Phillip Coover is a partner in Ice Miller’s Real Estate Practice, where he helps clients achieve their goals, find strategic solutions and maximize the value of their real property. Phillip delivers a big-picture approach to complex real estate transactions, with his background as a commercial litigator, business owner and licensed real estate managing broker. Phillip’s primary focus is to help developers bring their visions and dreams to reality—from closing on the dirt acquisition, obtaining construction financing, leasing the asset, to ultimate disposition. He also handles litigation, including foreclosures, commercial evictions, receiverships, business disputes, breaches of fiduciary duty and debt collection.
Because he strives to add value to every transaction, real estate clients trust Phillip to be the sole resource for all their issues, from commercial real estate acquisition and sale, to divestiture, including everything in between such as commercial retail and offices leasing, financing, zoning and land use issues and handling their litigation needs. Phillip has successfully closed hundreds of millions of dollars of commercial property acquisitions, financing (both with complex equity stacks, joint ventures and a myriad of financing options), but also obtained tens of millions of dollars of judgments against adverse parties in litigation. He regularly counsels local and national commercial real estate investment companies, real estate developers, real estate development and brokerage companies, private equity lending companies, property management companies, investors, and business owners on a local and national basis.
Phillip is a member of Ice Miller’s Distressed Investments Group (“DIG”). DIG focuses on distressed investment strategies and transactions, including bankruptcy and in-court restructurings, out-of-court restructurings and other insolvency-related transactions. We have significant experience advising clients on loan-to-own strategies, debt restructurings, debtor-in-possession and exit financings, claims trading, distressed real estate acquisitions, section 363 sales, rescue capital deployment and other investment situations. For further details, please check our our webpage.
As a former full-time litigator (and former Chairman of the Commercial Litigation committee of the Chicago Bar Association), Phillip is a natural fit in DIG, where he quarterbacks clients through note sale acquisitions, foreclosing on properties or entire portfolios, collecting debts, evicting nonpaying commercial tenants, pursuing claims in bankruptcy courts, working with and representing court appointed receivers and enforcing debt covenants and other contracts. Even though Phillip is a member of the federal trial bar, he looks for opportunities to resolve matters in arbitration, mediation and settlement conferences before and during litigation to minimize costs and maximize recovery.
Phillip is adept at structuring capital raises, helping investors and promoters navigate building the capital stack and forging joint ventures. He assists developers and fund creators by preparing investment documents, working through securities offering and exemption issues and providing experienced tactical advice, financing (from traditional financing, mezzanine, to short term hard money loans), all during the course of representing single project fund deals as well as large private equity blind funds. Phillip was early in the charge of opportunity zone investments, having created funds and closed on opportunity zone assets since shortly after the law was in effect.
Phillip is the founder and host of the widely popular “Real Estate for Breakfast” Podcast. On the show, Phillip interviews executives, CEOs, brokers, founders, owners, developers, financiers and other real estate professionals of all types about current real estate trends, issues and developments.
