Minnesota Lawyer
Winthrop & Weinstine
The real estate market in 2023 is off to a busy start, according to Catherine “Trina” Sjoberg of Winthrop & Weinstine. Rising interest rates have led a lot of developers to step away from deals. And when they pull back, that creates opportunities for other developers, she said.
Sjoberg represents developers, owners, operators, investors and lenders in a broad range of real estate matters, including the sale, acquisition, financing and development of real estate. Her practice includes guiding the development of residential, commercial and mixed-use projects and master plan communities, including senior housing cooperatives.
“A lot of what I’m doing now is senior housing cooperatives. The buyer is buying a membership, which gives them a long-term lease,” she said. Most are in the metro area, one is in Duluth, and a client is looking at other states. There’s still a lot of demand, Sjoberg said.
We’re not building enough housing as a general rule, Sjoberg said. There are a lot of market forces against people finding homes and a lot of proposed legislation in the landlord tenant area that would affect multifamily housing. Some of it is protective of tenants, Sjoberg said. “It puts Minnesota a little bit of an outlier, not a friendly environment for multi housing. We don’t know how this is going to come down. When we find out what legislation is passed, we’re going to have to digest and educate clients.”
Sjoberg said she is a huge proponent of the bar association certified specialist credential. It provides an objective way of evaluating attorneys and shows a commitment to a high standard of professionalism, she said, adding that Winthrop and Weinstine has a good program for developing new attorneys.
Winthrop was one of the first to open after the pandemic, Sjoberg said, and she’s bullish on downtown. “It’s just a matter of time before it comes back.”
