Residential, Commercial and Community Development Projects

Pullman & Comley’s Real Estate attorneys have extensive experience with residential, commercial and community development projects.  Clients include developers, investors, lenders and municipalities, as well as individuals or family businesses with significant land holdings.  Projects include urban redevelopment, brownfields development, affordable housing, historic preservation, waterfront development and mixed-use projects.  Working with our Land Use practice, we have extensive experience in guiding development projects through local and state regulatory approvals and working with our Environmental Law and Litigation practice we have extensive experience in managing environmental risk.

• Assisted city that acquired property through eminent domain with various aspects of the short and long term property management, including the guidance with grant applications; development and administration of required relocation benefits; negotiation with tenants; management of environmental issues, including contracting and agency interactions, handling of local and state land use issues including subdivision, road and utility abandonment and reconstruction, and rail crossing relocations.
• Represents a coastal Connecticut city in connection with the development of its waterfront. The Firm has assisted the City with the creation of a comprehensive municipal development plan, land use and permitting issues, environmental matters and the negotiation and drafting of a Development Agreement for the development of a waterfront project which will include a regional retail center, restaurants and hotels. As part of the project the Firm assisted the City in negotiating a public promenade and amphitheater along the waterfront.
• Assisted with the acquisition, remediation and development of an arts magnet school, a branch of a university, parking garages and streetscapes, and the restoration and expansion of a 3,000 seat historic theater. The work includes the acquisition of some sites through eminent domain and the negotiation of funding from public entities.
• Represented a join venture between two companies to develop a brownfields site on 670 acres into a new urbanist development, which includes 4,000 residential units, retail and office development, hotels and possibly one or more schools. The Firm also assisted with planning the site and its regulatory requirements, handled the land use and wetland permitting for the remediation of the site and its development, established the site as a special taxing district, including writing the legislation to achieve that, is bond counsel to the special taxing district and has worked cooperatively with the town to achieve this major new sustainable village.
• Representation of developer in all aspects of the development of a golf community in Oxford, Connecticut, including representation in (i) assemblage and acquisition of over 600 acres of land, (ii) obtaining all initial entitlements for an 18 hole golf course and over 400 units of age restricted housing, (iii) acquisition financing and construction financing for the construction of required infrastructure and 18 hole golf course, (iv) creation of unique and complex master community documents under the Connecticut Common Interest Ownership Act in order to facilitate the phased development and sale of the project to multiple developers, and (v) phase sale of the residential development rights over a period of years to a national home builder
• Acted as real estate counsel for construction and development of a new power plant in Middletown, Connecticut which included financing of more than $1 billion
• Representation of developer in the redevelopment of the main airport terminal building at a local airport, including negotiation and draft of an airport ground lease, seeking and obtaining local zoning permits, negotiation of the pilot payment in lieu of tax agreement and closing on tax exempt bond financing to fund the construction
• Representation of developer in multiple aspects of a large scale redevelopment in Norwalk, Connecticut, including representation in (i) site assemblage, (ii) acquisition and infrastructure financing, (iii) complex renegotiation of redevelopment agreements with the City Redevelopment Agency, (iv) implementation of environmental remediation plan, and (v) large scale leasing
• Creation of Master Planned Community documentation in connection with a major planned redevelopment of the south end of Stamford, Connecticut
• Regular representation of state agency in financial assistance transactions for economic and community development projects throughout the state of Connecticut
• Local real estate counsel in acquisition and construction financing for low to moderate income housing project financed in part by New Market Tax Credits and Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits
• Representation of a municipality and related development entities in connection with the redevelopment of a former City Hall financed in part by New Market Tax Credits and Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits 

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