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Jeffry W.
Gray

Position
Partner
Office
Baton Rouge

Jeff Gray is a senior partner in the Corporate Practice Group. For more than 30 years, Jeff has concentrated on corporate and commercial transactions, with an emphasis on commercial real estate development.


Jeff has served as outside counsel to numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as local, regional, and national real estate developers. Jeff has also served as outside counsel for a broad array of national and international clients in the energy sector, with a focus on industrial site acquisitions.

Jeff's representation of clients in complex real estate transactions includes acquisitions, dispositions, financing and leasing. He is experienced in many forms of commercial real estate, including retail centers, office buildings, hotels, apartment projects, mixed-use developments, industrial, and other commercial properties.

He represents institutional and private lenders in a broad range of financing transactions, including large tract acquisition and development loans, commercial real estate construction loans, as well as shopping center and office building acquisition loans. 

Jeff has developed a special focus on the representation of a number of Fortune 500 companies in the acquisition and development of multi-site real estate projects located throughout Louisiana and the United States. These projects include the acquisition of multiple sites used as shopping centers, pharmacies, and restaurants.  

Jeff is also a respected title insurance agent in Louisiana, having written billions of dollars of title insurance since 1988 for commercial real estate transactions. He is vice president of the firm's title company, Baronne Title Co., Inc., and is an authorized agent for First American Title Insurance Company, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, Chicago Title Insurance Company, and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company.

Prior to practicing law, Jeff was a CPA and tax specialist with KPMG.   

Noteworthy

  • Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," Real Estate Law, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2020)
  • Chambers USA, Real Estate (listed annually since 2013)
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Real Estate Law (listed annually since 2010)
  • AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell

Experience

Industrial/Energy

  • Represented a NYSE-listed refinery company in the acquisition from a major oil and gas company of a 189,000 barrel per day refinery located outside of New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Represented a NYSE-listed mining corporation in the sale of a sulfur refining plant located in south Louisiana
  • Represented a NYSE-listed manufacturer in a $200 million refinancing of a fertilizer plant located in south Louisiana
  • Represented a large energy corporation in the acquisition of multiple sites in Louisiana for the construction and development of salt dome natural gas storage facilities
  • Represented a NYSE-listed refinery company in the conveyance of refinery property to a master limited partnership
  • Represented private individuals in the sale of a significant interest in a seafood company based in south Louisiana
  • Represented a British multinational oil and gas company in the acquisition of significant property interests in southwest Louisiana for a biofuels demonstration plant
  • Represented a NYSE midstream natural gas company in the acquisition of a large regional tugboat towing company based in south Louisiana

Retail

  • Served as lead outside counsel for a Fortune 100 discount retailer in the acquisition of land and development of more than 300 stores in Louisiana over a 30-year period
  • Represented a developer based in New York in the acquisition and development of land for more than 20 sites in Louisiana for the eventual leasing to a Fortune 500 retailer
  • Represented one of the largest Louisiana-based developers in the refinancing by a pension fund of 45 shopping centers located in five different states
  • Represented a Fortune 500 drugstore chain in the acquisition of a large Louisiana regional drugstore chain based in New Orleans, Louisiana, with stores located throughout the Gulf Coast
  • Represented a Midwest-based developer in the acquisition, development and sale to a Korean joint venture of six shopping centers located in various cities in Louisiana
  • Represented a large regional developer in the acquisition and development of more than 30 sites for two Fortune 500 drugstore chains
  • Served as local counsel for a German corporation in the acquisition of multiple sites to be used as shopping centers
  • Represented a Georgia developer in the acquisition and redevelopment of a 250,000-square-foot shopping center located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Office

  • Represented one of the largest multinational banks in the sale to a Canadian corporation and the eventual leaseback of five office buildings located throughout Louisiana
  • Represented a large regional developer in the acquisition of three Class A office buildings located in an office park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Represented a large regional realty trust in the acquisition of multiple office buildings in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Multifamily

  • Represented a Texas-based developer in the sale of two apartment complexes located in south Louisiana for a combined sales price of more than $90 million
  • Represented a Georgia-based developer in the acquisition, development, and sale of two student housing complexes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Restaurants

  • Represented one of the world’s largest restaurant chains in the acquisition and development of land for more than 30 fast food stores located throughout Louisiana over a 25-year period
  • Represented a California-based corporation in the acquisition and financing of more than 40 cafeteria style restaurants in four different states

Mixed-Use

  • Represented a large regional developer in the acquisition of a significant interest in a joint venture owning more than 500 acres of land in Baton Rouge, Louisiana zoned for mixed use

Utilities

  • Represented a large US energy corporation in the acquisition of a major power plant along with more than 40 substations serving nine electric cooperatives covering most of the state

Publications

  • "Beyond the Blog — COVID-19 Recap — October 11, 2020," Jones Walker LLP Disaster Prep & Recovery Client Alert, October 11, 2020
  • "INSIGHT: Sustainability Planning for a Different (but Not Entirely New) Post-Pandemic World," Bloomberg Law , September 18, 2020

Presentations

  • "BRAC Business Webinar: Rent Relief and Acts of God," Baton Rouge Area Chamber, April 13, 2020
  • "Conveyance of Assets into Master Limited Partnerships," PBF Energy Annual Corporate Counsel Conference, April 18, 2018
  • "Closing the Louisiana Real Estate Transaction," National Business Institute Seminar, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, September 22-23, 2011
  • "Tax Ramifications of Filing Bankruptcy," Texas Society of CPAs, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Lubbock, Texas, March 11-15, 1988

Memberships

  • American Bar Association, Section of Business Law
  • International Council of Shopping Centers, Louisiana Government Relations Committee Chair (2013)
  • Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Baton Rouge Chapter, Board of Directors and Treasurer (1994–1998)
  • American Cancer Society, Baton Rouge Chapter, Board of Directors (1988–1994); Crusade Chairman (1992–1994)
  • American Land Title Association
  • Urban Land Institute
  • Baton Rouge Bar Association
  • Baton Rouge Property Lawyers Association
  • Louisiana Land Title Association
  • Louisiana State Bar Association
black and white headshot of Jeffry W. Gray
Baton Rouge
Suite 800
445 North Blvd
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
D: 225.248.2044
F: 225.248.3044
Emailjgray@joneswalker.com

Education

  • Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center
    JD, 1984
  • Nicholls State University
    BS, Accounting, 1980

Bar Admissions

  • Louisiana

Court Admissions

  • US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
  • US Tax Court

Related Practices

  • Commercial Transactions
  • Economic Development
  • Energy Transactional Support
  • Real Estate

Related Industries

  • Construction
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