases, tower leasing and acquisitions, dispositions, sales and vendor agreements.
  • Represents a large national private institutional investor in multifamily housing, helping on complex matters including the acquisition and disposition of more than $1 billion in assets from its securitized portfolios, as well as the acquisition of large portfolios of apartment complexes around the country.
  • Represented a national private institutional investor in the $450 million acquisition of two multifamily properties in Texas.
  • Represented a national private institutional investor in the $75 million acquisition of a multifamily property in the Chicago suburbs.
  • Represented a client in a series of “build-to-suit exchange” transactions, which entailed selling two properties for $25 million and $46 million, respectively, and using those funds to complete leasehold improvements.
  • Represented a variety of parties in multiple facets of distressed properties, including ongoing representation of several court-appointed receivers and representation of borrowers in asset restructuring.
  • Represented shopping center developer in the acquisition and development of an approximately 450,000-square foot shopping center, including the negotiation of the purchase and sale agreement, acquisition of property, review of plat of subdivision and associated easement agreements, negotiation of site development agreement with big box anchor, and negotiation of reciprocal easement and operating agreement.
  • Represented shopping center developer in the acquisition and re-development of a 20,000-square foot strip center development, including the negotiation of the purchase and sale agreement, acquisition of property, negotiation with existing tenant to buy-out existing lease, and drafting of reciprocal easement and operating agreement.
  • Represented regional developer in negotiation, drafting and review for purchase of a partially constructed 735,000-square foot “lifestyle center” with three major big box anchor tenants.
  • Represented national retailer in its development, leasing, acquisition and construction of over 50 sites. These projects range from fee purchases to ground leases, reverse build-to-suit and build-to-suit leases to leasehold acquisitions, including due diligence review, drafting and negotiation of all transaction documents, and the negotiation and resolution of construction disputes.
  • Represented junior anchor tenant in relocation efforts for retail store, including negotiation, drafting and review of lease termination agreement, and review of relocation lease.
  • Represented real estate investor in acquisition of fee interest in property encumbered by long-term, triple-net retail leases, including the acquisition of triple-net leases with a local banking institution as well as a national office supply store.
  • Represented one of the largest private institutional apartment owners in the disposition of approximately $1 billion of assets from its securitized portfolios.
  • Represented and negotiated multiple borrowers in a distressed debt workout.
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Linsey prides herself on her “business-first” perspective, learned early in her career while she was an in-house counsel, to help her clients find the optimal business solution within a legal context.