Land Use and Environment

Quito Village Shopping Center, California

Holland & Knight has extensive knowledge in all aspects of land use and environment law, from zoning and entitlements to acquisitions and project development, as well as compliance assessments and environmental impact reports. Our attorneys and professionals have experience addressing issues related to water quality, due diligence, entitlements, brownfields, wetlands, endangered species, historic preservation, health and safety, hazardous materials, biotechnology, insurance and litigation.

NEGOTIATING GOLDEN GATE LAND HOLDINGS’ RIGHT-OF-WAY DEAL WITH ALAMEDA COUNTY

Holland & Knight handled the negotiation and documentation of a right-of-way contract between Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC – the owner of the Golden Gate Fields thoroughbred horse racing facility in Albany and Berkeley, California – with the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) to resolve threatened condemnation of portions of the horse racing facility in connection with a planned new interchange improvement project. The contract established the take area and compensation, and provided for Alameda CTC’s reconfiguration, reconstruction and construction of multiple public and private roadways and other infrastructure as well as landscaping improvements in the vicinity of the client’s property. The contract also established insurance and indemnification protections for the facility owner and assured continued uninterrupted operations at the track.

Image provided by Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC

Fairway Canyon

SETTLING MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR DISPUTE ON CITY’S COLLECTION OF PARK FEES

Holland & Knight negotiated and documented an agreement that settled a multimillion-dollar dispute over a wrongful imposition and collection of park fees by the City of Beaumont in violation of a client’s development agreement and refusal of the California city to accept completed parks for the client’s 3,300-unit Fairway Canyon project. The agreement resulted in the immediate refund by the city to two large merchant builders of $520,000 of illegally collected park fees as well as the city’s agreement not to collect an additional $4 million in park fees initially claimed to be owed in the future for units to be constructed. The agreement also established a process for the city’s prompt inspection and acceptance of completed parks dedicated to the city under the project.

Holland & Knight represented Sand Hill Property Co. in the redevelopment of the Quito Village Shopping Center in Saratoga, California. The property is an 80,000-square-foot shopping center in a primarily residential area, but was only 25 percent occupied. Faced with a challenging development environment, the developer chose to use California Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) to invoke ministerial processing, avoid California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review and sidestep a contentious public approval process.

The project will redevelop the shopping center into a mixed-use project with 90 townhomes (for sale and for rent), with 10 percent of the units affordable at the very low income level (less than 50 percent of area median income), and nearly 5,000 square feet of commercial development in a separate commercial component. The project also includes 76,000 square feet of open space, including a private central park, a public pocket park and an open plaza near the commercial building. The project is one of few in the state approved under SB 35 in anti-growth communities.

Despite serious community opposition to the project and threats of litigation, the project was approved based on a nimble approach by the developer and Holland & Knight in dealing with the public and the city in order to thread the needle of SB 35 and other city requirements to meet all applicable standards, as well as deliver a project that pleased the developer and the city.

Images provided by Sand Hill Property Co.

Holland & Knight represented a developer client in convincing County of Fresno officials that the client’s final subdivision map for a single-family residential project of 102 homes, submitted for review in 2018 (originally set to expire in 2002 and extended through 2018), was timely submitted to the county surveyor prior to expiration of the vesting tentative map and therefore had to be processed and approved by the county in 2021. The team successfully established that applicable provisions of the Subdivision Map Act, as well as the client’s vested rights, prohibited the county from requiring that the client go back and reprocess a new tentative map. The county’s position, if maintained, could have effectively resulted in a forfeiture of the entire project notwithstanding that the client had already expended more than $2 million in project processing and offsite infrastructure construction costs.

CREATING CITY OF RICHMOND’S 20-YEAR CAMPUS BAY DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

Holland & Knight represented the City of Richmond in the development and adoption of a 20-year development agreement for the Campus Bay Mixed-Use Project, a project that would develop a 320-acre area of Richmond’s shoreline with up to 4,000 housing units, 50,000 square feet of retail, business and service uses, and more than 30 acres of parks and open space, including construction of a trailhead with parking and restroom facilities to serve users of the San Francisco Bay Trail.

