Attorney & Counselor
Smita is a partner at Kruger Carson. She possesses extensive experience in all types of complex commercial real estate transactions. Her counsel has been integral to some of the most distinguished and recognizable commercial developments in the Central and South Texas metropolitan areas.
Smita has a diverse real estate practice. She is frequently engaged by many of the largest and most influential real estate owners and developers in the region to guide them through the complex legal issues involved in the acquisition, disposition, financing, development, construction, management, and leasing of every commercial property type, including retail and mixed-use centers and office buildings.
Her representative transactions include:
- Representation of a developer in connection with development and leasing of multiple shopping centers in South Texas, including the negotiation of leases with numerous national and regional anchors.
- Representation of a developer in its development of a major regional retail, office, and residential mixed-use development in central Texas.
- Representation of multiple developers in connection with the disposition of vast tracts of land in numerous lot sales to homebuilders within various master planned communities around South and Central Texas.
- Representation of a San Antonio commercial real estate investment group in connection with the acquisition and repositioning of 500,000+ square feet office building in downtown Dallas.
- Representation of a San Antonio commercial real estate investment group in connection with the acquisition, redevelopment, leasing, and disposition of numerous in-fill properties in and around downtown San Antonio, Texas.
- Representation of an institutional investor in connection with the acquisition and disposition of office buildings and various other properties in Texas, including the acquisition of a landmark Class A office building in downtown San Antonio comprised of 500,000+ square feet.
- Representation of an oil and gas company in its development of a major regional retail, lifestyle, and mixed-use development in Cibolo, Texas, including the sale, leasing, and ground leasing of anchor and junior anchor parcels and pad sites to various retail anchors, restaurants, and an entertainment company.
- Representation of a large, regional supermarket chain, one of the largest retailers in Texas, in the acquisition, development, leasing, and sale of numerous grocery-anchored shopping centers throughout Texas over a ten-year period.
- Representation of a water utility company in connection with real estate aspects of a billion-dollar Central Texas pipeline project, including authoring the real property conveyance agreement for the future acquisition of the pipeline project.
- Representation of a developer in connection with acquisition and leasing of a medical office building.
- Representation of owner in connection with the disposition and development of a 900+ acre master-planned community, including over 3000 single family homes.
Smita has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” in 2021 and in 2022 in the Texas Monthly “Super Lawyers” Thomson Reuters’ magazine; and prior to that she was recognized as a “Texas Rising Star” from 2012 through 2019. She serves on the board of a public improvement district in San Antonio, Texas. Smita has served the San Antonio chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) on the Board of Directors, as Director of Programs, and in various other capacities. Smita belongs to the Real Estate Council of San Antonio and earned a place in its Leadership Development Program for 2006-07. She has been a member of the “ULI Next” program in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. She is also a graduate of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Leadership San Antonio Class (LSA43). The San Antonio Business Journal named Smita one of twelve “Outstanding Lawyers” in 2016 and included her in its “40 under 40” list in 2017. S.A. Scene has named her “Best Lawyer in Real Estate” in 2019.” She is also a member of the Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.
Smita completed the first year of an LLB degree in law at The University College of London before immigrating to the United States. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with highest honors in 2001. She attended The University of Texas School of Law and served as co-editor-in-chief of the Texas Journal of Women and the Law. Smita graduated from law school with honors in 2004 and began her legal career at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, in San Antonio. After several years at a local real estate boutique, followed by a stint at San Antonio’s largest locally-based law firm, she joined Kruger Carson in 2016.