Christopher S. Tarr

Chris concentrates his practice on commercial real estate matters, including land use, leasing and conveyancing. He has obtained zoning approvals for more than 21,000,000 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, condominium, sale-leasebacks, ground leases, limited liability company control transfers and tax-free exchanges.

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. He has also handled municipal tax appeals, including a group of appeals based upon state-imposed stream protection provisions.

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 that year.

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

Affiliations

• Princeton Bar Association, Board of Trustees and Former President
• Mercer County Bar Association, Real Property Section
• New Jersey Bar Association, Land Use  Section
• American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section
• Lawrence-Hopewell Trail Corporation, Board of Trustees
• The Peddie School,  Co-Chair of the Bell Society
• Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, Chair, Board of Trustees
• Princeton YMCA-YWCA, Former Board of Trustees
• Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association, Board Member; Former President
• Eden Autism Services, Former Board Member and Vice Chair
• Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce, Former Chair
• Newgrange School, Former Chair
• Princeton Soccer Association, Former President
• American Red Cross, Princeton Chapter, Former Chair
• Greater Princeton Jaycees, Former President

Recognition

Chris has routinely been recognized as a Super Lawyer by being selected by his peers as among the top 5 percent of lawyers in the state. He received the Gerard B. Lambert Community Service Award from the United Way-Princeton Area Communities; the Humanitarian Award from The National Conference; and the Guardian Award from Eden Autism Services. Chris also received the Lifetime Leadership Achievement Award from the Princeton Mercer Chamber of Commerce.

Education

• Cornell Law School, J.D.
• Lafayette College, B.A., with honors

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey

Court Admissions

• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey