Michael J. Ostermeyer

Mike Ostermeyer has nearly 40 years of experience advising clients on commercial real estate. As Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Corporate Real Estate Group, he represents national, regional and governmental owners and investors of real property. His work centers on the management of substantial real estate assets, public development and infrastructure projects, and the development of commercial, institutional and industrial property.

A significant part of Mike’s practice involves corporate real estate portfolios, including multisite holdings. He advises corporate, commercial, industrial and institutional clients, as well as others that hold real estate as an operating asset, on portfolio management, restructuring and dispositions in distressed situations. His experience includes real estate matters arising from mergers and acquisitions and balance sheet transactions, along with the handling of significant developed and undeveloped assets in large retail bankruptcies. He also advises on the acquisition, disposition and financing of ground lease interests.

Mike works with investors, developers and government clients on public development and infrastructure projects. His experience includes public-private partnerships involving healthcare facilities, arts and entertainment projects, sports and convention facilities, and schools. He regularly advises clients on the real estate aspects of municipal and tribal law.

Mike brings formal business training to his real estate practice. Clients have described him as effective in negotiations and focused on practical solutions, particularly when complex matters require attention to the issues that matter most.

• Lead counsel to a nationwide retailer in the purchase and development of a metro Phoenix site for construction of one of the largest distribution centers in Arizona, leading a firmwide team of Ballard lawyers and support professionals to address the substantial real estate, financing, tax, and construction and contracting law issues raised by the project.
• Principal outside counsel to a leading provider of uniform rentals and workplace supplies in handling acquisition, development, disposition, leasing, and other efforts to support the client's North American real estate portfolio.
• Principal real estate counsel to a Forbes Global 2000 firm that provides managed services to business, governmental, and institutional clients worldwide.

• Principal real estate counsel in handling transfers of approximately $850 million in manufacturing, warehouse, packaging, and transportation facilities in 13 states, conveyed in connection with the combination of domestic operations by two significant food and beverage companies.
• Counsel to a Fortune 500 manufacturer to structure, document, and close the portfolio sale of more than four million square feet of manufacturing, office, and service center space, comprising 24 discrete sites in 17 U.S. states and Canada.
• Principal outside counsel to a Fortune 500 food and beverage producer in a series of transactions designed to reorient the producer's balance sheet and to better position its manufacturing, packaging, and distribution capabilities. Projects involved the disposition to a strategic partner of major packaging production facilities in New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Illinois, as well as the acquisition (and later sale) of a new production facility in Washington.
• Principal outside counsel to an array of large, publicly traded companies (including companies in the transportation and logistics, food and beverage, automotive, and heavy manufacturing sectors) in matters involving leases, purchases, sales, and other real estate-related issues arising from the manufacturing and distribution of facilities throughout the United States and Europe.

• University of Notre Dame (M.B.A. 2011)
  Beta Gamma Sigma
• Vanderbilt University Law School (J.D. 1989)
  Order of the Coif
• University of Notre Dame (M.A., English, 1984)
• Luther College (B.A., summa cum laude, 1983)
  Phi Beta Kappa

• Wisconsin
• Illinois
• Arizona
• Tennessee (Inactive)
• United States Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin

• The Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate Law, 2005-present (Wisconsin, 2005-2016; Illinois, 2017-2019; Arizona, 2020-2027)
• Chambers USA, Real Estate Law (Arizona), 2026
• Lawdragon, 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers, 2024-2026
• Legal 500, Real Estate - Real Estate, 2024
• Connect CRE, Lawyers in Real Estate Award (Phoenix & Southwest), 2023
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Chambers USA, Real Estate Law (Wisconsin), 2007-2017
• State Bar of Wisconsin, Legal Innovator Award, 2014
• Corporate Partner of the Year, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, 2013 
• Recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award, Luther College, 2010
• Selected for inclusion in "40 Under 40" by Milwaukee Business Journal, 2001
• Recipient of the "Golden Rule Award" by JCPenney Foundation, 1996

• American College of Real Estate Lawyers
• American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section
  • Student Writing Competition, Chair, 2011-present
  • Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Journal, Acquisitions Editor, 2009-2014
  • Standing Committee on Publications, 2004-2006, 2008-2009, 2014-present
  • Section Advisory Board, 2005-2008
  • Property Preservation Task Force, 2004-2009
  • Committee on Economics, Technology and Practice Methods, Chair, 2001-2005
• National Alliance of Public Charter Schools
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers 
• Milwaukee County Pension Board, 2004-2007