Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Adds Real Estate Shareholder in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (October 2022) - Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney continues its strategic growth with the addition of Bonnie S. Milavec in its real estate group. She joins Buchanan’s Philadelphia office as a shareholder. Milavec is an experienced commercial real estate attorney. She assists regional and national real estate owners, developers, landlords, tenants, brokers and managers in all aspects of commercial property transactions.
“Having known Bonnie professionally for years I feel we are fortunate to have her as part of the Buchanan real estate practice group,” said Adele Stone, shareholder, chair of the firm’s real estate group, and head of the Fort Lauderdale office. “Her deep knowledge of commercial real estate coupled with her dynamic in-house experience will be an asset for our clients.”
Milavec served as SVP, senior real estate counsel and assistant secretary of a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) publicly traded on the NYSE, where she oversaw the legal affairs of the company’s day-to-day real estate operations – including acquisitions, sales, development, insurance coverage issues, construction law matters, joint ventures, financings and leasing of its properties, build-to-suit and otherwise. In her nearly 13 years with the industrial and office REIT, she worked to facilitate billions of dollars in value through individual and portfolio sales and acquisitions. In so doing, she played an integral role in building the REIT’s portfolio in the US and UK to include: a 108 million square foot logistics operating portfolio; 4.9 million square feet of logistics development in progress; 1,748 acres of land for future logistics development with build-out potential of 20.5 million square feet and a 3.8 million square foot office operating and development portfolio.
“I am delighted to join Buchanan’s growing real estate practice group at a transformative and exciting time in the market,” said Milavec.
Milavec also worked as senior vice president for real estate and general counsel of a $100M private-equity-backed pet-care start-up organization in the Mid-Atlantic states. Her business responsibilities in that role included site selection, lease negotiations, land use, permitting, and build-outs. She also spent 11 years as associate general counsel at a Pittsburgh-based quasi-public, state-related research university handling business, real estate, corporate, and finance matters. She also oversaw endowment investments, negotiated major university sponsorships, and handled technology transfer transactions and start-up company activities formed around university-developed technology.
She devotes time to professional and community organizations with a view toward economic development, mentorship, and community service. She received her law degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Temple University School of Communications and Theater.