Assistant City Attorney III - Real Estate

City of Fort Lauderdale•Fl 33301, FL

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The City of Fort Lauderdale is seeking an experienced Real Estate Attorney to serve as Assistant City Attorney III (Real Estate) within the Office of the City Attorney. The City Attorney's Office is a dynamic, boutique law office representing one of Florida's premier municipalities. Our highly respected legal team advises City leadership on complex and innovative matters involving land use, redevelopment, municipal governance, and commercial real estate while serving a vibrant and growing coastal community. As Assistant City Attorney III (Real Estate), you will play a pivotal role in shaping the City's future by providing legal counsel on high-profile commercial real estate transactions, redevelopment initiatives, and other transformative public projects. Working directly with executive leadership, elected officials, and senior staff, you will have the opportunity to influence significant projects that leave a lasting impact on the community while collaborating with an exceptional team of experienced municipal attorneys. This position serves as lead counsel on a broad range of sophisticated real estate and land development matters involving municipal operations and policy. The successful candidate will provide legal advice and representation on complex commercial real estate transactions, acquisitions and dispositions of property, development agreements, construction-related matters, public-private partnerships, easements, leasing, title issues, and other matters affecting the City's extensive real estate portfolio. This position works closely with City leadership, including the City Manager's Office, Development Services, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Utilities, Engineering, and other departments on high-profile projects that shape the future of the City. The ideal candidate is an experienced commercial real estate attorney with exceptional legal judgment, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to manage complex, high-value transactions from inception through closing. Experience with P3 development transactions is highly valued. This position serves at the pleasure of the City Attorney and is an at-will, non-classified, Management Category I position located in Fort Lauderdale. Management Category I benefits include ten (10) additional Management Vacation Days and a Vehicle Allowance of $390/month.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
Membership in good standing with The Florida Bar.
A minimum of eight (8) to ten (10) years of progressively responsible legal experience practicing real estate law.
Extensive experience handling complex commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, easements, development agreements, and related transactional matters.
Experience negotiating and drafting sophisticated commercial contracts and legal documents.
Experience advising clients regarding construction, development, or infrastructure-related legal matters.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong analytical, negotiation, and problem-solving abilities.

Nice To Haves

Experience representing municipalities, counties, or other governmental entities or advising public agencies on municipal law matters.
Experience with public-private partnerships (P3).
Experience with rights-of-way, utilities, land use, zoning, and development regulations.
Litigation experience involving real estate or construction matters.

Responsibilities

Provides legal advice to the City Manager, executive leadership, boards, committees, and City departments regarding complex real estate and land use matters.
Drafts, reviews, negotiates, and interprets complex legal documents including purchase and sale agreements, development agreements, easements, restrictive covenants, leases, licenses, declarations, interlocal agreements, public-private partnership agreements, and construction-related contracts.
Represents the City in negotiations involving commercial real estate transactions, acquisitions, dispositions, and development projects.
Advises City departments regarding commercial leasing, title matters, due diligence, financing documents, closing issues, and property management matters.
Provides legal guidance on construction contracts, procurement issues, design and construction disputes, project delivery methods, and contract administration.
Supports major capital improvement and redevelopment initiatives involving public infrastructure and municipal facilities.
Reviews legal issues involving zoning, planning, development approvals, platting, permitting, rights-of-way, utilities, and related municipal matters.
Represents the City in administrative proceedings, mediations, arbitrations, and litigation related to assigned practice areas.
Performs legal research and prepares written legal opinions and memoranda.
Attends City Commission meetings, board meetings, workshops, public hearings, and other meetings as assigned.
Collaborates effectively with inside and outside counsel, consultants, developers, title companies, governmental agencies, and private stakeholders.
Keeps current with changes in Florida law affecting municipal government, real estate, construction, procurement, and land development.
Performs related duties as assigned.