Land Use and Real Estate Litigation Gallagher's real estate litigation team represents investors, developers, owners, hospital systems, colleges and universities, municipalities, and other clients involved in land use, real property, and project development disputes. We have proudly served many of our clients for several decades. Through years of practice, our litigation team has developed a record of successfully resolving legal challenges affecting our clients' property investments and development efforts. Our lawyers are experienced in resolving conflict through alternative dispute resolution and formal dispute procedures. On behalf of our clients, our lawyers regularly appear before federal and state courts in numerous jurisdictions, administrative agencies, and boards of appeal in real estate matters ranging from lease disputes to constitutional challenges, from First Amendment issues to building code interpretations. We know that real estate litigation can have serious economic implications. Our coordination of matters ensures that we achieve our clients' goal as efficiently, effectively and economically as possible. We assist our clients in real estate and project development related disputes including: Business litigation of all types, including disputes about breach of contract, commercial leases, partnership dissolution, unfair competition, and breach of fiduciary duty; Construction litigation, including bond claims, mechanic’s liens, disputes with subcontractors, damage caused by construction delays, warranty claims, and negligence; Fair housing counseling and litigation, including claims of alleged discrimination in the lease and sale of residential real estate and claims involving alleged improper design and construction of housing under disability accessibility standards; Land use litigation, including redevelopment efforts, zoning and planning disputes, regulatory takings and condemnation, historic preservation, permitting, and demolition; and Tax assessment appeals. Representative Matters: Real Estate and Construction Litigation In ECRV Hanover Hospitality TIC 1, LLC, et al., v. ECRV Hanover Hospitality LeaseCo, LLC, Gallagher successfully represented a group of 1031 exchange tenants in common (TIC) investors who owned interests in a hotel near Baltimore, Maryland. The syndicator of the TIC interests also acted as the tenant/operator of the hotel and was responsible for paying rent to the TIC investors on a monthly basis. After the syndicator ceased paying rent to the TIC investors and refused to vacate the property, the TIC investors contacted Gallagher. Our firm was able to evict the operator and obtain a money judgment against the operator in an amount exceeding $1 million. Representing a major developer in a closely monitored case, Gallagher helped negotiate a favorable settlement in a federal court lawsuit brought by the Equal Rights Center alleging that some 50 multifamily apartment and condominium projects in several states were not designed and constructed in accordance with the federal fair housing and accessibility laws. We prepared a preliminary motion to dismiss that helped to leverage an early resolution to the case, avoiding significant litigation and discovery costs. Gallagher was selected by the Maryland Port Administration and Lloyd's of London to represent the Port in federal court litigation against Archer Daniels Midland following the collapse of a grain elevator and pier in the Baltimore Harbor. The dispute involved complex construction and engineering issues, and was settled through mediation in the early stages of the lawsuit. Gallagher represented the City of Baltimore in negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency regarding sewer overflow from the City's aging sewer infrastructure. We successfully negotiated a consent decree, filed in U.S. District Court, providing for $900 million in renovations over the next 15 years. The consent decree and sewer construction has progressed smoothly with no litigation associated with the consent decree. Gallagher represented a national developer in a federal lawsuit involving a mudslide that destroyed apartment buildings and caused seven-figure property damage outside of Nashville, Tennessee. The case involved engineering and construction claims and was successfully resolved through mediation. Along with insurance defense counsel, Gallagher defended a series of class action lawsuits against a general contractor, and others, related to a large fire that destroyed several apartment buildings in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Multiple parties were involved, including the developers, contractors, subcontractors, and design professionals. Allegations against the general contractor included failure to consider fire protection implications of a five-story wood-construction residential structure and fire code violations. Our client was responsible for a small fraction of the total settlement, which was quickly reached through mediation and ended all fire-related litigation. Gallagher won a favorable settlement for a Maryland college after investigating and asserting claims against design professionals for construction defects of our client's new science center. On the eve of mediation, the insurer for the responsible parties settled for the full coverage limits of the policy. Gallagher prevailed on behalf of a developer/real estate purchaser in an arbitration seeking specific performance of a contract to purchase land worth more than $9 million for condominium development. Representative Matters: Land Use Gallagher prevailed on behalf of our developer client in an administrative challenge brought by community activists against one of Baltimore's most prominent waterfront residential development projects. Following opposition from neighbors, our client received a stop work order alleging a 58-foot height restriction violation on its townhomes project and other challenges involving interpretations of the City's Urban Renewal Plan and building code. Gallagher prevailed in a fast-track administrative hearing. Following the successful ruling, our client was able to continue construction avoiding any project delay. Click to read the news report. Gallagher led a successful effort on behalf of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore to obtain legal authority to raze an apartment building over the objections of preservationists. The structure in dispute was situated on property adjacent to the historic Baltimore Basilica. After guiding the Archdiocese through the complicated demolition permitting process, the case proceeded on a fast track from an administrative hearing process to the Circuit Court of Maryland for Baltimore City, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, and the Maryland Court of Appeals, within a few weeks. The Archdiocese prevailed at each stage of the case. The demolition created new view corridors of the architecturally significant Basilica from key points of the City. Click to read the news report. In a closely watched land use case involving the right to religious exercise, Gallagher achieved a significant judgment against Prince George’s County, Maryland. Our client, Reaching Hearts International, purchased 17 acres of land in West Laurel for the construction of a church but was frustrated by the County in numerous attempts to obtain approvals to build on the property. Our client filed suit and prevailed in a two-week federal jury trial that resulted in a $3.7 million jury verdict on claims under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The decision was upheld upon appeal clearing the way for our client to move forward with its building plans. Click to read the news report or Reaching Hearts Intern., Inc. v. Prince George's County. Representing a leading local developer in litigation concerning the construction of the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Gallagher defeated three separate lawsuits seeking to stop or delay the project. Oponents challenged the approval of tax incentives, amendments to the urban renewal plan, and a Planned Unit Development. Recognizing that prompt resolution was nearly as important as winning, the Gallagher team moved these cases as quickly as possible through the trial court, the intermediate appellate court, and the state’s highest court to a final and successful resolution. The project was not delayed. Click to read Boitnott v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 356 Md. 226 (1999) and Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. Boitnott, 356 Md. 605 (1999). In a dispute involving historic preservation, the unconstitutional taking of property, and religious free exercise, Gallagher successfully convinced a federal court in Maryland to overturn the City of Cumberland's denial of a demolition permit for a historic building on our client's property. Our client concluded that renovating the abandoned building, located in a historic district, was not economically feasible and sought approval to demolish the structure. The request was denied and our client filed suit. Gallagher argued successfully and our client was able to proceed with its demolition plans. The case resulted in three published opinions and is a significant precedent in the areas of historic preservation, regulatory takings, and First Amendment issues. Click to read Keeler v. Mayor & City Council of Cumberland, 940 F. Supp. 879 (D. Md. 1996). Advocates seeking to preserve the "historic" rowhouses that were located on our client's property and slated for demolition, threatened to impede construction for our medical center client's new hospital. Gallagher successfully worked with the Mayor, City Council, and preservation advocates (who dismissed their administrative appeal and lawsuit). Our client experienced no delay of its project or financing. When completed in late 2010, the $400 million, 18-story, structure will significantly enhance the surrounding community. Group Members