Practice Group

Ohio Economic Development Attorneys

KJK’s Economic Development attorneys provide a wide breadth of services to businesses looking to establish, expand, consolidate or relocate; developers planning their next big project; or municipalities seeking to attract such businesses and developers.

Drawing upon deep experience in real estate, land acquisition and leasing, financing, contract negotiation, compliance, general corporate law and more, our Economic Development attorneys manage projects that help businesses and communities thrive.

We help businesses in a variety of industries and of all sizes, from start-ups to middle market companies to large corporations, take advantage of local, state and federal economic incentives.

Economic Development & Incentives

Our services

Economic Incentives Advocacy, Compliance & Negotiation
- Opportunity Zone Incentives
- PACE & Other Energy Related Financing
- Historic Tax Credits
- Ohio and Local Job Creation Tax Credits
- Site Selection and Acquisition
- Tax Abatements
- Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
- Development Grants
- Development Entitlements
Utility Infrastructure Financing
Brownfield Redevelopment Incentives
Workforce Development Agreements

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Representative Experience

HELPING OHIO BUSINESSES GET AHEAD

Expansion & Development of Global Headquarters

Represents a $2 billion, privately held corporation in managing its expansion and development of a new global headquarters, including negotiating and closing a financing package that includes support from the local municipality, JobsOhio and the Ohio Tax Credit Authority; managing collaboration among local, regional and statewide entities to support the growth of the company and its creation of approximately 1,000 new jobs; and negotiating contracts in connection with the build-out of the project.

Expansion of Executive Offices

Assisted a national manufacturer in its expansion of its executive offices and additional warehouse space, including acquiring property, accessing economic incentives and negotiating and closing financing from municipal and state sources, including JobsOhio.

Restaurant Expansion Project

Negotiated and closed complex public-private financing and land assembly and purchase for a locally owned restaurant supplier’s approximately $8 million expansion project, which will create a nearly 200,000 square foot distribution center and give new life to a formerly vacant property in the City of Cleveland.

Learn More about our Restaurant & Hospitalities Group

Rezone & Redevelop

Successfully represented a real estate developer in a rezoning effort that will allow the company to redevelop a vacant three-story office building and surrounding 8.5-acre parcel into a mixed-use office-retail property, bringing with it the potential for hundreds of new jobs to a suburban city.

Learn More about our Zoning & Land Use Practice Group

Outside General Counsel

Acts as outside general counsel for early-stage companies, assisting them with general corporate governance and accessing funding.

Secured the 2016 Republican National Convention

Authored the winning 345-page bid to secure the 2016 Republican National Convention for Cleveland, structured complex public-private partnerships, raised more than $30 million in funding from city, county, state and private sources and successfully negotiated more than 300 major public and private service and license agreements and more than $30 million in buildout, production, transportation and service contracts

Featured Case Study

DEALER TIRE WORLD HEADQUARTERS AT THE HISTORIC VICTORY CENTER IN CLEVELAND

KJK led the team to revive the long-vacant, 100-year-old Victory Center building located in Midtown Cleveland, now home to Dealer Tire’s world headquarters. On the brink of bankruptcy, the building owner came to KJK for help, and we made the connections that brought Dealer Tire to its new campus at the Victory Center. KJK put together a public incentive package totaling more than $12 million in city, county and state incentives. It was the kind of package that Dealer Tire couldn’t pass up, and in January 2016, the company signed a deal to become Victory Center’s sole tenant for the next 20 years.

in public low-interest loans

in state and federal historic tax credits

renovation of historic building

Economic Development & Incentives

Read Our Blog

New Opportunity Zone 2.0 Designation Rules: What States, Communities & Developers Need to Know

This week, Treasury released IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-14 directing States on the process to designate Opportunity Zones in the OZ 2.0 process. The window for designation opens on July 1, 2026, and runs through September 30, 2026 with opportunities for extension....

Federal Housing Initiatives Signal Potential Shifts in Development, Lending, and Affordability

On Friday, President Trump issued a pair of Executive Orders focused on increasing affordability and access to the housing market. Combined with ongoing negotiations in Congress on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, they reflect a bipartisan focus in Washington on...

Designating Ohio’s Next Opportunity Zones: Lessons from the Opportunity Zones 1.0

Why the 2026 Redesignation Matters Since their enactment in 2017, Opportunity Zones have served as a significant development tool in Ohio, directing private capital into economically distressed communities through federal tax incentives. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act...