Creating and transforming land use and zoning classifications to assist clients who are pursuing development projects and business opportunities throughout the state has been an important part of the Firm's core business since its inception.

From complex commercial ventures such as hotels, office buildings, industrial parks, shopping centers, warehouses, racetracks and telecommunications towers to high rise condominiums, apartment buildings, residential homes and even county fairs, the Firm's land use and zoning attorneys are experienced and knowledgeable in all aspects of land development and usage including but not limited to, local government law, developer agreements, land use and zoning changes, environmental permitting, site planning, DRI compliance, creation of Planned Unit Developments (PUD), Planned Developments (PD), Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA). Where appropriate, we assist our clients to obtain density increases, drafting and filing of state registration requirements, variances, temporary use permits, drafting and processing amendments to local, county and state law, and obtaining valuable economic incentives and property tax relief.

Our client base includes buyers, sellers, lenders and borrowers, owners, developers and contractors who are all seeking to increase the economic value of their land. In addition, the Firm represents telecommunications companies seeking approvals from local governmental entities for specific land uses that will enhance their technology.

Becker & Poliakoff Land Use and Zoning attorneys, many of whom have first-hand working knowledge of local, state, and regional governmental laws and regulations, have been involved with literally hundreds of complex projects including multi-million dollar properties with multiple developmental criteria. We have represented potential buyers in due diligence concerning a determination of a property's greatest potential use and developers in seeking to obtain the highest investment return. We work closely with our clients in the acquisition through development of a project and in forming or implementing joint ventures and partnerships.

A few examples of the Firm's work on behalf of developers and other clients seeking changes for building and development projects:

• Trump Hollywood, a joint venture of well known national developers for which we represented the them in getting the land use changed from business to residential and from hotel to condominium and entitled a 40 story building on a barrier island plus were successful in transferring density from one parcel to another across the street through a unity of title;
  
  
• The Firm serves as General Counsel to the Isle of Capri (OTC-ISLE), the owner of Pompano Park Racing and Poker. Our attorneys represented them in all aspects of their original purchase of the property which included numerous leases, multiple parties, and several parcels of land with various zoning categories. Representation included: negotiating the purchase and sale agreement with the general partnership including the institutional Trustees who owned the property; due diligence matters such as title issues, DRI (Development of Regional Impact) and other environmental matters, review of contracts, permitting, licensing. As lead counsel, we worked closely and coordinated with the surveyors, engineers and other professionals who assisted in the transaction. The Firm continues to represent the Track and has been helped lead the transformation from harness track to racino with the introduction of slot machines at the Isle of Capri at Pompano Park. The state-of-the-art “racino” (racetrack-casino), featuring live harness racing, poker, simulcasting and the most entertaining slots in the world plus a hotel, fine dining, great shopping and convention facilities are part of the plan.
  
  
• Ocean Palms which has closed on all its units for which we did the land use, zoning, setbacks plus increased height and density, and entitlements;
  
  
• Sheridan Stationside project, a transit oriented development on 40 acres which will include 300,000 square feet of commercial space for retail, office use plus residential housing;
  
  
• Broward Fashion Mall for which we have worked on securing zoning changes including flex units, entitlements from the City of Plantation and worked closely with the building department on permitting and other issues on behalf of our client, who is planning a mixed used development on what many consider Broward County's most valuable commercial property with retail, office and residential space;
  
  
• Commerce Bancorp, based in New Jersey but committed to opening 150 bank branches in South Florida in next few years. Our firm is handling various zoning, building and permitting issues at municipalities and other governmental agencies throughout South Florida
  
  
• Diplomat Resort and Country Club in the purchase of property and assets totaling an estimated $600 million including the redevelopment and construction of a 1,000 room five star hotel and resort, and 210,000 square feet convention center, plus PGA caliber golf course, world class spa, and upscale oceanfront condominium complex. The Firm has served as Special Corporate Counsel in many aspects of the project including land use and zoning issues such as a new PD ordinance approving the height and density for the project, condominium documents, acquisitions, and local governmental approvals for various related issues and property tax relief.
  
  
• The Firm serves as Town Attorney for Southwest Ranches and as such advises the Town Council on appropriate land usage and guides the Town through requests for zoning changes.

These various clients demonstrate our deep understanding of development projects in Florida and what it takes to make a deal happen to meet the client's time and business goals.

Multi – Disciplinary Approach
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A. is unique in providing our clients with "one stop shopping". The combination of real estate experience (the core of our firm's practice), prowess in local governmental law and lobbying, preeminence in Construction law (we are proud to have more Board Certified experts in Construction Law than any other Florida law firm) and extensive experience litigating land use and infrastructure related disputes provides our governmental and private sector clients with unique and unparalleled counsel in planning, developing, building and completing projects successfully. By providing such comprehensive attorney services, our clients are assured they are receiving the best and most complete advice in a variety of potentially different legal areas without the worry of a problem arising sometime in the future.