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Meet Our Professionals

Craig T. Lynch

Partner
Charlotte | 704.335.9034
Fax | 704.334.4706

Craig Lynch is a commercial real estate lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Craig brings more than 37 years of legal experience to his commercial real estate practice. Clients in practically every sector of commercial real estate entrust their legal needs to him, including automotive industry clients, franchisees and franchisors of national brands, health care providers, organizations expanding their presence across the country, universities, and foreign entities pursuing inbound U.S. real estate opportunities.

Craig takes ownership of and brings a sense of urgency to his clients’ problems, and he builds trusting relationships by developing pragmatic solutions to obstacles standing in the way of achieving their goals and objectives. By taking a proprietary interest in his clients’ matters and prioritizing responsiveness, he successfully enables buyers, sellers, borrowers, lenders, developers, owners, tenants, and landlords to navigate all of the challenges encountered in real property transactions.

Working from a strategic business perspective, Craig complements his counsel of real estate clients with his commercial litigation experience. In addition, prior to practicing law, he spent two years as a business analyst and zone manager for Ford Motor Co.

Representative Experience

Acquisitions & Dispositions

  • Represented clients in site evaluations, contract negotiations, title examinations, and closings in connection with the acquisition, assemblage, and disposition of real property.
  • Counseled clients on development transactions, including due diligence, restrictive covenants, architectural guidelines, development agreements, easements, and license agreements.
  • Advised clients on options to purchase and rights of first refusal.
  • Advised clients on acquisition, construction, and permanent loans.
  • Acquisitions and development of more than 20 large retail sites across the Southeast for an auto dealer in its rollout of a new dealership brand.
  • Acquisitions of real estate interests involved in M&A transactions, including a recent transaction involving 70 sites in one of the nation’s largest acquisitions of retail auto dealerships totaling $3.2 billion.
  • Site acquisitions for retail industrial and manufacturing facilities, including a 45-acre distribution facility located in close proximity to a major rail line and an interstate highway in Walterboro, SC for a national wood products manufacturer.
  • Title counsel, local counsel, and state regulatory counsel in connection with a recent $390 million syndicated refinancing transaction secured by a power generating facility and related real estate in North Carolina.

Other Real Estate Counsel

  • Counseled clients on leases and ground leases.
  • Advised clients on construction contracts.
  • Conducted several comprehensive analyses of a franchisor’s national portfolio of hundreds of leased sites by utilizing artificial intelligence to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Represented clients in real estate disputes in federal and state appellate proceedings, litigation actions, bankruptcy proceedings, and arbitration proceedings.
  • Represented individual athletes, including professional football players and race car drivers, as well as sports venue owners across the entire spectrum of their real estate needs.

Range of Property Types Advised On

  • Advised clients on virtually every type of commercial real estate property imaginable, including transactions involving:
    • Automobile dealerships and service centers
    • Retail facilities
    • Hospitals
    • Medical facilities
    • Clinics and doctors' offices
    • Retirement communities
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels and apartment complexes
    • Universities
    • Grocery stores and shopping centers
    • Sports and entertainment venues
    • Manufacturing plants
    • Distribution and trucking facilities and warehouses
    • Office buildings
    • Single-family, multifamily, and mixed-use developments
    • Forests and timberlands
    • Agricultural facilities, farms, dairies, and feed mills
    • Alternative energy sites
    • Churches
    • Parking facilities
    • Soil, mineral, and water rights
    • Coal mines
    • Golf courses and tennis clubs
    • Marinas

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Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate Law, 2011-2025; Commercial Litigation, 2013-2016
  • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in Real Estate, 2016-2024
  • The Irish Legal 100, 2020
  • National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society’s Volunteer Hall of Fame, 2018
  • North Carolina Super Lawyers, 2012-2014
  • North Carolina Bar Association Citizen Lawyer Award, 2013
  • 2010 Recipient of the Hope Award, the highest honor bestowed by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
  • Charlotte Business Journal's 40 Under 40, 1995
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ in Real Estate; Commercial Development; Banking & Finance
  • Florida State University Circle of Gold Award, 2017

Memberships

  • North Carolina State Bar, Council, 2023-present; Lawyer Assistance Program, Board of Trustees, 2024-present
  • Florida State University Foundation, Board of Trustees, 2019-2024, Chair-Elect, 2022-2024, Secretary, 2020-2022; Executive Committee, 2022-2024
  • National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Executive Committee, Vice-Chair, 2014-2017, Secretary, 2006-2010; Board of Directors, 2003-2017; National Advisory Council, 2017-present; Services Advisory Committee, Chair, 2017-2019
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law Alumni Association, Board of Directors, 2008-2017; Executive Committee, 2012-2017, President, 2014-2015, First Vice President, 2013-2014, Second Vice President, 2012-2013; Nominating Committee, 2017-2018, 2022-present
  • Florida State University Alumni Association, National Board of Directors, Immediate Past Chair, 2018-2019, Chair, 2017-2018, Chair-Elect, 2016-2017, Vice Chair, 2015-2016, Treasurer, 2014-2015; Board of Trustees Designee and Presidential Appointee, 2011-2019
  • Parker Poe, Board of Directors, 2007-2010 and 2011-2023; Finance Committee Chair, 2012-2021; Recruiting Committee Chair, 1996-2002; Former Leader of Real Estate & Commercial Development Practice Group
  • South Charlotte Middle School Leadership Team, 2010-2013 and 2015-2018
  • Olde Providence Elementary School Leadership Team, 2005-2008