James Power

Practice Areas

James P. Power advises and represents private developers and cultural, educational and health care institutions on real estate development and land use issues in New York City, including zoning and municipal law, and the land use and environmental review processes and practices before various city agencies. Jim assists clients with the analysis and assemblage of development sites, including drafting and negotiating zoning lot and development rights agreements. He also advises on inclusionary housing and Affordable New York/421-a benefits issues.

Jim lectures on land use and zoning in New York City at programs sponsored by continuing legal educational organizations, as well as by professional and industry groups. He speaks, and has been quoted and published, on a range of land use topics, including residential conversions, air rights transactions, the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and 421-a tax abatement programs, the floor area bonus structure in the Special West Chelsea District, and restrictions on hotel use in M1 manufacturing districts.

Among his most notable work, Jim has advised a major developer as land use counsel on its largest and most complex projects throughout the years, including the current development of a residential tower rises 1,066 feet and the tallest building in Brooklyn. The project includes new retail use in the landmark portion of the site and over 500 residential units.

On behalf of a major New York City developer, Jim recently secured a text amendment and City Planning Commission special permits for a new residential development in the West Clinton area, and obtained a variance for a new residential project at a high-profile site in Tribeca for a prominent design-build developer. Jim also represented a major hotel investment firm on a series of development projects involving complex site assemblages in the midst of recent regulatory changes.