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

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

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

Economic Development & Incentives

Read Our Blog

KJK Finalizes Closing of Erieview Tower Redevelopment

CLEVELAND, OHIO – January 6, 2025 – KJK congratulates Kassouf Development on the successful closing of all financial components for the transformative Erieview Tower and Galleria redevelopment. Located at the corner of East Ninth Street and St. Clair Avenue in...

Another Step in Cleveland’s Lakefront Revitalization

Cleveland City Council recently commenced the process to create a new nonprofit development agency, known as a New Community Authority (NCA), to administer land and community facility acquisition and development, as well as related services for its downtown lakefront...

What Developers Need to Know About Cleveland’s Community Benefit Scorecard

While the City of Cleveland has been using Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) for development projects for over a decade, City Council passed Ordinance No. 297-2023 on June 5, 2023, officially enacting Chapter 191A of the Codified Ordinances of Cleveland. Chapter...