Jennifer I. Connelly is a commercial real estate attorney with experience in acquisitions, development, leasing, and financing.
In particular, Jen represents retailers, developers, and institutions on all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. A partner in the firm’s Renewable Energy Practice Group, Jen advises industrial companies on the roll-out of solar leasing to accomplish their business goals.
While at Sherin and Lodgen, Jen has had the unique opportunity of working on secondment for two of the firm’s clients: one a national retailer; the other, a commercial property management company. In 2019, she completed NAIOP Massachusetts’s Leadership Institute, designed to advance the leadership skills and practical knowledge of up-and-coming commercial real estate professionals.
Jen gained substantial legal experience during law school as a legal intern for the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a federal magistrate judge, and a mid-size civil litigation and transactional law firm. Her final legal internship through law school was at Sherin and Lodgen LLP.
Client Success
Experience
- Restaurant management group in sale of over 20 franchised properties
- National grocery store retailer in environmental investigation and remediation activities at various properties in the northeast
- Landlords, owners, and property managers in retail and office leasing transactions
- Hotel investor in the $54 million acquisition of two hotels in Greater Boston area
- Real estate business in the asset sale of entire business, including over 15 office leases
- Shopping center landlord in leasing of new construction and rehabilitation of two centers
- Hospitality owners and developers in liquor license applications or transfers
- Industrial REIT in acquisitions and leasing of warehouses and manufacturing facilities and and roll-out of solar leasing program
Accolades
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America©
- Featured in New England Real Estate Journal’s (NEREJ) 2021 “Ones to Watch Spotlight“
- Listed as a “Rising Star” by Massachusetts Super Lawyers
Speaking Engagements & Publications
- “Negotiating & Drafting Office & Retail Leases,” speaker, MCLE, May 18, 2022
- “Risks To Consider For Commercial Real Estate Gap Closings,” author, Law360, Aug. 4, 2021
- “How to Draft & Negotiate Subordination, Non-Disturbance & Attornment Agreements (SNDAs),” speaker, MCLE, April 1, 2021
- “Connections 2021 Networking Reception,” practice area leader, Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL), April 1, 2021
- “Lease Drafting in Massachusetts,” co-author, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 4th Edition 2017, with 2020 Supplement
- “Five Key Considerations of Industrial Solar Leasing,” author, Solar Builder Magazine, May 2020
- “Making Sense of Your Industrial Solar Lease,” author, North American Clean Energy, March 2020
- “From Letter of Intent to Closing Checklist – A Deal Document Inventory,” speaker, Boston Bar Association, January 2020
- “Putting the ‘Use’ in Mixed-Use: Negotiating Leases to Protect Against Abutting Tenant Disputes,” roundtable moderator, ICSC U.S. Law Conference, October 2019
- “Breakfast With The Bench: Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton,” The Massachusetts Chapter of The Federal Bar Association Newsletter, December 2014
- “Judicial Profile: Hon. Judith G. Dein,” The Federal Magazine, May 2014
Related Blog Posts
- Gap Closings: A Commercial Real Estate Necessity, Especially Now, April 2, 2021
- The Importance of Recordkeeping in Commercial Lease Administration, March 17, 2017
- Massachusetts Permit Session Jurisdiction Explained, February 27, 2015
- What You Need To Know: Boston and Cambridge Energy Use Disclosure Ordinances, January 5, 2015
Memberships
- Boston Bar Association
- ICSC
- Government Relations Committee Member
- NAIOP Massachusetts
- Member of NAIOP Development Magazine Editorial Board
Community Involvement
- Boston GLOW
- Writing Mentor and Volunteer
- Girls on the Run, Greater Boston
- Board Member and Secretary
- Chair of the Governance Committee
- Notre Dame Academy Alumnae Association Board (Hingham, Massachusetts), 2009 -2015
- Clerk (2012 – 2015)
- Nominating Committee Member (2012 – 2015)
- Fairfield University Young Alumni Committee (Boston Chapter)
