Jeff is a project development attorney whose practice focuses on large-scale development projects, including commercial development; renewable energy, specifically wind and solar; lifestyle centers; commercial greenhouses; and wireless telecommunications facilities. He works closely with industrial development agencies and economic development corporations to support and promote local and regional economic development.
Chambers & Partners, an independent research company, highlights Jeff's “broad practice that includes advising on notable development projects” and his deep knowledge of “the CWA, RCRA, and NEPA.”
Jeff works with clients' development goals and business plans to define the development project-build process. He routinely structures deals and procures financing and incentives for public- and private-sector clients through PILOTs and the SEQRA process. He has extensive experience coordinating environmental impact studies; obtaining zoning, permitting, project siting, and regulatory approvals from municipalities; and working with industrial development agencies.
Importantly, Jeff serves as lead counsel for OCIDA and has played a pivotal role the expansion of the White Pine Commerce Park site, attracting semiconductor giant Micron. His guidance during site selection and involvement in key meetings with national site selection firms were instrumental in Onondaga County securing the Micron project, which is anticipated to bring over $100 billion in direct capital investment and over 50,000 jobs to Onondaga County. Since 2023, Jeff has served as co-lead counsel to OCIDA in support of the SEQRA review for the Micron project. Jeff works to streamline the process for Tier 1 supply chain companies to bring their operations to New York in support of the state’s rapidly growing semiconductor industry.
Jeff also represents telecommunications tower companies, wireless-telephone providers, personal communications-service (PCS) providers, and major telephone companies in a variety of infrastructure-development projects across New York and Vermont. Jeff delivers strategic advice and zoning and permitting approaches to achieve aggressive development schedules in the highly competitive wireless communications field. He has niche experience in zoning and siting complex wireless infrastructure in the highly regulated Adirondack Park, and he also serves as the national zoning-compliance legal planner for a major PCS wireless provider.
Jeff advises on resolving liability and minimizing financial exposure involving contaminated sites. He has extensive experience with complex Superfund sites involving contaminated soils, sediments, and waterways as well as the identification of third parties and sources and natural resource damages (NRD). Jeff represents clients in regulatory compliance issues and in the enforcement of federal environmental regulations and state counterparts, including the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Jeff is a co-chair of Barclay Damon's Project Development Practice Area, chair of the Telecommunications Practice Area, and co-leader of the Semiconductor Team.
Outside his practice, Jeff serves as chair of the firm's Compensation Committee.