Zoning, Land Use & Construction Litigation

Zoning and Land Use 

Silverman Thompson’s land use and zoning attorneys represent a wide range of clients from individual property owners to Fortune 500 companies, assisting them in the navigation of the complex entitlement process for a diverse mix of real estate development projects and zoning matters.  

 
Successful development requires timely authorization of various approvals and assurance of regulatory compliance; zoning boards, planning agencies, legislative bodies, community groups and state and federal regulators can present challenges to the development process. Our attorneys appear regularly before various agencies, legislative bodies and courts in the Baltimore metropolitan area to address those challenges. 

The zoning and land use practice group is led by Joseph R. Woolman, III and Avery Strachan. Ms. Strachan is a former member of the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals for Baltimore City and Mr. Woolman has over 25 years of experience as a leading land use attorney in Baltimore.  

Our team has successfully litigated land use cases before the Appellate Court of Maryland and Mr. Woolman was one of three founding attorneys of the Baltimore Development Workgroup (BDW) in 2008. 

Silverman Thompson’s land use and zoning practice includes, but is not limited to: 

• Rezoning and other legislative authorizations
• Conditional use approvals 
• Variance approvals 
• Subdivision approvals 
• Architectural and design authorizations 
• Historic preservation matters 

Silverman Thompson regularly represents clients before the following: 

• The Baltimore City Council 
• The Baltimore City Planning Commission 
• The Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals for Baltimore City 
• The Baltimore City Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation 
• The Baltimore City Control Board 
• The Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City 

Representative projects include: 

• Anthem House — Bozzuto / War Horse Cities / Solstice Partners
  • Collaborated with a multi-developer team and local and state officials for several years to overcome significant challenges to redevelop a former GE appliance repair facility into a now prominent mixed-use fixture along the south Baltimore waterfront. Key entitlements included a major rezoning of land and enacting state legislation to create new liquor licenses for multiple tenants of the project.

• Stadium Square — Caves Valley Partners 
• Hanover Cross Street — The Hanover Company 
  • Multi-year effort to redevelop three entire city blocks near Ravens Stadium, including the construction of a high-profile luxury apartment building and a Class A office location. Entitlements included the assemblage and consolidation of multiple lots and the closure of public streets and alleys.

• Alta Federal Hill — Wood Partners 
  • Worked closely with the Baltimore City Council and Departments of Planning, Transportation, and Zoning to redevelop two large industrial lots into a multi-phase mixed-use project that now serves as a gateway to South Baltimore.

• Haven Overlook / Ronald Heights — Lennar 
  • Represented a leading national home builder in negotiating the utilization of prior approvals and obviating the need for additional and costly entitlement procedures to foster the construction of two townhome projects in high-profile locations in Baltimore City.

• The Broom Factory Boston Street — Harbor Enterprise Center 
  • Worked closely with the Baltimore City Council and local leaders to rezone and redevelop the historic former Atlantic Broom Factory building into a destination commercial and retail center along the important Boston Street corridor in Southeast Baltimore.

• Perkins Homes Redevelopment  
  • Won multiple hearings before Baltimore’s Zoning Board, advancing the Perkins Home Redevelopment. The project will transform Perkins, Somerset, and Oldtown with housing, a school, stores, and parks. Perkins Square includes 800 of 1,600 new units, with some for legacy residents.

• Alta 47 — Bozzuto / War Horse Cities
  • Successfully re-zoned and developed a multi-lot luxury townhome project on former industrial land in the high-profile neighborhood of Locust Point in South Baltimore.

• Cross Street Market — Caves Valley Partners  / Atlas Restaurant Group
  • Multi-year effort successfully navigating the complex redevelopment of the iconic Cross Street Market, including the drafting and shepherding of significant state legislation creating an entirely new category of liquor license.

• Broadway Market — Baltimore Development Corporation
  • Represented the City of Baltimore and implemented the strategies from the success of the Cross Street Market project to facilitate the redevelopment of the historic Broadway Market in Fells Point.

Meet Our Team

Please contact Joseph R. Woolman, III at 443.909.7489 or jwoolman@silvermanthompson.com with zoning and land use inquiries.

Construction Litigation 

Silverman Thompson regularly represents owners, developers, construction managers, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, sureties, and insurers in all aspects of their construction related concerns including:  

• Contract drafting and negotiation 
• Procurement advice 
• Bid disputes 
• Contract disputes 
• Delay and acceleration claims 
• Construction defects and losses 
• Breach of warranty claims 

Our construction attorneys help clients avoid disputes, promote positive on-site relationships, and maintain profitability. When disputes arise, however, Silverman Thompson construction litigators have extensive experience mediating, litigating, and arbitrating all forms of construction related claims, including: 

• Default and termination, payment and delay claims 
• Faulty workmanship 
• Negligent design 
• Scheduling and draw schedule disputes 
• Mechanic’s lien and bond claims 
• Miller Act and Little Miller Act claims 
• Insurance and coverage disputes  
• Change orders and cost overrun 
• Substantial completion disputes 

In addition to our pre-construction transactional experience, we litigate construction-related disputes in state and federal courts and arbitration throughout the country. 

Our representative matters in construction litigation include: 

• Successful representation of owner in $120 million professional malpractice action against architect/engineer of high-profile mixed-use development project 
• Numerous representations of general contractors in multi-million-dollar mechanic’s lien actions and bond claims 
• Successful mediation on behalf of subcontractor in multi-million-dollar delay claim dispute 
• Lead counsel to minority-owners in negotiating the master developer agreement for the largest public-private development project in the Maryland history 
• After a four-day arbitration, obtained all monetary relief sought in breach of contract action by a subcontractor against a general contractor while achieving complete defense verdict against all counterclaims 

Meet Our Team

Please contact Avery Strachan at 410.385.9113 or astrachan@silvermanthompson.com for more information about Silverman Thompson’s construction litigation practice.