Real Estate and Construction

Shepard Schwartz & Harris is the tax advisor and accounting firm of choice for some of the area’s most successful commercial, shopping center and mixed-use real estate developers, homebuilders, contractors and property managers.  However, our work is not limited to serving the commercial, residential and shopping center giants.  Our extensive industry knowledge and experience is applied to small development companies, builders, contractors and subcontractors, property management firms and investor groups.  We also advise family offices and individual investors who want to diversify their portfolios and minimize tax liabilities through various real estate investment or exchange strategies.

Our partners and managers keep their fingers on the pulse of the ever changing real estate and construction marketplaces through a number of activities, including participation in industry organizations:  Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA), National Association of Real Estate Companies (NAREC), Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago (HBAGC),  Southwest Suburban Home Builders Association (SSHBA), International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the Association of Subcontractors and Affiliates (ASA), and the Residential Construction Employers Council.

Client Profiles

• Shepard Schwartz & Harris represents Chicago’s largest commercial real estate developers with projects across the U.S.  These highly technical assignments require skills in negotiating with public pension funds, various private equity funds and national mezzanine debt providers. Our work requires extensive knowledge of all aspects of various investor tax sensitivity including UBIT and fund regulation.  Additionally, we advise on the structure and tax consequences of joint venture projects, as well as 1031 exchanges of assets, requiring due diligence of market replacement properties. We also prepare tax returns and provide attestation services for the various client company interests.  Sophisticated institutional investors and lenders possess confidence in our financial statements and tax returns. 
• Our firm represents a large Midwest commercial property management and development company which controls in excess of 4 million square feet of office space.  In addition to advising on the structure and tax consequences of joint venture projects, we assist in devising profit participation formulas. We also provide information technology consulting related to system implementation and monthly maintenance.  
• We provide tax and consulting services for a major apartment investor and developer.  This client has approximately 20,000 residential units under management and ownership throughout the U.S.  The company has raised over $1 billion from pension and private funds to acquire its assets.
• Shepard Schwartz & Harris provides tax and accounting services for many of the area’s largest privately owned homebuilders.  Our work for these companies includes preparing financial statements, tax returns and accounting for company profit sharing and retirement plans. 
• We provide accounting and tax services for a Chicago-area shopping center development, management and leasing company, with properties located throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.      
• Shepard Schwartz & Harris provides financial audits, as well as tax and business advisory services, for one of the Chicago area’s largest electrical contractor.  Our services include providing management with the financial analysis necessary to assist them in making critical business decisions.
• Our firm advises construction companies, subcontractors and suppliers, including the largest roofing contractor in Southwest Florida and a major asphalt manufacturer and roadway construction company in the Chicagoland area.