The work on this project consisted of drafting and negotiating a development agreement and overseeing environmental review, including CEQA analysis, permits and approvals, as well as remediation/redevelopment concerns. The project is in an area covered by the Richmond Bay Specific Plan (RBSP) and overlays a contaminated area, currently being remediated by prior landowners in conjunction with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The project adoption was contentious with numerous challengers who questioned remediation and redevelopment and various environmental impacts, including sea level rise and contamination. The project will be a large addition to the Bay Front in Richmond and is considered a move forward in brownfields redevelopment in the city.

Holland & Knight represented Genentech Inc. on its entitlement of a campus master plan update authorizing Genentech to expand its 207-acre headquarters from 4.7 million square feet to 9 million square feet of office and research and development (R&D) uses. As approved by the City of South San Francisco, the updated plan enables Genentech to accommodate future life sciences innovation, while implementing creative urban design strategies to influence future development plans.

To this end, the plan articulates a vision for new growth and development that allows the land use mix within the campus planning area to evolve over time, depending on Genentech’s future operational needs. Befitting the campus’ setting on the San Francisco Bay shoreline, the updated plan fosters infill development within the existing planning area and promotes travel to and from the campus using alternative modes other than single-occupancy vehicles, emphasizing off-site transportation demand management (TDM) strategies, on-site shuttle operations, as well as pedestrian and bicycle mobility and access. In addition to advising Genentech with respect to the environmental review and entitlement of the campus master plan update, Holland & Knight attorneys advised the company on the negotiation and approval of a long-term development agreement that vests Genentech’s right to build out the master plan over a 20-year period.

The development agreement eliminates uncertainty in the planning and development process, ensures progressive installation of necessary improvements and public services appropriate for the campus site, and secures important community benefits to serve all South San Francisco residents by securing: 1) the pre-payment of various city development fees, 2) significant funding for various off-site transportation improvements, 3) the extension of private commuter bus services to the employees of third-party employers doing business in the city’s East of 101 planning area, 4) the long-term implementation of a community grant program to fund community events and programs, 5) the provision of public open space and recreational facilities, and 6) public art funding.

Image provided by Genentech Inc.

Holland & Knight represented NUWI Santa Clarita LLC in an acquisition of approval of the Metro Santa Clarita project – a 498-unit multifamily development that will include a community park. The project’s entitlements included a specific plan, zone change, general plan amendment, tentative tract map and a site plan. Environmental review of the project utilized a Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment (SCEA), which was the first time the streamlining tool was used by the City of Santa Clarita. Holland & Knight successfully navigated complex environmental challenges, including the project’s partial location within a Significant Ecological Area (SEA), compliance with California Water Code requirements for water supply, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) comments relating to mitigation, and the project site’s adjacency to heavily utilized railroad tracks. The Santa Clarita City Council unanimously approved the project, which will include 179 market-rate apartments, 119 market-rate senior apartments, 50 affordable senior apartments and 150 townhome units.

Metro Santa Clarita Project

GAINING APPROVAL FOR CALIFORNIA COASTAL PROPERTIES’ PASSAGE AT SAN MATEO

Holland & Knight attorneys assisted California Coastal Properties in gaining approval for a mixed-use development in the City of San Mateo. The project has been dubbed as one of the “megaprojects” that will transform the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times. The Passage at San Mateo, to be developed at the 14.5-acre Concar Shopping Center site near the juncture of State Route 92 and Highway 101, was approved by the San Mateo City Council in August 2020. With nearly 1,000 new residential units, the Passage at San Mateo project will provide needed residential units in a transit-oriented development. The plans include 109 affordable units, a mobility hub, a nearly 8,000-square-foot studio and performance space for the Peninsula Ballet Theatre, a 4,600-square-foot child care center, 3 acres of public park space and a food hall. The current retail buildings on the site will be torn down, but a Trader Joe’s and 7-Eleven are slated to be rebuilt and included in the new development.

Holland & Knight navigated the entitlement process for a transit-oriented project within the World Trade Center in downtown Los Angeles. The project consists of a 41-story residential tower with 570 dwelling units and 624,500 square feet of floor area. Holland & Knight spearheaded the environmental review process and navigated through a change in the metric for transportation analysis from level of service to vehicle miles traveled. This project is one of a few in the City of Los Angeles to utilize the streamlining process of a SCEA, only available to high-density residential projects in proximity to high-quality transit.

