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Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, P.C. offers exceptional career opportunities to lawyers, aspiring graduates and business support professionals in an environment that is challenging and rewarding. Our continued success depends on our most important asset – our people – which is why we take care in recruiting and retaining the best. We look for candidates with academic excellence, proven commitment and self-motivation.

As a forward-thinking and client-oriented law firm, Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla is continually seeking out new talent to join our team. We look for team players possessing the ability to work individually and as a part of our departmental teams.

If interested, we encourage you to submit a cover letter and resume directly to James D'Arcy, via email to info@ghclaw.com or via fax to (732) 224-6599.

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    Steven P. Gouin
    Steven P. Gouin

    Steven P. Gouin

    sgouin@ghclaw.com(732) 741-3900Linkedin
    Shareholder
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    Steve is a shareholder in the firm’s Real Estate, Redevelopment, and Renewable Energy practice groups. He advises developers, investors, property owners, and operating businesses on transactions, financing, development, and the business decisions that connect them. His practice combines real estate, corporate, and financing work with extensive experience in redevelopment, land use, and energy project development.

    Steve serves as outside general counsel to real estate and energy developers, advising on both individual projects and company-level matters. His work includes acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, preferred equity investments, corporate debt, acquisition and construction financing, permanent financing, and project finance. Clients turn to Steve to structure transactions, negotiate agreements, resolve obstacles, and coordinate the legal work needed to move a business or project forward. He approaches that work with an understanding of the client’s economics, timing, and business objectives.

    Steve represents developers of multifamily, residential, industrial, commercial, and mixed-use projects throughout New Jersey. His experience includes a four-million-square-foot industrial redevelopment in Middlesex County; the Union Center redevelopment, encompassing more than 500 residential units, structured parking, and commercial uses; and the acquisition and redevelopment of portions of the former Fort Monmouth Army Base. His involvement in these projects extends across redevelopment agreements, municipal approvals, debt and equity transactions, construction and permanent financing, leasing, and project sales.

    A substantial part of Steve’s practice involves structuring and negotiating the public agreements and financing arrangements that support development. He regularly negotiates redevelopment agreements, financial agreements for long-term tax exemptions and payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), special assessment agreements, redevelopment area bond arrangements, infrastructure agreements, and cost-sharing agreements. He represents both developers and public entities and brings that experience to projects involving contaminated properties, former landfills, urban infill sites, and other properties with significant development constraints. He also represents clients before municipal planning and zoning boards on site plan, subdivision, and variance applications.

    In the energy sector, Steve advises solar and battery energy storage developers on site acquisition and leasing, project approvals, regulatory proceedings, interconnection matters, development and construction agreements, financing, tax equity transactions, and project acquisitions and dispositions. As outside general counsel to a major New Jersey solar developer, he handles matters ranging from individual site transactions to corporate financing and portfolio transactions. His energy practice includes utility-scale, net-metered, community, landfill, brownfield, and floating solar projects, as well as grid-supply battery storage facilities.

    Steve has represented developers of solar facilities at the Mount Olive landfill, the former Ciba-Geigy property in Toms River, and the BFI Landfill in South Brunswick, each involving a federal Superfund site. His work on these projects has required coordinating real estate transactions, redevelopment, environmental and regulatory issues, municipal agreements, and project disposition. At Mount Olive, his representation included negotiations with USEPA, a tax lien foreclosure, a structured liability and cost-sharing agreement with NJDEP, and redevelopment and off-site infrastructure agreements with the Township.

    Steve’s broader transactional practice includes utility land acquisitions, industrial and terminal facility acquisitions, affordable housing transactions, and preferred equity investments in powered land development. Across these matters, he provides practical advice grounded in how a transaction is financed, how a property can be developed, and what the client needs to accomplish.

    Practice Areas
    Professional Activities
    • Member, Emerging Leaders Council of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate
    • Board of Directors, Metropolitan Builders & Contractors Association of New Jersey
    • Board of Directors, Shepherds of Youth Charitable Trust
    • Economic Development Committee, Monmouth-Ocean Development Council
    • Member, NJ State Bar Association – Land Use Section and Young Lawyers Division
    • Member, NJ State Builders Association
    • Member, Shore Builders Association of NJ
    Admissions
    • New Jersey
    • New York
    • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
    Education
    • Rutgers University School of Law - Newark, J.D., cum laude (2010)
    • Villanova University, B.A. (2007)
    Honors/Awards
    *  Award Methodology Description
    Representative Matters

    Business Counseling, Transactions, and Finance

    • Regional residential and industrial developer: Serve as outside general counsel on acquisitions, development, corporate financing, and project financing. Representative projects include a subdivision of more than 200 residential units in Warren County, a townhome development of more than 150 units in Middlesex County, and an industrial development of more than 400,000 square feet in Mercer County.
    • Union Center redevelopment: Serve as outside general counsel to a regional multifamily developer in connection with a multiphase downtown redevelopment encompassing more than 500 residential units, structured parking, and commercial uses. Representation includes acquisitions, redevelopment agreements, PILOT agreements, redevelopment area bonds, equity transactions, construction and permanent financing, and leasing.
    • Southern New Jersey residential developer: Serve as outside general counsel on multiple residential developments, including acquisitions and other real estate transactions, financing, affordable housing obligations, redevelopment agreements, and municipal negotiations.
    • Ohio powered land development: Represent the developer of a large-scale powered land site in connection with a preferred equity investment and related transaction structuring and negotiations.
    • New Jersey utility acquisition: Represent a major New Jersey utility in a land acquisition exceeding $30 million in Monmouth County, including negotiation of a redevelopment agreement with the municipality, a cost-sharing agreement with the seller, and related transactional matters.
    • Affordable housing acquisitions and conversions: Represent a low-income housing tax credit developer in connection with acquisitions totaling a mid-seven-figure amount involving multiple affordable housing conversion properties, including local approvals and long-term tax exemption agreements.
    • Terminal facility acquisition: Represent the purchaser of a terminal facility in Union County on transactional, environmental, and financing matters.
    • Sand mine acquisition: Represented the purchaser of a sand mine facility in southern Ocean County, including permanent financing, equipment financing, and land use approvals.

