Broken Planning

    Broken Planning:  How Opponents Hijacked the Planning Process Former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill famously said that “All politics is local.” It can also be said that “All land use is political.” And the politics of land use has turned against development. Rather than generating a healthy debate on the merits […]

Political Due Diligence in Commercial Real Estate

Any company making decisions about a commercial real estate deal does a lot of due diligence. They study demographics, market share, infrastructure, and deal financials among other things. What too many still fail to do is a political due diligence. All land use decisions are political and the question needs to be asked – Is […]

When Public Hearings Go Horribly Wrong

Having a good project is not enough.Remember that it is all about the politics. A client recently asked me how to deal with an angry mob. If you are confronting an angry mob of residents opposing your project at a public hearing, you’re not alone. I can tell you it is happening across the US […]