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Dean Parker is one of the firm's senior practitioners in the fields of real estate, secured lending and commercial law. Over a career spanning more than a quarter of a century, he has represented a wide array of institutions, business corporations, entrepreneurial organizations and individuals, with particular emphasis in the real estate and banking sectors.

Dean's broad experience in real estate is relied upon extensively by clients in acquisitions and dispositions, development, leasing, financing, governmental entitlements and dispute resolution. Some of the more notable transactions he has spearheaded include:

  • Entitlement of a world headquarters campus site for a Chicago area based manufacturer, including annexation, zoning and negotiation of incentives with applicable taxing districts.
  • Acquisition and redevelopment of an upscale community shopping center in Wilmette, Illinois, one of Chicago's North Shore suburbs, on behalf of the developer.
  • Disposition of an environmentally challenged former manufacturing site for a major industrial company.
  • Financing of construction and redevelopment of numerous residential and commercial phases of Homan Square, the redevelopment of the original Sears Roebuck & Co. headquarters on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, on behalf of the lender.
  • Disposition of a multi-state portfolio of office, retail and industrial properties on behalf of an institutional owner.
  • Development of an upscale home furnishings and design, lifestyle shopping center in Naperville, Illinois, including establishment of joint venture, acquisition, annexation and rezoning, financing and leasing.
  • Financing construction of the 362-room Renaissance Suites O'Hare Hotel utilizing multiple debt facilities, on behalf of the lead bank serving as the construction lender.
  • Financing of renovation and expansion of the Casino Queen Casino and Hotel project, East St. Louis Illinois, through tax increment financing subsidy, on behalf of the municipality.

Dean also has substantial involvement serving lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions of all types, including revolving credit and letter of credit facilities, secured and unsecured, term loans, participations, multi-bank credit facilities, asset-based loans and inter-creditor arrangements. The following is a representative sample:

  • Financing of a national health services company through a secured revolving line of credit, including health care receivables, on behalf of the administrative agent for a multi-bank lending group.
  • Financing of a health care products manufacturer, through long-term real estate financing, with an interest rate fixed by a rate swap transaction and through a secured revolving line of credit, on behalf of the lender.
  • Financing of a software distributor, through a secured, formula-based revolving line of credit, and the right to purchase warrants, on behalf of an institutional asset-based lender.
  • Financing of renovation of an apartment complex, utilizing sale of Internal Revenue Code Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), multiple grants and loan facilities with rights controlled by intercreditor arrangements, on behalf of the institutional primary construction lender/second mortgage holder.
  • Financing construction and renovation of a community shopping center on behalf of the borrower.

Clients rely on Dean for assistance in a variety of disputes. He has extensive experience analyzing disputes and developing and supervising implementation of litigation strategies in construction-related matters, lease administration, bankruptcies, and other real estate-related litigation.

Dean joined Hinshaw in 1979. He is the former leader of the firm's Business & Commercial Transactions practice, and a past regional director of the firm.

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
    • Business Law Section 
    • Real Property Section
  • International Council of Shopping Centers
  • University of Wisconsin's Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, Advisory Board
  • Wisconsin State Bar Association

Honors & Awards

  • Holds the AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability
  • Member of the Leading Lawyers Network, where he was selected by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in Corporate and Public Finance Law, and Commercial Real Estate Law and Finance
  • Recognized on the Super Lawyers list by Illinois Super Lawyers magazine, 2005 – 2006, 2009, 2011 – 2018

Presentations

  • "The Lending Climate for Long-Term Commercial Real Estate Financing," for Delta Dental, Chicago, Illinois, July 2009

J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School, 1979

B.B.A., with distinction, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976