Complex land use projects require collaborative finesse.  Otten Johnson brings powerful internal resources to bear, including real estate, corporate, tax, real estate finance and litigation specialists, augmented by a responsive outside network of political and technical consultants.  The result:  multi-disciplinary expertise necessary to secure successful outcomes.

The firm's sophisticated and focused approach can be seen in high-profile projects like the Pepsi Center, Park Meadows Mall, Belmar, REI's Denver Flagship Store, the Denver Airport Gateway, The Village (at Avon), Meridian International Business Center, the Sears/Cherry Creek Redevelopment, Eagle Ranch, and Vail Resorts' development projects in Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch, Arrowhead, Red Sky Ranch, and the Town of Vail.  Success for our clients is also evident in the neighborhoods, office and industrial parks, retail centers, and recreational and cultural amenities where Coloradoans live, work, shop and play.

Our Approach:  Wide-Angle Focus, Detailed Orientation

Otten Johnson provides big-picture, strategic planning with an intense attention to implementing and managing process.  Our approach blends the best of inventiveness and pragmatism.  Even in the midst of complex matters, our focus remains steadfast on understanding client objectives and helping to achieve them in a cost-efficient manner.

Our land use group is nationally lauded for representing private-sector developers in zoning, subdivision, annexation, urban renewal and related land use entitlement matters.  Clients range from privately held local developers and homebuilders, to publicly traded real estate investment trusts, large format retailers, and international real estate investors.  On occasion, we represent public-sector clients when our experience is relevant in advancing a project, or by assisting with drafting land use regulations. 

We frequently counsel developers in leading-edge land use and urban development matters such as:

• Large-scale, long-term planned developments
• Historic preservation projects
• Development agreements and vested rights arrangements
• Annexation agreements
• Initiative and referendum elections
• Public highway and interchange issues
• Urban renewal projects
• Special district and other public financing arrangements
• Public-private partnerships and transactions

Furthermore, we represent clients in litigation in the areas of:

• Regulatory takings
• Governmental authority
• Unauthorized or excessive fees and taxes
• Constitutional rights of private property owners
• Eminent domain issues, including landowners facing property condemnation
  

All directors within the land use group are respected instructors and sought-after speakers at continuing legal education seminars including the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's annual land use conference.  Founding partner Tom Ragonetti serves as current President of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, and is adjunct professor of land use and planning at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law, and at the University of Colorado at Denver's College of Architecture and Planning.

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