Elizabeth Zoller Golish

Lisa has represented landlords and tenants in office, industrial, and retail lease negotiations, and purchasers and sellers in real property acquisitions. She has served as counsel to borrowers and lenders in secured financing transactions involving corporate, nonprofit, and health care sector borrowers. She also represents clients in municipal matters, including lot split and zoning issues.

Lisa helps clients complete transactions involving single or multiple site real properties as well as those transactions in which she manages the real property components of corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, public finance, and larger commercial finance credit facilities.

She has assisted a variety of client types including corporations, private equity companies, nonprofit organizations, and institutions.

Since 2022, Lisa has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer by Chambers USA in Real Estate, Band 4 in Ohio. Lisa is described by clients as "Great to work with. She is always eager to assist and provides timely documents and counsel. Lisa works hard to get the desired results." Chambers researchers stated, "Lisa offers her clients the benefit of extensive expertise in real estate transactions, including acquisitions and development deals."

Lisa has spoken at seminars presented by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.

She worked as an associate senior planner for the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and then practiced law with the historical Cleveland firm Kahn Kleinman LPA before joining Calfee in 2006. 

Lisa earned her J.D., cum laude, from Cleveland State University College of Law in 2001, where she served as the articles editor of the Law Review. She received the CALI Award for Legal Writing and the CALI Award for Zoning and Land Use Law. She earned her B.S. from The Ohio State University in 1992.

Honors & Recognitions

• Chambers USA, Real Estate Law, Band 4, Ohio (2022-2024)
• The Best Lawyers in America^®, Real Estate Law (2020-2025)

