Two former Holland & Knight attorneys have struck out on their own to form a real estate boutique in Washington.
Tanja Castro and Alice Haase, formerly partner and senior counsel at Holland & Knight, respectively, are co-founders of the boutique CastroHaase. Their practice encompasses Washington, D.C., northern Virginia and Maryland.
Castro focuses her practice on commercial real estate valuation and taxation issues. Haase concentrates on property tax assessments and land use. Haase also has experience in real estate brokerage and appraisals.
Both Castro and Haase started their careers at smaller firms before joining Holland & Knight, so they said the boutique setting was a natural fit.
"I wanted to go back to my roots," Castro said. She added that virtually all of her former clients have joined the duo at their new firm. "Our goal is to save our clients money in their taxes," she said.
In the long term, Castro said they would like to hire additional attorneys as the work demands, but for now they're concentrated on building the firm.
"Right now we are solely focused on the two of us growing this firm and having a meaningful impact for our clients," Haase said.
The firm co-founders also said it is notable that both of them are women -- a rarity in the legal world, especially in the commercial real estate realm.
