Benjamin Needell

Benjamin F. Needell is a Senior Advisor with Georgetown. Prior thereto, he was a Senior Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for almost 35 years.  As head of the Skadden’s real estate practice, Mr. Needell led the firm’s practice on real estate development, purchase and sale transactions, financings, real estate investment trusts, major headquarters leases, hotel operation, development and financing, and matters relating to pension fund investments in real estate.

Mr. Needell represented numerous clients such as Boston Properties; Calvin Klein; The Clarett Group; ING Real Estate; the estate of Ahmet Ertegun; The Georgetown Company; Howard Parnes; the Helmsley Charitable Trust; Orient-Express Hotels; Ian Schrager; André Balazs; Larry Silverstein; Wenner Media, Inc.; The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the Empire State Development Corporation; Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation; Madison Square Garden; The Howard Hughes Corporation; Xin Zhang; The Shed; and the estate of Leona M. Helmsley.

Mr. Needell advised many major real estate developers in the acquisition, construction and development of properties.  Mr. Needell represented The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the privatization of the World Trade Center. Mr. Needell also handled the sale of the Carlyle Hotel, the sale of 450 Park Avenue, the purchase of 399 Park Avenue and the purchase of Governors Island.

Mr. Needell has been included in the PLC Cross-border Corporate Real Estate Handbook, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Who's Who Legal, The Legal 500 United States and The Best Lawyers in America for real estate law. He also was named Best Lawyers' 2013 New York City Real Estate Lawyer of the Year.

Benjamin Needell was a Board of Directors for many various organizations, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from 1986-2018, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum from 1990-2018, Wenner Media Inc. from 1979-2017, and the Westchester Land Trust from 2001-2018. Mr. Needell was chairman of Stratton Mountain School from 1980-2012 and the New York Restoration Project from 2002-2018. He was an advising board member of The Shed from 2017-2019, and the Stratton Mountain Club from 2016-2023.