Carla M. Moynihan
Partner, Real Estate Department Chair
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Carla M. Moynihan, partner and chair of the firm's Real Estate Department, has over 30 years of transactional experience advising clients in all aspects of their acquisition, disposition, leasing, permitting, construction, and financing projects.
Carla’s clients include owners, institutions, developers, retailers, individual investors, hotels, state agencies, municipalities, and lenders. She represents these clients in single asset and portfolio transactions for office, lab, retail, hotel, multi-family, or industrial uses, advising on purchase and sale agreements, leases, easements, financings (CRE and CMBS), development agreements, and design/construction contracts.
In addition to her transactional practice, Carla guides clients throughout the permitting and public land approval process at federal, state, and local levels, including the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the City of Boston Board of Appeal, the Boston Planning and Redevelopment Agency, and neighborhood architectural/landmark commissions.
Carla is a frequent lecturer on commercial real estate transactional matters, and a former adjunct faculty member at the Boston University School of Law, teaching Contract Drafting.
“Carla Moynihan guided us through some complex dealings with humor, understanding, and a high degree of competence. All of us were impressed with her grasp of the issues and appreciated her ability to communicate legal matters in terms we could easily understand. The personal attention she gave to us made a real difference – we truly enjoyed working with her.”
Experience
- Boston Planning and Development Agency on numerous long-term ground lease projects throughout the City of Boston, including:
- the former Building 108 Power Plant in the Navy Yard for redevelopment of 97,000 sq ft of laboratory and R&D space with café and 39 below grade parking spaces.
- an amended and restated ground lease regarding two adjacent Economic Development and Industrial (EDIC) leaseholds on behalf of BPDA for property located at Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park.
- a 70-year ground lease with a 29-year option to extend and PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes Agreement) for the redevelopment of the historic Chain Forge Building located in the Charlestown Navy Yard for a 180,000 sq ft, limited service, extended stay 240-room hotel and restaurant/bar. The lease transaction included tri-party agreements with the National Park Service.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific on leasing, lease amendments, acquisitions, title review, reciprocal easement agreements, and design and construction contracts (design build and design bid build) for various ground up, building renovations, and replacement projects including ones for lab/biotech/office space, manufacturing, warehouse space, and/or cold storage space throughout the United States and Europe. Completed over fifty large and small real estate and design / construction contracts for projects valuing between $2 million to over $100 million.
- Rafi Properties in the $88 million acquisition and $29.3 million financing of Ames Business Park, now Somernova, in Somerville, Massachusetts. The 300,000 square foot mixed-use site, located in the city’s Union Square, contains 25 different lots and is home to over 30 vibrant and popular anchor tenants.
- Ahold Delhaize in the sale of surplus real estate throughout the Northeast, including negotiation of purchase and sale agreements, as well as drafting operating and third-party leases, condominium documents, and REAs.
- Berkeley Investment creating uniform owner/developer contracts including Acceptance of Proposals (AOPs) for design and construction, AIA forms, and access agreements and have handled the negotiation and project specific AIA design and construction contracts for a variety of uses and project size, including standard bid and design build projects.
Accolades
- Named a 2025 Woman of Influence in CRE by ALM/GlobeSt.com
- Ranked in Chambers USA for Real Estate – Massachusetts (since 2012)
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Real Estate (since 2013)
- Named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly “Top Women of Law” (2017)
- Named Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly “Go-to Commercial Real Estate Lawyer” (2021)
- Selected for inclusion in Massachusetts Super Lawyers (since 2009)
- Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rated: A/V Preeminent®
- Boston University School of Law’s Young Lawyer’s Chair Award
- Named to Boston magazine’s Top Lawyers list (2022, 2023, 2024)
- Connect CRE’s 2024 Boston & New England Lawyers in Real Estate Award
- New England Real Estate Journal (NEREJ) 2024 “Ones to Watch- Industry Leader.”
Speaking Engagements & Publications
- “Negotiating a Construction Contract,” speaker, MCLE, June 7, 2021
- “Mastering the Art of Negotiation,” speaker, WTS-Boston Professional Development Committee, May 4, 2021
- “How to Draft & Negotiate a Commercial Sublease,” speaker, MCLE, March 23, 2021
Related Blog Posts
Memberships
- The Abstract Club
- Boston Bar Association
- Former Co-Chair of the Real Estate Section
- International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Community Involvement
- Boston University School of Law
- Past President of Executive Committee
- United Way
- Real Estate and Building Industry Leadership Committee, Former Member
- Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
- Past President of Board of Advisors
- Town of Belmont
- Planning Board and Belmont Housing Trust (2007-2010)
