Land Use

Your land use challenges require flexibility, creativity, and persistence.  Our tailored solutions involve political organizing, community messaging, and legal maneuvering.

Our technical expertise and personal relationships give you the legal strategies and political access necessary to swiftly act on development opportunities. We know that advance information can be just as valuable as time-consuming approval, so we provide our clients with real-time intelligence on the likelihood of success.

We help you select the simplest process needed to bring your plans to market, and we advise you about cost-effective strategies to maximize the impact of your ideas. You can secure special use permits, variances, subdivisions, annexation agreements, planned development, site plan approvals, and transit oriented development and affordable housing incentives.

If your project requires economic incentives, we will help you secure grants, tax increment financing, and tax abatements.

When environmental aspects slow your development plans, we suggest simple strategies for addressing them, including storm water management and brownfields redevelopment issues.

If your case is controversial, our attorneys will guide you in the courtroom. We have a long history of successfully litigating development disputes.

RESULTS

• Developed and pursued approval of state and local regulations to allow erection of new sign structures.
• Developed comprehensive approach to enable a large property owner to avoid public hearings and to swiftly secure land use approvals from the City of Chicago.
• Obtained dozens of approvals for pawn shops in the face of paid opposition from competitors.
• Negotiated real estate tax incentive packages for multiple new developments.
• Amended state law to facilitate public-private partnerships.
• Amended Chicago Zoning Ordinance to lift pedestrian street designation and enable development of a drive-through operation.
• Won approval for new 22-acre container storage facility on Chicago’s southwest side.
• Won land use approvals for new charter school in City of Chicago.

PRACTICE AREA LEADER