Larry C. Martin

Larry Martin focuses on real estate development and land use. He draws from experience as a city attorney, real estate development executive, and thirty years of legal practice to facilitate pragmatic, productive solutions to difficult environmental, transportation, and political challenges. Larry has a proven record of adding value by negotiating development agreements and winning comprehensive entitlement packages. He helps owners add value to land and assists developers by reducing risk, saving time, and lowering development costs.

Practice Highlights

Repositioning Property
Assisted owner of surplus hospital and medical office campus in repositioning the site by obtaining comprehensive land use plan and zoning amendments, approval of a master plan and negotiating a 20-year vested development agreement. The single-purpose, low density property was upgraded to a high density, mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment site with significant increase in market value.

Development Permitting
Obtained development approvals for a broad range of development projects including hotel, mixed-use, condominiums, residential subdivisions, planned unit developments, master planned communities, apartments, office, industrial, and golf courses.

Impact Mitigation and Vesting Agreements
Negotiated and drafted development agreements and impact mitigation agreements relating to impact fees and credits for transportation, park, school and fire safety facilities, water supply, stormwater quality and detention, affordable housing, sewer, and other impacts for residential, industrial, office, and mixed-use developments.

Environmental Regulations
Advised commercial developer regarding regulatory compliance, including environmental review and compensating flood storage requirements for development of 1.5 million square-foot warehouse and distribution facility on Port of Centralia property adjacent to the Chehalis River.

Represented private clients in obtaining permits for shoreline and wetland development and in administrative hearings at the local and state level.

Counseled private and public clients on interpretation and implementation of State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), as well as legislation regulating shoreline, wetland, steep slope, aquifer recharge, and other environmentally sensitive areas.

Represented land owner and developer of a golf complex along the Sammamish River in Redmond, Wash., including environmental review, permitting and negotiating of agreements with the Washington State Department of Ecology, King County Metro, and City of Redmond for exercise of water rights, placing water rights in public trust, and supply and use of reclaimed water to be supplied by a regional sewage treatment plant.

Negotiated with local and state officials on interpretation and amendment of local and state environmental laws and regulations and impact agreements.

Initiated and defended SEPA and Shoreline Act appeals.

Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Amendments
Drafted and obtained approval of rezones and land use plan amendments required to allow development projects to go forward.

Municipal Law
Served as city attorney and special counsel to over a dozen Washington cities, several Washington counties, utility and other special districts, as well as an Idaho city and a California special purpose district. Responsibilities have included strategic counsel and advice to mayors, council members, department heads, and staff on a wide range of legal and political issues, with an emphasis on land use regulation and development permitting.

Public Facilities
Negotiated and drafted agreement for four-mile extension of sewer line to serve master planned developments.

Negotiated and drafted agreement to design, construct and fund toll road project.

Negotiation of a complex agreement to resolve conflicting claims and needs for property planned to be part of the $430 million Seattle Professional Football Stadium and Exhibition Hall project. Successful negotiation of agreements among the private project developer and four governmental entities allowing the project to move forward on schedule, and including the acquisition on behalf of the developer of the rights to construct a major mixed-use neighborhood development adjacent to the Seattle Stadium District.

Negotiated and drafted agreements between counties, cities, special districts, and private solid waste companies and lenders for financing, design, and construction of solid waste handling facilities and long-term transport and disposal of solid waste.

Directed city process in formation of many local improvement districts for financing and construction of roads and utilities, including extensive work with appraisers in property valuation and formulation of assessment rolls. Litigation and defense of appeals contesting local improvement district assessments.

Negotiated and drafted street and utility latecomer agreements.

Real Estate Development
Formed joint ventures for development of:

• 500,000 square-foot four-building technology/office project with street-level retail and underground parking
• 550,000 square-foot mixed-use complex including retail, hotel, residential condominiums, and underground parking
• five-star hotel/luxury condominium/Class A office complex with street-level retail and public park over underground parking
• 160-unit residential project with street-front retail
• 80,000 square-foot Class A office project with street-level retail
• 120,000 square-foot biotech research/laboratory center with ground-floor conference facility and restaurant

Negotiated purchase terms and managed due diligence for assembly of more than sixty acres of downtown Seattle real estate with value in excess of $200 million, including a complex $20 million acquisition from the City of Seattle.

Negotiated property acquisitions for major private and municipal construction projects, including office and residential developments, fire and police stations, city halls, and street and utility extensions.

Brownfield Development
Managed extensive project planning and feasibility analyses for remediation and redevelopment of a highly-contaminated 20-acre site as part of a 68-acre master planned development. This redevelopment process included public/private partnering and negotiation with both a city, state and federal agencies to design, fund, permit, and construct a $75 million freeway interchange improvement.