The firm's lawyers understand the structure and requirements of large, complex projects and frequently have taken the leading role as project counsel in convening and supervising a team of attorneys, consultants and other professionals with specialized expertise. These projects include complex real estate transactions, brownfields redevelopment, transit-oriented development, and transportation infrastructure.



The lawyers at Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell handle a variety of real estate issues associated with large project development. The firm's lawyers have been involved in drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, licenses and easements, restrictive covenants, surface damage agreements with mineral leases and other long-term agreements related to the development and use of property. The firm's lawyers also have assisted clients in securing land use approvals and entitlements, which often is a lengthy and complex process in the case of large-scale and multi-jurisdictional projects.

The firm's lawyers recently represented a non-profit authority in the purchase of property to develop a new convention center hotel in downtown Denver. The firm's lawyers also have represented the developer of the former Stapleton International Airport property in negotiating and drafting numerous documents associated with the purchase and redevelopment of approximately 2,900 acres of property into a new mixed-use community. The firm's lawyers currently represent a developer in the acquisition of property in the Denver area for the construction of a regional mall.



Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell lawyers are experienced in the successful redevelopment of contaminated properties. The firm has assisted clients with contaminated property redevelopment before and after the adoption of federal legislation that has reduced the legal risks associated with the purchase of contaminated properties and the wide-spread adoption of state voluntary cleanup programs.

The redevelopment of the former Stapleton International Airport is one of the country's largest urban brownfield projects. Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell has assisted the master redeveloper in drafting and negotiating purchase and development agreements that allowed phased remediation under the state voluntary cleanup program by the seller municipality and that incorporated risk-based cleanup standards, remedial oversight mechanisms and restrictive covenants. The firm negotiated an environmental insurance program tailored to the transaction, assisted the client in developing an environmental due diligence process, assisted in drafting and negotiating environmental disclosures to be provided to prospective homebuyers and tenants, negotiated and developed the client's form resale agreement and disclosure, and developed the client's corporate guidelines for negotiating environmental provisions of commercial leases. The firm also assisted the client in several additional areas related to construction at the project site, including developing construction materials management procedures, drafting construction contracts, and negotiating the form of easements and other construction access agreements to be granted by the seller.

The firm also assisted a municipality in a transaction involving the acquisition of an inactive municipal landfill formerly leased from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The firm's lawyers negotiated a state-supervised voluntary cleanup (before the adoption of a state voluntary cleanup program) to permit the property to be redeveloped as a golf course. The firm's lawyers assisted the client in selecting consultants and contractors, negotiating professional services contracts, supervising environmental consultants in the development of CERCLA-compliant site characterization and remediation planning documents, drafting restrictive covenants prescribed by the selected remedy, obtaining interim regulatory approvals, and coordinating site remediation with the golf-course redevelopment process.

Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell provides similar representation to clients involved in the redevelopment of a variety of other former industrial and military facilities. These sites currently include a portion of the former Gates Rubber Company site, the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, and a former defense manufacturing facility in Colorado and the Vicksburg Chemical Site in Mississippi.



The lawyers at Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell understand the land use, financing and development issues associated with transit-oriented development projects. Our lawyers are part of a project team that is preparing a master plan to redevelop Denver's Union Station property into a mixed use regional transit hub, and have advised the client on zoning, land use, governance and financing issues associated with this project. The firm's lawyers also have represented a major metropolitan transit agency on environmental issues associated with the development of a light rail transit line and have represented a private developer in extending rail service to a planned development.



In addition to commercial and residential development projects, the attorneys at Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP have represented numerous clients on large-scale transportation infrastructure projects. These projects have involved airports, highways, light and heavy rail, and delivery systems for water and petroleum products. The firm's lawyers have been involved in virtually every aspect of such projects, including funding, property acquisition, approvals and entitlements, public participation, and the analysis and mitigation of environmental impacts.