    Redevelopment and Real Estate Development

    • Four-million-square-foot industrial redevelopment: Serve as redevelopment counsel to the developer of a proposed industrial project in Middlesex County, including negotiation of redevelopment and long-term tax exemption agreements and representation in connection with construction and permanent financing.
    • National homebuilder: Serve as redevelopment counsel on projects in Monmouth County, including negotiation of PILOT and special assessment agreements and redevelopment area bond financing arrangements.
    • Fort Monmouth redevelopment: Represent the redeveloper of property at the former Fort Monmouth Army Base in Oceanport, including acquisition from the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, negotiation of a redevelopment agreement, multiple land use approvals, and construction and permanent financing.
    • Gloucester County industrial development: Serve as redevelopment counsel for a proposed warehouse development exceeding 640,000 square feet.
    • Middlesex County industrial redevelopment: Represent a warehouse developer in negotiations with a local redevelopment agency, including redevelopment and financial agreements.
    • Burlington County brownfield redevelopment: Represent the developer of a proposed 120-unit apartment project on a brownfield site, including redevelopment and financial agreement negotiations, real estate transactions, and permitting matters.
    • National multifamily developer: Serve as local counsel on multiple development projects in Monmouth County, including land use applications and negotiation of redevelopment and PILOT agreements.
    • Monmouth County multifamily development: Represent the developer of a proposed 120-unit apartment project, including negotiation for the project’s inclusion in the municipality’s affordable housing plan and representation on land use approvals.
    • Ridgefield Park landfill redevelopment: Represent the designated redeveloper of a former landfill proposed for redevelopment as a 16-story mixed-use residential and commercial project, including redevelopment, land use, and transactional matters.
    • Somerville residential redevelopment: Serve as land use and redevelopment counsel for the proposed redevelopment of contaminated property with a 179-unit market-rate multifamily project.
    • Middletown mixed-use redevelopment: Serve as redevelopment counsel for a project involving more than 400,000 square feet of commercial space within a mixed-use development.
    • Statewide development approvals: Represent residential, multifamily, commercial, and industrial developers on site plan, subdivision, and variance applications throughout New Jersey, including projects in Oceanport, Asbury Park, Long Branch, Toms River, and Lacey Township.
    • Assisted living development: Serve as land use counsel to national assisted living developers on projects throughout New Jersey.
    • Municipal redevelopment counsel: Serve as special redevelopment counsel to the Township of Franklin and the Town of Belvidere in Warren County.

    Energy Development and Finance

    • Solar developer outside general counsel: Serve as outside general counsel to a major New Jersey solar developer on project and corporate matters, including landfill and brownfield development, site acquisitions and leasing, regulatory matters, corporate debt, construction and project financing, asset and company acquisitions and dispositions, and tax equity transactions.
    • Grid-supply battery energy storage: Represent battery storage developers on real estate acquisitions and leasing, purchase and sale transactions, land use approvals, state permitting, regulatory proceedings, corporate debt and equity financing, and project finance.
    • Floating solar development: Serve as land use and regulatory counsel for the development of multiple floating solar facilities in New Jersey.
    • Landfill solar redevelopment: Represent developers of multiple New Jersey landfill solar projects on permitting, redevelopment agreements, PILOT agreements, real estate transactions, and related regulatory matters, including a project in Somerset County.
    • Mount Olive Solar Farm: Served as redevelopment and transactional counsel to the developer of a 26.5 MWdc solar facility on a former landfill and federal Superfund site. Representation included USEPA negotiations, a tax lien foreclosure, a structured liability and cost-sharing agreement with NJDEP, and municipal redevelopment and off-site infrastructure agreements.
    • Former Ciba-Geigy property: Served as land use and transactional counsel to the developer of a 30 MWdc solar facility at the former Ciba-Geigy Superfund property in Toms River.
    • BFI Landfill solar redevelopment: Represented the redeveloper of a former landfill and federal Superfund site in South Brunswick in connection with a solar facility exceeding 13 MW, including site control, environmental and regulatory matters, municipal and outside agency approvals, and asset disposition.
    • Net-metered solar development: Serve as land use counsel to developers of net-metered solar facilities at multiple sites throughout New Jersey.
    • Natural gas generation: Served as redevelopment and land use counsel for a proposed natural gas power plant exceeding 400 MW in Holland Township, Hunterdon County.
    News
    Articles/Publications
    Seminars/Presentations
    • Speaker, "Land Use and Environmental Due Diligence in Land Acquisition and Financing," Atlantic Builders Convention, April 12, 2018
    • "The Growing Trends in Mixed-Use Developments," 2017 Atlantic Builders Convention, April 6, 2017
    • "Growing Trends in Mixed-Use Development," NJBA/Atlantic Builders Conference, March 30, 2016
    • "What Mayors Need to Know - Dazed on the Dais," 2015 League of Municipalities Conference, November 18, 2015
    • "Mandatory Training Seminar for New Board Members," New Jersey Planning Officials, September 21, 2013
    • "Municipal Land Use Law Update - Experienced/Advanced Program," New Jersey Planning Officials, April 13, 2013
    Press Mentions