Michael J. Lokensgard is a shareholder in the Firm's Corporate and Real Estate Practice Groups in the firm's Appleton office. Mike counsels businesses and business owners with respect to formation, governance, contracts and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Mike regularly represents borrowers, lenders and underwriters in commercial loan and bond transactions.
Mike's real estate practice emphasizes the development, purchase, sale and leasing of healthcare, office, retail and industrial properties. Highlights of his recent work include the sale of a portfolio of medical office buildings consisting of over 225,000 square feet of space on two hospital campuses, and the acquisition of large manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Wisconsin. Mike also has considerable experience with tax-deferred exchanges of real estate, having structured a number of forward, reverse, improvement and multi-property exchanges for clients.
Mike also regularly represents clients in zoning and land use matters. He has successfully obtained zoning permits and variances for a wide variety of activities, including the siting and construction of telecommunications facilities and non-metallic mining operations.
Prior to joining Godfrey & Kahn, Mike served for over five years as an attorney for a federally-recognized Indian tribe. Mike's practice was devoted to the unique legal issues involving business development and finance in Indian country, including matters relating to Indian gaming, on-reservation real estate development, and the complex jurisdictional relationships among tribal, state and federal governments, principally in the area of environmental law.