Richard B. Tranter

Dinsmore represents Delhi Township, Ohio, and handled the redevelopment of a vacated shopping center into a 15 acre mixed-use development known as Delhi Towne Square, which includes Delhi Athletic Club, a cultural arts center and event center, preschool rooms for Oak Hills School District, as well as a 180-unit apartment complex. We successfully completed a subdivision of the site, negotiated a 100-year ground lease with the multi-family apartment developer, as well as a lease with Oak Hills School District for classroom space on the site.  We also handled the public financing aspects of this project.

We represent the Village of Silverton and handled an innovative statutory land swap transaction with the Cincinnati City School District, whereby the school district obtained a new site for redevelopment of a Montessori school and the Village obtained a 10 acre parcel of land. We further represented Silverton in the assemblage of certain adjacent parcels, thereby creating an attractive site for redevelopment. Subsequently, we continued our representation of the Village in negotiating the essential contract and easement agreements allowing for the development of approximately 200 luxury apartments. We handled all aspects of the transaction, including site development agreements and public financing of the project. This project serves as a gateway project for the Village of Silverton, Ohio. Additionally, we represented the Village in its acquisition of its new city hall and redevelopment of the former city hall into a brew pub.

Dinsmore is legal counsel to the Liberty Community Authority (“LCA”), created pursuant to Ohio statute and comprised of private developer and Butler County/Liberty Township representatives, which manages and maintains the multiple public parking garages, and storm water facilities supporting the expansive mixed use project, known as “Liberty Commons” – one of the largest residential, commercial and entertainment projects in southwest Ohio.

A regional multi-family apartment developer enlisted our team to serve as project counsel in connection with the redevelopment of a $150 million mixed-use project containing approximately 330 residential units, a boutique hotel, approximately 200,000 sq. ft. of office space and a 1,400 space public parking garage on the Scioto Peninsula in downtown Columbus. Over a two year period, our team negotiated the purchase, sale and development agreement and various interrelated land use agreements necessary for facilitating the creation of a new “festival street;” assisted in forming a new community authority which utilized a tax-exempt bond issuance to finance the public improvements supporting the project; collaborated with the Columbus Franklin County Finance Authority to issue tax exempt bonds, utilizing a ground lease/capital lease structure, to receive sales tax exemption savings on the materials used in construction of the apartment buildings; formed a joint venture entity to utilize capital contributions of equity investors and to take advantage of the project’s location in a qualified opportunity zone and negotiated terms of an approximately $60 million construction loan. Throughout the project, our team collaborated with the city of Columbus, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority and counsel for two collaborative developers.  

We act as local counsel for Trinitas, a national university-centric developer, which has a focus on student housing. We obtained concept plan approval for an approximately 11 acre in-fill redevelopment of a former hospital site into a mixed use project known as the District at Clifton Heights, adjacent to the University of Cincinnati. The construction value of this project will exceed $300 million dollars and comprises approximately 1,400 apartment units, 300,000 square feet of retail space (including a theater and other entertainment uses), and a nationally branded hotel. This approval was the culmination of months of neighborhood engagement and collaborative planning with city staff, neighborhood associations, and university stakeholders involving permitted uses, vehicular movement and parking and public spaces.

On behalf of Kroger, we worked with the City of Newport (“City”) and the Kentucky Department of Transportation (“Department”) to resolve a major crisis involving an improperly installed storm water system underneath the interior roadway that services the Newport Pavilion retail project. We created a mediation path and restructured a transactional model, including additional private and public financial resources, to allow a contractor to drill shafts into the collapsed area and repair/retrofit the storm water pipe. We worked closely with the City, the developer and the Department to ensure the success of the $50 million retail project and to stabilize critical public infrastructure for the surrounding community.

We served as owner’s counsel to Nicol Investment Company on The Banks project on the downtown Cincinnati riverfront. Our representation included handling leasing and development matters with national and regional tenants, including first-to-market occupants, as well as the completion of one of the first vertical subdivisions in Hamilton County, Ohio, which distinguished as separate tax parcels the upper floor luxury apartments from the street level retail businesses.

We serve as national development counsel for Cameron General Contractors and Resort Lifestyle Communities, which are affiliated entities currently among the most active developer/operators of senior living retirement communities in the United States. To date, we have handled the acquisition and development of more than 20 such retirement communities in a variety of locations from the east coast to the Pacific Northwest, as well as numerous places in between. Our work encompasses all phases of the ground-up development process, including site selection, due diligence, land acquisition, securing zoning and other governmental approvals, obtaining governmental incentives, negotiating municipal and private development and cost-sharing agreements and obtaining both construction and permanent financing.

Dinsmore acted as project counsel in The Rookwood Exchange development, a mixed-use project in Hamilton County, which is comprised of 200,000 square feet of premier office space, luxury apartments, a Marriott branded hotel, first to market restaurants and other retail, all served by a public parking garage that was made possible through tax increment financing. We negotiated redevelopment and service agreements with the City of Norwood, a school compensation agreement with Norwood Public Schools and over one hundred separate contracts, acquiring the assemblage parcels. Also, we performed all the title, zoning, leasing and financing (both private and public) work to complete the acquisition and construction closings.

A nationally recognized lifestyle developer turned to Dinsmore when it sought to purchase a 400,000-square foot lifestyle center in South Florida near the I-75 corridor just southwest of Fort Lauderdale. An affiliate of Duke Realty was seeking to divest itself of retail holdings as part of its asset allocation strategy. Serving as buyer’s counsel, we first structured a joint venture on behalf of our long-time client, Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate, which together with a Heitman real estate entity, served as the buyer of the center, known as the Shops at Pembroke Gardens. Next, on behalf of the joint venture purchaser, we handled the real estate components including managing the due diligence and the closing of the transaction, as well as negotiating and drafting the purchase contract, various ECR and escrow agreements. Years earlier, Dinsmore had been responsible for the initial lease-up of the center and successfully negotiated leases with a variety of desirable lifestyle tenants. Our extensive experience in serving as project counsel for lifestyle and shopping center projects throughout the country ensured that the buyer was able to proceed in an efficient and timely manner, thereby ensuring the achievement of its transactional objectives.

The Hamilton County (Oh.) Commissioners recently selected Dinsmore as counsel for two high-profile and significant projects – the ongoing lease negotiations for Paycor Stadium with the Cincinnati Bengals and the continued development of The Banks, a mixed-use development along the Ohio River, next to Paycor Stadium, that currently features a variety of retail, entertainment and dining establishments. The lease negotiations have been a challenging issue for Hamilton County, encompassing legal, political and business elements, while The Banks development strategy remains an evolving project that continues to be refined as economic and business conditions change. Our team will work in close partnership with the County, as well as other political and business leaders, to guide both projects and ensure their long-term success and stability for the betterment of the County.