Steve is an associate in the firm's Government and Public Finance departments. His local government practice focuses primarily in the areas of municipal law, land use, zoning and tax assisted real estate development vehicles such as tax increment financings, special service areas, business districts and economic incentive agreements. However, the scope of his government practice includes nearly every aspect of state and local governmental relations including business licensing, liquor licensing and building and zoning compliance. His public finance practice focuses on tax-exempt municipal bond financings for governmental, educational, cultural and healthcare facilities.
In his local government practice, Steve has counseled corporate authorities, plan commissions zoning boards and various other committees and commissions and represented private interests before them at public meetings and hearings regarding a myriad of governmental matters. Such engagements have included rezonings, text amendments, special/conditional uses, variations, subdivisions, planned unit developments, adjustments, appeals, business and liquor licensing procurement and building and zoning compliance disputes. He regularly drafts and examines various real estate related documentation including annexation agreements, development agreements, redevelopment agreements, ordinances, and resolutions in connection with such matters.
In his public finance practice, Steve has experience serving as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, borrower's counsel, and issuer's counsel in connection with various tax-exempt and taxable issuances.
Prior to earning his law degree, Steve served as a land planner at both the county and municipal level with the County of Will, Illinois and the Village of Lincolnshire, Illinois where he examined various development proposals and requests for subdivision and zoning relief. Additionally, he authored the Village of Lincolnshire’s current comprehensive future land use plan, served as the chief liaison to the Will County Historic Preservation Commission and served on the Will County Zoning Revisions Committee charged with the responsibility of updating the Will County Zoning Ordinance.
Steve’s recent experience includes representing:
- Foreign and domestic hospitality and institutional clients in securing liquor licenses from the City of Chicago, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission and various Chicago metropolitan area municipalities.
- A municipality and a developer in drafting and facilitating approval of economic incentive agreements to foster renovation, rehabilitation and expansion of a commercial retail shopping center and a regional hospital, respectively.
- An international wind energy conversion system developer before multiple Illinois counties regarding the heavily contested zoning entitlements necessary to erect and operate numerous wind towers, turbines and associated infrastructure.
- Residential and commercial land developers before various Illinois municipalities with regard to the land use approvals and zoning relief necessary to subdivide land and construct multi-million dollar single-family detached dwellings thereon.
- Chicago-area municipalities in the negotiation of annexation agreements with residential, commercial, and mixed-use land developers.
- A skilled care senior living provider in the negotiation of a redevelopment agreement to provide tax increment financing necessary to construct a skilled care nursing facility housing not less than 180 beds.
- Several Chicago-area municipalities in the establishment of tax increment financing and business districts necessary to provide the funding needed to ensure the feasibility of various mixed-use land redevelopment projects.
- A prominent self-service storage provider before various Illinois municipalities with regard to the zoning entitlements necessary to construct large-scale self-service storage facilities.
- Chicago-area municipalities in facilitating tax assisted development through the establishment of special service areas to fund public improvements.
- A Chicago-area municipality in the comprehensive amendment of its historic preservation ordinance, which regulates the designation of local landmarks and external modifications to local landmarks following designation as such.
- Documenting the issuance of taxable and tax-exempt bonds, as the case may be, to finance capital projects for governmental and various not-for-profit entities.
- A large scale, multi-tenant business park owner in resolving citations and associated local licensing holds issued against it for alleged municipal code violations, and obtaining unprecedented administrative adjustment approval to allow the preservation of otherwise impermissible real property improvements.