The firm also represents clients in various facets of the transit and rail industry with a particular focus on representation of state and local governments that have issues involving interaction with the railroads that serve their communities. This includes developing plans for new, continuing or expanding commuter rail and transit service, as well as other issues related to the presence of the railroads in the community. For commuter rail and transit operators, this work includes assessing how to identify and then secure rights of way, selection and negotiation with operators of the commuter service, and addressing regulatory, labor, and other issues that arise in the development and operation of urban rail systems. The firm's attorneys have negotiated with freight railroads and Amtrak on the acquisition of ownership or other rights to use rights-of-way as well as on arrangements for shared use of the corridors or tracks by freight, intercity passenger, regional/commuter passenger and light rail/transit operations. In addition, we have assisted these governments in addressing environmental, competitive, service quality and other issues. Among other clients, the firm has represented or advised state or local governments, including transit and rail authorities, in Southern California, Baltimore-Washington, South Florida, Atlanta, Vermont, Denver, Cleveland and New York City.

Lawyers of the firm are nationally recognized for their many years of experience in airport-related development. Other portions of the firm's informational materials are dedicated to this practice area. The firm's lawyers also have assisted clients with highway projects in several states.



Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell lawyers have been involved in drafting and negotiating the range of agreements required in large, complex projects. As noted above, the firm has been responsible for drafting and/or negotiating the range of purchase and sale, remediation, development, real estate, insurance, professional service, construction, and intergovernmental agreements that support a successful mixed-use brownfields redevelopment. As general counsel to a non-profit hotel authority, the firm oversaw of the drafting, negotiation and integration of the tax-exempt financing, real estate, and hotel operating and economic development agreements necessary to the financing, construction and operation of a $350 million convention center hotel. In that process, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell lawyers drafted and negotiated the turnkey $250 million "engineering, procurement and construction" contract with the project's program manager. The firm also was responsible for preparing corporate documents, such as bylaws, policies and resolutions for the non-profit hotel authority.



Understanding infrastructure funding mechanisms is a critical aspect of the firm's project development practice. The firm's attorneys understand the public funding of major projects such as airports, highways, transit systems, and similar projects. The firm also has extensive experience in development-related infrastructure financing such as tax increment financing, special districts, and convention center hotels. The firm's representation includes advising clients on the structure and options for such financing as well as the negotiation and implementation of such financing. For example, firm lawyers have represented the master developer of a former international airport in structuring and implementing a plan for over $600 million in infrastructure financing and have represented a non-profit authority in the issuance of over $350 million in bonds to finance construction of a convention center hotel. The firm also is part of a master planning team for the creation of a regional inter-modal transportation hub with responsibilities that include advice on finance and governance.



Environmental due diligence activities involved in project development can range from environmental investigation designed to evaluate potential cleanup responsibilities or qualify for liability protection under CERCLA to a wide-ranging review of environmental permitting and compliance issues related to an existing facility or project under consideration for purchase. Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell has assisted clients in evaluating compliance and potential liability issues, developing strategies to mitigate and allocate transactional risk, selecting consultants and supervising environmental investigations, and establishing structures to maintain the confidentiality of due diligence activities.



City of Golden v. Jefferson County, Case No. 03CV3045 (Colo. Dist. Ct. 2004) (obtained injunction against construction of HDTV tower and remand to County Commission)

Proposed residential development, Thousand Oaks, CA

Development of new international airport, Las Vegas, NV

Redevelopment of the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Aurora, CO

Denver Convention Center Hotel, Denver, CO

Redevelopment of a portion of the former Gates Rubber Company site, Denver, CO

Redevelopment of the former Stapleton International Airport, Denver, CO

Redevelopment of Union Station area, Denver, CO

Redevelopment of former RCRA manufacturing site, Westminster, CO

Urban redevelopment area, Golden, CO

Regional mall, CO

Air Force Reserve Base, Chicago, IL

Expansion of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, IL

Proposed Calumet City Airport, Gary, IN

Vicksburg Chemical Site, Vicksburg, MS

Landfill redevelopment, Henderson, NV

Aerospace Park development, Brook Park, OH

Major regional bank in due diligence matter