Charles Landry

Practice Areas

Charles Landry is a partner and member of Fishman Haygood’s Business Section. Charles concentrates his practice in the areas of real estate development, real estate finance, land use and zoning. He has represented numerous parties in a wide range of real estate transactions, which include residential developments (including Traditional Neighborhood Developments), office buildings, shopping malls and centers, hotels and medical facilities, golf course communities, and industrial developments. Charles also has represented numerous developers of residential, multifamily, commercial, mixed use and industrial projects in connection with entitlements and public incentives.

Career

Charles is a leader in public-private partnerships in Louisiana, having represented parties in numerous complex projects. He is also widely recognized as one of the leading land use attorneys in Louisiana. Charles was a founding member and served as the Chairperson of the East Baton Rouge Zoning Advisory Committee from its formation in 2003 to 2017.

He has also represented governmental entities in the drafting of zoning legislation. Charles represented the City of Lafayette to draft its traditional neighborhood development ordinance. He also represented the Parish of Ascension to draft its planned unit development ordinance.

Charles has been very involved in advancing Greater Baton Rouge’s high-tech, information, and entrepreneurial economic sector. He was instrumental in the formation of the Louisiana Technology Park and serves as General Counsel to the Research Park Corporation.

Charles also has significant experience representing nonprofit entities on issues related to mission, structure, and governance.

He has been a frequent lecturer at LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center and has led numerous continuing education seminars on the subjects of complex real estate transactions, title examination, land use planning, secured transactions, and real estate workouts.

Publications

Charles is the co-editor of The Foreign Investor’s Guide to the Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Louisiana, an extensive analysis of the laws of the United States and the State of Louisiana as those laws may impact a party wishing to invest in Louisiana.

Work Highlights

• Serves as lead counsel for the renovation, expansion, and development of several Louisiana State University (LSU) Athletic Facility Projects and LSU Research District and Entertainment District. The potential projects are estimated to exceed $1 billion upon completion, and—in addition to the development of a new arena—include renovations and expansion of Pete Maravich Assembly Center, relocation and development of a new track and fieldhouse facility, development of mixed-use LSU Town Center, and development of mixed-use development on the LSU Golf Course Property.

• Serves as lead counsel for the mixed-use Memorial Park Development project, the largest mixed-use capital investment in Louisiana history, which will serve as a place for Baton Rouge residents to live, work, and play.

• Served as lead counsel on behalf of Engquist Development in connection with the entitlement, incentives and permitting of the following projects: Rouzan Traditional Neighborhood Development (Baton Rouge, La.), which is estimated to exceed $700 million upon full development; Americana Traditional Neighborhood Development (Zachary, La.), which is estimated to exceed $600 million upon full development; and Materra Planned Use Development (Baton Rouge, La.), which is estimated to exceed $500 million upon full development.

• Formed over fifteen Economic Development Districts through the state of Louisiana for private development and was recently retained by the City of Lafayette/Parish of Lafayette Consolidated Government to establish five real estate-based economic development districts within the City of Lafayette and continues to serve as general counsel for the EDDs.

• Represented parties in numerous public private partnerships, serving as lead counsel in connection with the entitlement, incentives, permitting and development of the following projects:

(1) Water Campus: Serves as lead counsel to the developer of The Water Campus, a complex public-private partnership, in Baton Rouge, La. The partners are the State of Louisiana, the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and Commercial Properties Realty Trust. After two years of extensive negotiations, the real estate component of the transaction closed in 2015. Developing over the next decade, The Water Campus will be on 35 acres along the Mississippi, adjacent to downtown Baton Rouge. In that time, the number of researchers and support staff employed at the facility will expand to over 4,000. More than 1.8 million square feet of labs, research facilities and commercial space will enable them to carry out their vital work in a collaborative environment – studying coastal threats, formulating theories, exchanging ideas, and cooperating to arrive at innovative solutions that might never be possible working alone.

(2) IBM Building Complex (Baton Rouge): Serves as lead counsel to the developer, an affiliate of Commercial Properties Realty Trust. This project is a complex public-private partnership between the developer, IBM, the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Economic Development and the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge. The complex which comprises a full city block includes a 10-story office building development with 85 luxury apartments.

(3) IBM Center (Monroe): Serves as counsel to Southern Lifestyles Development, LLC for the development of a new IBM center in Monroe, Louisiana. Although similar to the project in Baton Rouge, this public-private partnership will include the developer, CenturyLink, a public national technology company, IBM, the State of Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

(4) Shaw Center for the Arts: Organized a one-of-a-kind public-private partnership structured transaction, negotiated architect and contractor agreements, and served as the point person for all allocations on the development of a $50-million, 200,000-square-foot theater/museum/teaching facility. The partnership, consisting of the State of Louisiana, the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, now serves as the model for future public/private partnerships in Louisiana.

(5) Port Wonder Children’s Museum (Lake Charles): Served as counsel to the Provident Resources Group, Inc. in the structure, formation and documentation of the public private partnership with Provident, the Museum 501 (c)(3), the City of Lake Charles, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, LAWFF Science and Education Center, LLC, and The Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana, Inc.

(6) Moncus Park (Lafayette): Serves as lead counsel for the development of the city park for the City of Lafayette. This project is a complex public-private partnership between the Moncus Park, Inc., the City of Lafayette and the State of Louisiana.

Experience

Charles currently serves as the Louisiana State University (LSU) Vice Chairperson of the University Lakes Renovation Committee. He also serves on the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s Governance Committee.