LOCAL GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS: DESCRIPTION

Our government affairs team represents clients across the nation at the local level, and we are particularly adept at managing issues in and around our offices in California, Colorado, Georgia and New York. Our familiarity with local issues and our strong relationships with local government officials results in effective representation. At the same time, local issues are frequently similar across the country, allowing us to provide local successes for clients in places where we do not maintain an actual office.

Municipalities and counties are continually looking at opportunities for economic development, such as developing retail centers, mixed-use developments, office complexes and entertainment venues and redeveloping industrial and infill properties. We have broad experience in navigating tax and bond issues, complex zoning, permitting and formulating public-private partnerships to tackle challenging development projects. We also understand how the private sector can bring expertise and other benefits to city, county or state governments.

Our team represent clients in real estate matters before local agencies in connection with the financing and development of projects such as residential apartment complexes, affordable housing projects, landfills, recycling facilities, mines, golf courses, office buildings, shopping centers and land claim negotiations for Indian tribes.

Representative Matters

• We represent clients in New York real estate matters before local agencies in connection with the financing and development of projects such as residential apartment complexes, affordable housing projects, landfills, recycling facilities, mines, golf courses, office buildings, shopping centers and land claim negotiations for Indian tribes.
• We represented the City of Atlanta in the largest water privatization in the country.
• Our firm was one of the principal negotiators for the City of San Diego Padres Ballpark Development Project. This public-private partnership was enabled through a variety of means, including growth in the TOT tax, use of tax increment financing and private revenue sources such as naming rights and team equity sources.
• We have provided government affairs and administrative law counsel to clients in many high-profile matters in New York, such as representation in the post-9/11 World Trade Center reconstruction efforts.
• Our public and public/private finance practice includes representations for the City of Atlanta in connection with the Philips Arena and the Atlantic Station Development.  Atlantic Station is the largest brownfields redevelopment in the Southeast.
• We have extensive experience in Atlanta and in Georgia on land use and zoning.  Our work on tax allocation district financing and other specialized measures has helped accomplish both urban and industrial goals for clients.
• As a leader in building successful public-private partnerships in localities across the country, we apply original and practical approaches to solving the many governmental, environmental, community relations, tax and employee issues involved in complex privatization projects.
• MLA was selected as the sole Georgia representative of State Law Resources, Inc., which is a national network of independent law firms that helps businesses, trade associations and public policy coalitions navigate the complex and time-consuming process of managing both legal issues and state government relations.
• In the area of public financing, we have drafted and helped enact legislation creating innovative new local financing structures when the existing options did not meet our clients’ needs.
• Our New York team members have served as chairman of the Westchester County Association, as corporation counsel to the City of Yonkers, and as legal counsel to other New York municipalities and government agencies and entities.