Industries & Practices
Economic Development
We establish a collaborative environment among Ohio communities and private commerce to foster job creation and quality growth.
Using the economic development tools that best suit our clients’ goals, we structure projects and layer programs, connecting government entities and private developers with available financial resources. Our team assists both public and private sector entities, offering cutting-edge financial, regulatory and other consultative solutions.
We provide economic development counsel in these areas:
- Creative application of public and private financing
- Regulatory compliance
- Site selection support
- State and local permitting
- Tax incentives, loan and grant programs
- Zoning
Specific projects include:
- Creating tax increment financing and special assessment districts
- Creating and managing Ohio’s PACE programs and assisting private property owners to obtain PACE financing for energy efficiency and alternative energy improvements.
- Facilitating cooperative development arrangements among political subdivisions and public-private partnerships
- Establishing and working with communities and businesses to leverage community improvement corporations, community reinvestment areas, enterprise zones, joint economic development districts, new community authorities and port authorities
Areas of Focus
Public Sector
We assist state and local governments with infrastructure finance and negotiations with developers and business owners. The ultimate goal is creating and retaining jobs, supporting innovation, and stabilizing and improving property values.
MoreState Tax Counsel
We assist companies in navigating the tax implications that affect their operations. Sales and use taxes, the commercial activity tax (CAT) and the pass-through entity tax, including best practices for compliance, are just a few of the tax matters on which we focus.
MoreEnergy Finance & PACE
Participating in the issuance of Ohio’s first property assessed clean energy (PACE) bonds, our firm is a trailblazer in the area of energy project finance. We help public entities use funding opportunities to update existing office buildings or warehouses or to acquire an alternative energy source, like solar panels or wind turbines, without impacting certain local debt limitations. Visit our PACE Financing Resource Center >>
Private Sector – Developers
Collaborating with our firm’s national real estate practice, we work closely with developers. As a strategic partner, we identify options to close gaps in the capital stack in order to facilitate important development and redevelopment projects.
Private Sector – Business Owners
Supporting entrepreneurial growth, we work with companies to identify and negotiate federal, state and local incentives. We use our comprehensive knowledge of available programs to help businesses both grow and retain jobs – and improve their bottom lines.
Economic Development Compliance
Our attorneys guide incentive recipients from start to finish. We begin with negotiation of award requirements, and partner with incentive recipients until all award requirements have been satisfied. For businesses with existing awards, we provide advice regarding outstanding requirements, either in connection with ongoing reporting obligations or in response to any investigation or enforcement actions by the award provider.
People
John Caleb Bell
Partner
Price D. Finley
Partner
Katie E. Johnson
Partner
Colin J. Kalvas
Associate
Michael Katz
Associate
Gregory J. Lestini
Partner
Jacquelin R. Lewis
Associate
Carlos G. Maciel
Public Finance Analyst
M. Shannon Martin
Partner
William D. Mason
Partner
Robert F. McCarthy
Partner
Tracy L. McKenna
Public Finance Analyst
Sarah E. O’Dea
Senior Counsel
Christiane W. Schmenk
Of Counsel
Jason Tiemeier
Associate
Insights
Experience
Conversion of a former munitions factory
Served as counsel to a port authority for a capital lease transaction, providing a sales tax exemption to the developer and property owner. The transaction enables the conversion of a former m...
MoreOhio’s largest PACE transaction
Served as PACE counsel on the $16.3 million refinancing of a construction loan. The project funds eligible upgrades to a hotel near The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio. Energy effici...
MoreCleveland-area solar farm development
Represented Cuyahoga County in closing a $10 million financing transaction for the development of a solar farm on former landfill property near Cleveland. The solar farm covers 17 acres and co...
More$1.6 billion development in Warren County
Served as special counsel to a township in connection with a 1,230-acre, $1.6 billion mixed-use development in southwest Ohio. The transaction involved negotiating and structuring a tax increment f...
MoreCOTA downtown bus pass program
Assisted the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District with structuring and creating a process for implementing a program to encourage 43,000 downtown Columbus, Ohio, commuters to bus to work...
MoreEconomic development counsel for large scale mixed...
Assisted a developer with the negotiation of a development agreement with the City of Dublin for the mixed-use redevelopment project known as Bridge Park. The work included the creation of a n...
MoreTIF counsel for Northeast Ohio redevelopment
Served as special counsel to Orange Village for the implementation of a tax increment financing (TIF) program to facilitate a mixed-use development, including an approximately 1,000-space parking g...
MorePort counsel for tax-advantaged lease-purchase fin...
Served as counsel to the Belmont County Port Authority in connection with a lease-purchase financing for a senior living facility located in St. Clairsville, Ohio.
MoreTIF negotiation and documentation
Served as counsel to numerous local government entities across Ohio in negotiation of tax increment financing (TIF) arrangements for commercial developments of all types and sizes.
More$80 million Water Street development
Represented the City of Dayton in an $80 million private commercial and residential development at Water Street. This development involved the use of TIF and special assessment financing to pa...
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