Princeton
609.987.6666 
610.371.7935  fax
cst@stevenslee.com

Chris concentrates his practice on commercial real estate matters, including land use, leasing and conveyancing. He has been responsible for obtaining zoning approvals for more than 15,000,000 square feet of office, laboratory, retail, industrial and residential uses throughout central New Jersey, representing the area's most significant developers, corporations and institutional end users. He counsels both commercial landlords and tenants nationwide regarding a wide variety of leasing issues. Chris' projects involving the buying and selling of commercial real estate have used both traditional transactional techniques and condominiumizations, sale-leasebacks, ground leases and tax-free exchanges.

In 2006, Chris led a team of attorneys in the $283 million sale-leaseback of one million square feet of office space for a large pharmaceutical manufacturer -- the largest real estate transaction in New Jersey.

Chris regularly appears before regulatory bodies at the local, county and state level regarding a variety of environmental, land use, tax and related issues. He has successfully litigated matters throughout the state involving land use ordinance challenges and variances denials, leasing issues such as rent control ordinances and fire damage claims, as well as title questions such as the effect of private deed restrictions and neighborhood schemes. Chris has also acted as special land use and construction counsel to various public entities such as zoning boards and school districts. In addition, he is experienced with bank financings of real estate acquisitions and with the purchase and sale of properties with environmental clean-up issues.

Representative Cases: 

• ANM, Inc. v So. Bruns. Tp. Rent Leveling Bd, 93 N.J.518
• Med. Ctr. v. Princeton Tp. Zoning Bd, 243 N.J. Super.117

Education:
Cornell Law School, J.D., 1973
Lafayette College, B.A., with honors, 1970

Bar Admissions:
New Jersey

Court Admissions:
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Professional Associations/Civic Affiliations:
Princeton Bar Association, President, 1994-1995; Chair, Real Estate Contract Committee
Mercer County Bar Association, Real Property Section
New Jersey Bar Association, Real Property and Probate Section
American Bar Association, Real Property, Probate and Trust Section
Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Chairman, 1984-1985; 1997-1998
Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association, President, 1998-1999; Board Member, 1988-Present
Newgrange School, Chairman, 1999-2001
Princeton Soccer Association, President, 1998-2000
American Red Cross, Princeton Chapter, Chairman, 1986-1988
Greater Princeton Jaycees, President, 1977-1978
Gerard B. Lambert Community Service Award, Recipient
National Conference Humanitarian Award, Recipient, 1997