Our attorneys have extensive experience with a wide range of matters relating to commercial and mixed-use real estate development and transactions. We have represented public entities, private developers, and non-profit organizations in all aspects of real estate projects, including purchase and sale transactions, due diligence, land use and entitlements, financing and development, environmental compliance, permitting, and leasing. We not only work with large developers and REITs, but also with ranchers, airports, universities, renewable energy developers, and non-profit organizations— helping them save farms, revitalize airports, build dormitories, develop community solar gardens, and create environmental education centers. We have particular expertise in real estate transactions that have a public sector component, including public-private partnership transactions, transactions involving tax increment financing, special metropolitan district and other forms of public finance, and transactions that involve public sector scrutiny and approvals. We frequently work with our clients as part of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, planners, engineers, community engagement experts, and other disciplines.
We also represent clients throughout the country in a variety of land use and zoning matters. Our clients in these matters include real estate developers, local governments, airports, non-profit organizations, renewable energy developers, and corporate landowners. We advise clients on: comprehensive land use, transportation, and other master planning documents; zoning and other regulatory requirements; preparing and negotiating inter-governmental agreements, subdivision agreements, vesting agreements, and other contracts; drafting legislation, findings, staff reports, and related documents; and defending project approvals against legal challenges and resolving disputes through settlement agreements and other means.
Our experience in the development of electric power generation includes renewable energy from wind, solar, biomass, and hydroelectric power as well as fossil fuels with an emphasis on highly efficient, natural gas-fired projects. We represent developers on early-stage acquisitions, lenders in connection with acquisition and construction loans for renewable energy facilities, and investors who are financing their project portfolios, developing innovative royalty-generating service arrangements, or acquiring large, mature renewable energy projects. We also assist clients on both the state and national level on fuel supply, storage and transportation, and transmission infrastructure.
Finally, we are proud of our decades of work with landowners and conservation organizations in complex conservation easement transactions throughout the Mountain West. We regularly advise clients on both the donation and sale of conservation easements to land trusts and local governments, meeting the landowner’s goals for current and future generations while protecting tens of thousands of acres of agricultural lands, natural habitats, and open space from development. Our team’s representation on conservation transactions often require the coordination of numerous state and local government funds and private foundations and the negotiation of option agreements, subordination agreements, life estates, deeds, and hosts of additional real estate documents.