350 S. Figueroa Street

TF Shatto LP

SECURING RARE PLAN AMENDMENT, ZONE CHANGE FOR 41-STORY, MIXED-USE PROJECT

Holland & Knight represented a developer in entitling a 41-story, mixed-use high-rise involving 440,442 square feet of floor area and the conversion of an existing 19,972-square-foot historic church building into restaurant uses for a total of 36,400 square feet of commercial uses. The project in Los Angeles proposes 367 residential dwelling units, including 11 percent as affordable (very low and extremely low income). The entitlement package included a general plan amendment, zone change, height district change and a main conditional use permit for alcohol service. Environmental review for the project utilized an addendum to a SCEA. This project is one of only a few projects to successfully obtain a zone change/general plan amendment following Los Angeles’ voter-approved Measure JJJ growth-control initiative that created high hurdles to projects requesting a zone change and general plan amendments. This project also involves the modification and expansion of a previously approved high-rise project that Holland & Knight entitled for the developer.

Holland & Knight assisted in the historic designation and rehabilitation of a Beverly Hills estate property designed by Master Architect John Elgin Wolff and notable as the longtime residence of motion picture producer Robert Evans, who was responsible for such films as “The Godfather,” “Chinatown,” “Love Story” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” Project approvals included a historic incentive permit, Central R-1 approvals, and minor modifications of zoning requirements in connection with restoration of the property’s main house and gardens, reconstruction of the site’s famed pool house/screening room that had been lost to a fire in 2003, and construction of new outbuildings and accessory structures. To preserve the property’s historic perimeter wall and entry court, Holland & Knight obtained an amendment to a citywide street dedication requirement waiving the requirement for historic properties.

Greystar

WINNING APPROVAL FOR GREYSTAR’S MENLO UPTOWN AND MENLO PORTAL PROJECTS

The Menlo Park City Council in September 2021 rejected appeals opposing construction of a 41-story residential tower and approved two separate Greystar projects totaling 881 units. Menlo Uptown consists of 441 apartments and 42 condominiums, as well as an on-site urgent care clinic provided as a community benefit. Menlo Portal includes 335 new apartments, about 34,500 square feet of office space and a 1,600-square-foot child care center or the option to pay an in-lieu community amenity fee.

Appeals were led by the Sequoia Union High School District and City Councilmember Cecilia Taylor, who represents the voting district where the developments are proposed. The city council’s approval ultimately rested upon application of housing laws including the Housing Crisis Act (SB 330), Housing Accountability Act (HAA) and Mitigation Fee Act, among others. These projects were among the first housing projects to be approved since the city adopted the ConnectMenlo Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in 2016, which was later challenged by neighboring East Palo Alto. Holland & Knight attorneys assisted in implementing project-specific CEQA analysis in accordance with the Menlo Park and East Palo Alto Settlement Agreement. Holland & Knight also represents Greystar on dozens of other development projects throughout the Bay Area.

Holland & Knight represented Walter N. Marks Inc. in the entitlement process for the Mirabel project in Los Angeles’ Miracle Mile neighborhood. The project comprises 348 residential units (310 marketrate rentals, and 29 units set aside for very low income households under the city’s Density Bonus Program, plus an additional nine units set aside for moderate income households) and is within one block of the Wilshire/La Brea station on the city’s Purple Image provided by Walter N. Marks Inc. (D Line) subway now under construction. The project will also include approximately 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail and the adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of the Sontag Building, a contributor to the Miracle Mile Historic District. Environmental review of the project utilized a Sustainable Communities Environmental Impact Report (SCEIR), believed to be the first SCEIR processed in California pursuant to the SB 375.

Holland & Knight also deployed SB 330 to successfully avoid further historic designation (which would threaten CEQA compliance) of the Sontag Building. The project is designed by Richard Keating and incorporates innovative and sustainable design features, including breathable window walls unique to high-rise residential projects, and provides a net reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), solutions for “last mile” transit challenges and an innovative and flexible automated parking system. Approvals are expected in 2022, with construction expected to commence in 2023.