Education

J.D., cum laude, Cleveland State University College of Law, 2001

B.S., The Ohio State University, 1992

Experience

• Provide legal counsel in an ongoing representation of affiliated joint ventures and development projects throughout Ohio for a privately owned development and construction company and its affiliated companies that currently manage nearly 50 active projects across the country. Calfee provides legal counsel involving the development of a former governmental facility and adjoining property to a nearly 200-acre, mixed-use development in the Midwest. The client is relocating its corporate headquarters, and we represented the client with construction loan financing to facilitate such development while continuing to assist the client on overall site matters, including the drafting and negotiation of the development agreement amendment, drafting and negotiation of financing documents, public finance documents and other site assemblage matters. Calfee was also instrumental in assisting this client in obtaining Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) tax credits for the development. Additionally, our firm’s ongoing representation for this client includes overall site development work and coordination with a publicly traded, Fortune 500 company that acquired property from the joint venture client to develop its state-of-the-art national research and development in 2020. Calfee assisted the client in purchasing vacant land for an industrial development, which included the negotiation and preparation of the definitive purchase agreement, deed, and due diligence review (title, survey, zoning, and environmental). (2023-2025)
• Represented a publicly traded, Fortune 500 multinational manufacturing company and its affiliated companies on the real estate aspects of various corporate and real estate acquisitions, divestitures and leasing matters. Calfee’s work includes due diligence review, title, survey, property condition evaluations, easement agreements, zoning analysis for owned real properties located in the Southwestern U.S., and lease analysis involving properties throughout the United States. We recently finalized the terms of a long-term lease of a large industrial facility in the Midwest for a planned expansion of operations there. We also are negotiating new lease agreements and lease amendments for other related facilities as well as stock purchase agreements, membership interest agreements, and asset purchase agreements. We have represented the client and its subsidiaries in connection with several corporate transactions involving negotiating new leases and assignments of leases. We have represented a subsidiary and their affiliated entities in various lease amendments, lease reviews, and other corporate real estate counsel in the United States and Canada. (2025)
• Served as lead counsel for a New York City-based real estate developer client on the acquisition and financing of three industrial tenant-occupied facilities in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. Our role included the negotiation of definitive purchase agreements, lease agreements, deeds, loan agreements, deeds of trust, mortgages and other ancillary documents, as well as all diligence material reviews (title, survey, zoning, environmental and property condition reports). This client was concluding a 1031 exchange and used such funding proceeds to purchase two industrial tenant-occupied facilities in the Midwest and one industrial tenant-occupied facility in the Southeast. (2024)
• Handled, from beginning to end, the negotiation of the lease for a publicly traded, Fortune 500 global consumer product company's relocation of its corporate headquarters in Southeastern U.S., the largest lease signed in this metropolitan area in more than five years. (2024)
• Assisted a publicly traded, Fortune 500 multinational manufacturing company client, with the negotiation of 13 real property leases, subleases, and license agreements from August 2023 through July 2024, together with the donation of land to a local park district. The leases were for two of the client’s retail platforms. Also serve as real property counsel on day-to-day real property matters for overflow work provided by the client, including without limitation, drafting and review of easement agreements, lease amendments, and the preparation of lease termination agreements. (2024)
• Handled all real estate matters relating to the membership interest purchase of a bulk transportation and warehousing company for a transportation and logistics company client with hundreds of locations in North America. This transaction was of significant importance to the client, since it allowed our client to expand its growing business. The client also acquired pursuant to separate real property purchase agreements, two additional properties in Michigan. (2024)
• Handled real property matters associated with the acquisition of approximately 65 acres of real property and mineral interests in Ohio for a multibillion-dollar global industrial supply company client headquartered in Southeastern U.S. The transaction involved the Ohio county's Economic Development & Finance Alliance and included Tax Increment Financing from the city. (2024)
• Represented a privately owned development and construction company and its affiliated companies in the purchase of vacant land in the Southeastern U.S. for an industrial development project that included negotiation of the purchase agreement, deed, ancillary documents, and due diligence review (title, survey, zoning, and environmental). (2024)
• Represented a privately owned development and construction company and its affiliated companies in connection with its corporate divestiture involving seven demolition recycling facilities located in Southeastern U.S. This representation included drafting definitive asset sale agreements, deeds, licenses, and other ancillary documents. (2023)
• Handled an asset purchase by a manufacturing and distribution company client, including lease review, assignment and consent matters relating to seven leased facilities located in the Western and Southwestern U.S. (four states); the transaction represented a large expansion to our client's existing manufacturing products business. (2023)
• Handled a client’s sale of a luxury automobile dealership, which was a significant divestiture for the client, including the real estate, which it had owned in excess of 20 years. (2023)
• Representing a publicly traded, Fortune 500, consumer goods company in a portfolio of leasing, subleasing, divestitures, and joint venture transactions across the country. Specifically, we have represented the client on divestitures in two states and leasing and subleasing transactions in five additional states as well as with a joint venture agreement.
• Assisted a publicly traded, Fortune 500, global manufacturing company with the negotiation of 15 real property leases from August 2022 through July 2023, together with the sale and purchase of certain real properties located in Ohio. The leases were for two of the client’s retail platforms and the lease of rail tracks with a national rail line. Calfee also served as real property counsel on day-to-day real property matters for overflow work provided by the client, including without limitation, drafting and review of easement agreements, lease amendments, and the preparation of lease termination agreements. Calfee serves as regular outside counsel to the client for general servicing of real property needs.
• Handled the real property matters associated with the stock sale by an employee stock ownership trust of all of the outstanding shares of the firm's client company, a multifamily residential plumbing service. The real estate matters involved the review of leases for nine leased locations located in California in anticipation of the change in control of tenants, including without limitation identification of landlord consent requirements and preparation/negotiation of related consent agreements.
• Assisting a long-term global media company client with the relocation of its headquarters. We negotiated and closed the sale of the client’s headquarters, which included the negotiation of a post-closing lease pursuant to which the client currently occupies the same property for a nominal rent. Calfee is currently negotiating a lease for real property that will take the place of its current temporary headquarters.
• Worked with a private, member-owned sport and social club client on the 2023 negotiation and consummation of a purchase agreement that resulted in the assignment to a third-party investor of the client’s interests in three separate Option, Lease, Easement and License Agreements historically entered into with three different cell phone providers having communications equipment and antennae located on and surrounding the client’s water tower. An additional easement agreement memorializing the arrangement between the parties was also negotiated and recorded at closing.
• Providing legal counsel in an ongoing representation of affiliated joint ventures and development projects throughout Ohio for a development and construction company. Calfee provides legal counsel in an ongoing representation of an affiliated joint venture involving the development of a former governmental facility and adjoining property to a 150+-acre, mixed-use development. As part of our ongoing representation, we have assisted this client with acquiring and financing the parcels in this development involving multi-family housing as well as the relocation of this client’s corporate headquarters to this development. This representation includes the drafting and negotiation of the development agreement amendment, drafting and negotiation of financing documents, public finance documents, residential leases, and other site assemblage matters. Additionally, our firm’s ongoing representation for this client includes overall site development work and coordination with a publicly traded Fortune 500 company, which acquired the property from the joint venture.
• Represented a religious order in connection with design, zoning, and restrictive covenant review required in relation to a redevelopment project.
• Represented a manufacturer of air handling and ventilation units in the sale-leaseback of 180,000 square foot office, manufacturing, and warehouse facility. Later represented the same manufacturer in connection with sublease and sub-sublease of the same facility.
• Represented a lender in construction financing for historic property having residential and commercial uses, which transaction also involved the issuance of historic tax credits.
• Served as real estate counsel for a private equity firm in the asset purchase of a target company engaged in three different business platforms operating out of different locations. Later represented the acquired company in the stock purchase and related financing of the target company engaged in the development, manufacturing, and selling of specialized industrial, commercial, and military components and tools.
• Represented a local private energy provider with respect to two bond issuances and related real property concerns.
• Represented a snack food manufacturer with respect to real estate concerns in connection with a bond issuance that funded additions to be made to a recently constructed manufacturing facility. Previously represented this snack food manufacturer with the acquisition and development of the same facility.
• Represented a classic motorcycle dealership group in connection with lease negotiation for three different locations in Ohio.
• Served as local counsel in connection with the $2.65 billion stock acquisition of a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Ohio.

Professional & Community

• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Member
• Commercial Real Estate Women, Cleveland Chapter, Former Member
• Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, Former Trustee