Nelson Mullins partners David Leon and Michael Marshall were recently interviewed on the Live Local Act for Due Diligence, the University of Florida Kelley A. Bergstrom Real Estate Center’s publication on commercial real estate research. The Live Local Act was passed last year to encourage developers to build more affordable and workforce housing in Florida and has been described as one of the most significant state legislations to generate affordable and workforce housing this generation. 

In the article, Leon is quoted saying that “the amount of interest generated by the statute was, and continues to be, immense.” 

Marshall was also quoted in the article, stating that “most developers, elected officials, and city planning staff don’t want to do battle over the Live Local Act.” The article goes on to discuss Marshall’s representation of a number of clients who proposed that the city of Boca Raton adopt a framework for permitting multi-family residential on parcels of land located within the city’s various commercial and industrial zoning districts, provided that 10% to 15% of the units are dedicated to affordable and workforce housing, rather than disputing the scope of the Live Local Act’s preemption of the city’s land development regulations.

The Nelson Mullins initiative was then supported by other property owners, all of whom engaged in a series of workshops with the city’s elected council and assisted city staff in drafting the new ordinances, which now permit a total of 2,500 multi-family units, including more than 300 new affordable and workforce housing units on properties that would otherwise require land use changes or rezonings to allow for the residential use.

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