Joseph F. Strength

Partner

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200 East Saint Julian Street
PO Box 9848
Savannah, GA 31412-0048

455 Sea Island Road
St. Simons Island, GA 31522

Tel 912.236.0261
Fax 912.236.4936

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Joey Strength is a partner at HunterMaclean, practicing primarily in real estate and development law and business transactions.

He is a trusted advisor for his clients, ranging from individuals to publicly traded companies, and provides them quality legal representation and advice across a broad range of areas. Joey seeks to learn about and understand his clients’ personal and business needs and find creative solutions to their legal problems.

Joey represents individuals and large and small corporate clients in a broad range of industries. He is a connector, bringing in other HunterMaclean attorneys when needed to assist clients with a wide variety of legal needs.

Joey regularly represents buyers and sellers in structuring, negotiating, and consummating commercial and residential real estate transactions; advises developers in connection with site selection, due diligence, contract negotiation, zoning and land use regulation, property acquisition, closing, and subdivision and condominium development; represents borrowers and lenders in secured transactions; represents landlords and tenants in leasing transactions; guides clients through conservation projects and like-kind real estate exchanges; and represents property owners in ad valorem tax appeals. Joey’s broad real estate experience includes residential, commercial, mixed-use, resort, timber, office, retail, shopping center, hotel, and hospitality projects.

Joey has achieved the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating (AV/5.0) and has been recognized by the St. Simons Land Trust for his support of conservation efforts on St. Simons Island and by the Golden Isles Association of Realtors for his exceptional work within the real estate community.

Joey attended the University of Alabama, where he graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences, with Phi Beta Kappa distinction, and the School of Law, with honors. Upon graduation from the College of Arts and Sciences, Joey was awarded the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallion, the University of Alabama’s premier senior award. Following graduation from law school, he entered the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he served as a legal assistance attorney, military prosecutor, and a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the State Bar of Alabama, and the American Land Title Association.

Joey is married to Rev. Deanie Strength, and they have two children.

Experience

Practice Areas / Industries

Practice Areas

Industries

Representative Engagements

Representative Engagements

  • Represented nonprofit land trust in negotiation, due diligence, and drafting of conservation easement related to the purchase of Cannon’s Point on St. Simons Island, one of the most significant conservation projects in the United States in 2012.
  • Represented a public timber company in multiple purchase and sale transactions involving thousands of acres across Georgia.
  • Represented Fortune 400 company in the negotiation, due diligence, and purchase of 90 acre industrial site, including negotiation of a tax abatement with local development authority and county, and negotiation of leases.
  • Represented corporate purchaser in the purchase of 700 acre multi-use tract in Savannah, Georgia, including an operating sand mine.
  • Represented individual purchaser in the purchase of 10,000 acre quail plantation and club in south Georgia.
  • Represented individual seller in the sale of 2,000 acre quail plantation and retreat in south Georgia and north Florida.
  • Represented seller in closing of sale of 20,000 +/- acre timber and recreational tract in Glynn County and Camden County, Georgia.
  • Represented group of family members in the consolidation, preparation for sale, and negotiation of sale of 17,000 +/- acre timber and development land.
  • Member of legal team representing Sea Island Company in the sale of the Cloister Hotel, the Lodge, and all of its related real estate assets.
  • Represented buyer in the negotiation of a purchase contract, and carrying out of related due diligence, related to the purchase of a 40,000 +/- square foot office building, and renegotiation of leases.
  • Represented buyer in the negotiation, due diligence, and closing of 72,000 +/- square foot office building, including negotiation and assignment of leases.
  • Represented buyer in the closing of 100,000 +/- square foot shopping center, including negotiation and assignment of leases.
  • Represented buyer in the negotiation, due diligence, and closing of 300+ unit apartment complex, including the negotiation and assignment of leases.
  • Represented lenders or borrowers in hundreds of residential and commercial loan closings, with loans ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to over $500 million.
  • Represented developers of dozens of residential and commercial subdivisions and condominium developments in Coastal Georgia.
  • Represented numerous property owners in connection with land use and zoning ordinance analysis, rezoning actions, site plan approvals, development approvals, and variances.

Community Work

Community Work

  • Leadership Southeast Georgia: Class of 2016-2017
  • United Way of the Coastal Empire: Past Board Member
  • Brunswick Downtown Development Authority: Past Board Member
  • Golden Isles Youth Orchestra: Board of Trustees, Past Member
  • St. Simons Land Trust: Past Board Member
  • United Way of Coastal Georgia: Past Board Member
  • St. Marks Towers: Past Board Member
  • St. Simons Presbyterian Church: Past Trustee
  • Frederica Academy: Past Board Member
  • City of Brunswick Audit Committee: Past Committee Member

Credentials

Education

Education

University of Alabama School of Law: J.D., with honors, 1995
University of Alabama: B.A., International Studies, 1992

Affiliations

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • State Bar of Georgia: Real Property Law Section, Executive Committee, 2021-2024
  • State Bar of Alabama
  • American Land Title Association
  • Southeast Land Title Association

Recognition

Recognition

Best Lawyers in America: Real Estate Law, 2020-2024
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most highly-respected peer review guide to the legal profession worldwide. A listing in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers.

Georgia Trend Magazine Legal Elite: 2016-2017 & 2021
Georgia Trend Magazine’s annual listing of Georgia’s top attorneys, selected by their peers. The list includes eight practice areas: business law; personal injury litigation; criminal law; labor and employment; taxes, estates and trusts; bankruptcy and creditors’ rights; family law; and general practice/trial law.

Martindale-Hubbell: AV Rated
The Martindale-Hubbell® PEER REVIEW RATINGS™ are an objective indicator of a lawyer’s high ethical standards and professional ability, generated from evaluations of lawyers by other members of the bar and the judiciary in the United States and Canada.

St. Simons Land Trust: Dorothy Gilbert Award
The award is given to individuals who have contributed significantly to the mission of the St. Simons Land Trust. The award is named for Dorothy Gilbert, who donated the property that is now the John Gilbert Nature Trail.

Golden Isles Association of Realtors: Extra Mile Award
This award recognizes the Affiliate member who has gone the extra mile for a single closing

Licensed In

Licensed In

Alabama
Georgia

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