We are proud of what we do, and how we do it.
Representative matters and published decisions from across the firm. Filter by practice area.

Hyde Park Square rezoning
Lead counsel for the successful effort to rezone a portion of Hyde Park Square for a $150,000,000 mixed-use development with apartments, a boutique hotel, and underground parking. A high-profile, contested neighborhood approval.

Saving the Washington Park bell tower
Lead counsel for the successful effort to save the 150-year-old church bell tower on Washington Park, including multiple emergency court orders, personally argued and won by J.P. Burleigh, that halted demolition in the Over-the-Rhine Historic District.

Crosley Building adaptive reuse
Lead land use counsel for the $50 million conversion of the former Crosley Radio Corp. headquarters into 175 to 250 apartments, with a focus on providing units to artists.
Trail-oriented multifamily
Lead land use counsel on the rezoning that permitted 416 apartments across eight buildings on the Little Miami River Trail. Now under construction.
St. Vincent de Paul outreach center
Lead land use counsel on the rezoning for a new 36,000-square-foot facility for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Cincinnati, including an expanded food pantry, charitable pharmacy, homelessness-prevention services, chapel, health clinic, and call center.

Affordable senior housing in the historic urban core
Suder helped secure a key approval for an affordable senior housing project in one of Cincinnati's historic neighborhoods after the design was reworked to respect its context. Proof that the firm gets projects built in historic districts, not just blocked.
Opposing the Wilmington data center
Counsel in the opposition to a proposed hyperscale data center campus in Wilmington, Ohio, on the questions these projects turn on: whether the use is permitted at all under the existing text, what the campus draws from the local water supply, the generation and transmission that arrives with it, and noise at the property line.

Taxpayer standing: Cincinnati ex rel. Miller v. Cincinnati
Representing the affordable housing developer, Over-the-Rhine Community Housing, Suder defeated a taxpayer suit attacking the City ordinance that approved the project. The First District vacated the judgment and ordered the case dismissed for lack of standing.

Nonconforming uses: Cook v. Lockland
Representing a property owner against the Village of Lockland, Suder won a reversal holding that the village, not the owner, bears the burden of proving a nonconforming use was abandoned before it can strip the owner's vested right to continue it.

Use variances: Mt. Lookout Community Council v. Cincinnati
Representing the neighborhood community council, Suder won a reversal vacating a use variance that would have allowed the demolition of four buildings in Mt. Lookout. The court held that demolition is not a land use that can be permitted through a use variance.

Grocery-anchored downtown tower
Lead transactional counsel on the sale-leaseback financing for a new 18-story downtown apartment tower anchored by a new multi-level Kroger store.

Convention hotel acquisition
Lead transactional counsel on the acquisition of the 32-story Millennium Hotel across from the Duke Energy Convention Center.

$100 million assisted living portfolio
Lead real estate counsel on the sale-leaseback financing of a $100,000,000 assisted living portfolio spanning three states.
Retail leasing program for a growing orthodontics group
Lead leasing counsel for locations in several of the region's top retail centers, including Kenwood Towne Centre.

Playhouse Square residential tower
Counsel on matters related to a portion of the public financing for a new 34-story apartment tower on Cleveland's historic Playhouse Square.

W Austin Hotel & Residences condominium
Josh Bernstein prepared the condominium documents for the W Austin Hotel & Residences, the mixed-use tower combining a hotel, private residences, and commercial space, using the condominium regime to allocate ownership, control, and cost among very different uses in one building.

The Grove: 75 acres of state land into a walkable mixed-use community
Josh Bernstein represented the private equity-backed developer in acquiring 75 acres of state-owned land in central Austin through a public bid process, including leaseback agreements with multiple state agencies, public procurement requirements, and affordable housing commitments, followed by the ongoing development, leasing, and parcel sales for the community.

Austin's marquee master-planned communities
Josh Bernstein was heavily involved in the development, condominium, and covenant work for several of the projects that shaped Austin's growth, including Barton Creek and the Mueller redevelopment.
Age-restricted communities structured as condominiums
For a master-planned community developer, Josh Bernstein built a condominium structure for subdividing all of the land in multiple 55+ communities, unlocking significantly more density than a traditional platted subdivision would allow, and handled sales of improved and unimproved parcels to sub-developers, homebuilders, and individuals.
First-of-its-kind timeshare conversion
Josh Bernstein represented a national hospitality company in acquiring a Class A apartment building and converting it to timeshare use, securing a first-of-its-kind approval from local authorities, then structuring multiple condominium regimes to support a multi-club timeshare program and state timeshare registrations.
Land acquisition program for a publicly traded homebuilder
Josh Bernstein advised a public homebuilder on the simultaneous acquisition of dozens of unimproved parcels, negotiating entitlement and development agreements and utility and shared-facility agreements with sellers and neighbors, with a tracking system built to keep the volume on schedule.
Joint venture for a major commercial and mixed-use project
Josh Bernstein represented an institutional developer in structuring and negotiating the joint venture for a large commercial and mixed-use development in San Diego.
Commercial lender representation, including a distressed Houston project
Josh Bernstein has represented a commercial real estate lender across multiple loans nationwide, including a Houston development where the borrower's deal collapsed and the lender foreclosed and resold the asset.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Client names are used only where the matter is a matter of public record.
Let's talk about your property.
Tell us what you are trying to build, buy, keep, or defend. We will tell you plainly how we can help.