Overview

As a real estate attorney with more than 40 years of experience, Suzanne is deal-driven, meticulous, practical, straight-forward, and a fierce advocate for her clients. She understands her clients’ businesses and proactively anticipates their needs as her clients evolve.

As co-chair of BFKN’s Real Estate Group, Suzanne concentrates her practice on commercial real estate and related corporate, securities, and business planning matters.

Suzanne has significant experience in the representation of publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) and the formation of joint ventures that combine developers and other real estate professionals with institutional financial partners. Her practice also focuses on the acquisition, disposition, and financing of industrial, office and multi-family properties, as well as franchised hotels, and the acquisition, disposition, and financing of long-term ground leased properties.

Additionally, Suzanne’s practice includes experience with Shari’ah-compliant financings, multi-jurisdictional portfolio acquisitions and financings, and tax-deferred exchanges. She also handles leasing of industrial and office properties, and work with distressed assets, including loan restructurings, consent foreclosures and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Suzanne has been individually recognized as a top Illinois real estate lawyer by Chambers USA, Leading Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America© for more than a decade. She is a fellow in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Credentials

Admissions

  • State of Illinois

Education

  • University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1980
  • North Central College, B.A., cum laude, 1977

Experience

  • Acquisition and financing of industrial, office and multi-family projects and franchised hotels throughout the U.S.
  • Acquisition, via sale, leaseback and (credit tenant lease) financing, of the international corporate headquarters of a Fortune 100 company.
  • Acquisitions of office, multi-family, and hotel projects via a bifurcated ownership structure, utilizing long term ground leases.
  • Financings of various properties (office, multi-family, and hotels) where the form of each is similar to a “credit tenant lease” loan and is made by institutional investors that fund each loan through their purchase of rated certificates.
  • Acquisition, financing, and redevelopment of distressed commercial properties, including a portfolio of REO industrial/office/distribution properties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
  • Acquisitions of loans encumbering distressed properties, and subsequent negotiation of deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or consent foreclosure.
  • Negotiation of numerous joint venture relationships, together with the acquisition and financing of properties by those joint ventures, some of which acquisitions involved Shari’ah-compliant financing.
  • Coordination and acquisition of an assemblage of 12 contiguous parcels in California for redevelopment for industrial purposes.
  • Negotiation of numerous single tenant sale and leaseback transactions.

Newsroom

News

Recognitions

  • Band Ranked, Chambers USA (2003-2024)
    • Real Estate
  • Best Lawyer, The Best Lawyers in America© (2008-2025)
    • Real Estate Law
  • Super Lawyer, Illinois Super Lawyers (2007-2024)
  • Leading Lawyers Network (2004-2023)
    • Top Ten Women: Real Estate (2015-2016)
    • Real Estate Law: Commercial
    • Real Estate Law: Finance
    • Top 100 Women Business Lawyers, Women's Edition (2012)
  • bl_bessette-smith2025
  • chambers_bessettesmith_2024

Organizations

  • Member, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL)
Quote

"Suzanne is a very good lawyer, sophisticated with a good knowledge base. She's great to work with, practical and pragmatic."

Chambers USA
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