Morrison & Foerster's land use, natural resources, and development practice encompasses all aspects of the environmental review, siting, permitting, and development of various projects including: transit-oriented mixed-use projects; hospitals and medical centers; large-scale master-planned communities and business parks; hotels and resorts; universities; airports and other public infrastructure projects; solar facility sites; telecommunication facilities; industrial facilities for manufacturing, energy production, and other uses; and military bases (redevelopment and reuse). Our attorneys are some of the country’s most experienced practitioners in the redevelopment and reuse of military bases, having worked on many military base transfers and conversions, including the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard project.
We have a broad base of experience with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), local planning and zoning laws, development agreements, natural resource permits, subdivision approvals, redevelopment law, infrastructure finance and development, and other California laws affecting the use and development of real property. Our objective is to streamline and facilitate the permitting, development, and financing of projects, as well as to resolve disputes and defend our clients’ interests. In addition, we provide legal services to companies developing strategies to respond to and profit from the emerging legal framework related to climate change and sustainable development. Our multidisciplinary team helps companies adapt to the shifting legal and regulatory framework governing climate change, natural resources, and land use siting and permitting.
Our work for clients has been instrumental in some of California’s most important development projects, including: San Francisco’s $2.3 billion "super sewer"; the 5,000-acre, 11,000-unit master-planned Dougherty Valley Community; the 2.1 million sq. feet, $750 million mixed-use public-private partnership, San Ramon City Center; and the master-plan expansion of the San Francisco International Airport.
We have intimate knowledge of the workings of local, state, and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California State Lands Commission, the California Department of Fish and Game, the State Water Resources Control Board, Local Agency Formation Commissions, and numerous special districts.
We actively participate on task forces, and publish and present lectures on a broad range of climate change and sustainable development-related topics, including the implementation of California’s greenhouse gas reduction legislation (AB32, SB375, and related CEQA reform).
Our Land Use clients include AMB Property, L.P., Apple Inc., The Blackstone Group/Equity Office Properties, BRE Properties, City of Antioch, City and County of San Francisco, Contra Costa Centre Association, Genentech, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, John Muir Health, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Lennar Corporation, NextLight Renewable Power, LLC, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, Sunset Development, and UDR, Inc.