Senior Real Estate Counsel

Birch Creek Energy•St. Louis, MO

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

Birch Creek Energy is a rapidly growing utility-scale solar development company focused on mid-market projects across multiple RTOs. Recently recapitalized and ranked #3 on Inc. 5000's list of Fastest Growing Companies (2023), the Company is actively building its independent power producer (IPP) platform and executing meaningful project M&A. With a team of approximately 60 professionals, Birch Creek seeks self-starters who share its commitment to accelerating solar development across the United States. This is a distinctive opportunity for a seasoned real estate attorney with deep transactional experience in land acquisition, leasing, title curative work, zoning, and permitting, ideally combined with renewable energy or infrastructure development exposure. The Senior Real Estate Counsel will serve as the primary legal resource for all real property matters associated with the development and financing of utility-scale solar projects, working closely with development, commercial, project execution, and finance teams. This position reports to the Chief Legal Officer and works alongside the in-house legal team and supporting paralegal resources. As the real estate function scales, there may be an opportunity to manage one or more direct reports, including a dedicated title coordinator. Birch Creek is headquartered in St. Louis, with an additional office location in Los Angeles. The ability to work from our STL or LA office is a plus factor, but remote-work candidates are also welcomed

Requirements

5–10+ years of real estate transactional legal experience, with significant exposure to land acquisition, complex leasing, title curative work, and real property due diligence
Demonstrated experience with utility-scale renewable energy, infrastructure, oil & gas, transmission, or comparable large-footprint real property development
Hands-on expertise with multi-parcel land assemblies, agricultural landowner negotiations, and long-term ground leases
Deep working knowledge of title insurance, endorsements, survey review, and title curative strategies
Strong familiarity with zoning and land use permitting processes, including local entitlement proceedings
Proven ability to manage multiple active projects across multiple states simultaneously
J.D. from a U.S. ABA-accredited law school; licensed and in good standing in the jurisdiction where candidate will be based

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with utility-scale solar, wind, or battery storage project development
Working knowledge of solar or commercial real estate project finance transactions, including collateral assignment of real property interests, lender consents, and SNDA structures
Experience with agricultural preservation programs, conservation easements, or right-of-first-refusal issues common in rural land markets
Entity formation and governance experience to support SPE/project company structuring

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and negotiate land purchase and sale agreements, options to purchase, rights-of-way, easements, and access agreements for utility-scale solar project sites
Negotiate and structure complex site control agreements, including long-term ground leases (typically 30–40 year terms with extension options), option agreements, and exclusivity arrangements with landowners
Advise on lease terms critical to project development: landlord consent, financing cooperation provisions, estoppel certificates, SNDAs, and developer step-in rights
Coordinate multi-parcel land assemblies, manage overlapping ownership interests, and resolve competing claims or encumbrances
Negotiate interconnection and generation-tie easements across multiple parcels, coordinating with utilities, RTOs, and adjacent landowners to secure delivery infrastructure rights
Lead title review and curative processes for project sites, including analysis of title commitments, exception documents, surveys, and plats
Identify title defects including gaps in chain of title, boundary disputes, adverse possession claims, mineral rights conflicts, agricultural liens, and existing encumbrances, and work collaboratively with the development team to resolve such defects
Work collaboratively with development and engineering team to ensure that land constraints are incorporated into project designs
Negotiate and obtain title insurance endorsements essential for solar development, construction and financing (e.g., zoning, access, survey, creditors' rights, usury endorsements)
Assist the development team in finalizing lease lines and manage associated ALTA/NSPS survey review, legal description reconciliation, and coordination with title underwriters and surveyors
Advise investment committee of title curative items that may impact project design or timeline.
Coordinate environmental due diligence in collaboration with internal team members and external consultants, including Phase I and Phase II ESAs, wetlands jurisdictional determinations, threatened and endangered species clearance, and cultural resources surveys
Support real estate aspects of IPP transactions, including lender due diligence, real property representations and warranties, collateral assignments of leases and easements, and financing estoppels
Assist with real estate components of project acquisitions and dispositions, including structuring asset purchase agreements and managing real property schedules and disclosure
Work with title companies and external counsel to satisfy real estate closing conditions in tax equity and construction/term loan financings
Deliver clean, financeable title commitments, pro formas and as-is ALTA surveys reflecting final project lease boundary areas to the project finance team
Provide strategic real estate counsel to development, commercial, and project execution teams; serve as a business partner, not just a legal reviewer
Assess and clearly communicate real estate legal and regulatory risk in the context of commercial decision-making
Manage and coordinate external real estate counsel across multiple states, ensuring quality, cost-efficiency, and timeliness
Develop and maintain standard form agreements, playbooks, and internal guidance documents for real estate processes
Adapt to new tasks and responsibilities as the business grows, including emerging issues in agrivoltaics, community solar, and co-located storage