Jeffry W.
Gray

Position: Partner
Office: Baton Rouge

Jeff Gray is a senior partner in the Corporate Practice Group. He guides clients through complex commercial real estate transactions and, as vice president of Baronne Title Inc., the firm’s commercial title insurance agency, helps insure them.

For more than 40 years, Jeff has represented developers, lenders, investors, retailers, and industrial and energy companies in all types of commercial transactions. A member of the firm’s real estate team, he handles the acquisition, disposition, development, financing, leasing, and operation of commercial, industrial, retail, and energy-related properties throughout the United States at virtually every stage of the real estate life cycle, from site selection through expansion and sale. Jeff also advises on easements and servitudes, access rights, and economic development incentives.

Many of Jeff’s client relationships are measured in decades. He has served as lead counsel and relationship partner for national and regional clients with substantial real estate portfolios, coordinating multidisciplinary legal teams across multiple jurisdictions on matters ranging from leasing programs to operational real estate issues. Among other engagements, Jeff was lead outside counsel to a national discount retailer in the acquisition of land for the development of more than 300 stores in Louisiana across a 30-year period, and he has handled multi-site development programs for restaurant and drugstore chains.

A significant portion of Jeff’s practice is devoted to the energy and industrial sectors. He represents clients in renewable energy and infrastructure projects, including utility-scale solar developments and transportation and logistics assets, as well as in refinery, petrochemical, and manufacturing facilities and in complex financings that combine real estate, title, and development issues. His current work builds on a long record of major industrial transactions, among them the acquisition of a 189,000-barrel-per-day refinery outside New Orleans and the acquisition of a major power plant and more than 40 substations serving nine electric cooperatives.

Through Baronne Title, Jeff can carry a transaction from negotiation to title policy. As the agency’s vice president, he has played a key role in expanding the firm’s title insurance capabilities throughout its footprint. Jeff handles title examinations and survey matters; structures and underwrites title insurance solutions for large-scale commercial, industrial, renewable energy, and infrastructure projects; and works with title insurers, lenders, and owners to resolve the title, survey, underwriting, access, and mineral issues that arise in major projects, including those involving large multi-site portfolios.

Jeff has previously served as head of the firm’s Baton Rouge office. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), has held leadership positions within the organization, and regularly participates in industry conferences and events focused on retail real estate, development, and emerging trends. Jeff has been recognized annually by Chambers USA since 2013 for his work in Louisiana real estate.

Noteworthy

The Legal 500 United States, Real Estate: Real Estate (2024)
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 renewable diesel biorefinery joint venture between major US and international energy companies involving a $1 billion-plus investment, advising on Louisiana real estate, title, servitude, and energy infrastructure matters related to the development of a major Gulf Coast renewable fuels facility.
Represented the developer of a 100-megawatt solar generation facility in northeast Louisiana, advising on site control, title, mineral, servitude, and related real estate matters for a project supported by a long-term power purchase arrangement with a global technology company.
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

Presentations

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