Attorney Greg Peterson, has become a partner at Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C.
Peterson, who was a partner at DLA Piper, was also formerly affiliated with Hill and Barlow. His legal practice focuses on 5 areas: environmental impact review and permitting, the purchase and sale of contaminated properties including brownfields redevelopment, hazardous materials response advice, complex property use, development and structuring agreements, and the negotiation and closing of commercial real estate loan facilities and workouts.
Attorney Jeffrey Hart said, "The breadth and depth of Greg's legal experience will enhance the scope of legal services offered through the real estate department of Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, providing existing and future clients with the value added opportunity to secure seasoned legal counsel on projects involving complex real estate, environmental permitting and multifaceted land reclamation components.
"Our firm's size (22 lawyers) will also provide Greg's existing clients with significant increased value for the same high quality legal services," said Hart.
Peterson has significant experience in both the private and not-for profit sectors and has received accolades from many quarters. He is a co-recipient of the 2005 Public Affairs Award from the Massachusetts chapter of NAIOP for the work that produced the Smart Growth Overlay Zoning and school funding Act (MGL Chapters 40R and 40 S) and its implementing regulations. Smart Growth principles encourage well-planned development that protects open space and farmland, revitalizes communities, keeps housing affordable, and provides more transportation choices. He was also recognized by NAIOP for his instrumental role in drafting and working toward passage of the Expedited Permitting Act in 2006, and the Act Restoring the Landlocked Tidelands Exemption from Licensing in 2007.
Repeatedly cited in Best Lawyers in America, Peterson has provided environmental legal advice on many high profile projects including Kendall Sq. a 10-acre mixed used redevelopment on a heavily contaminated former manufactured gas plant site adjacent to MIT that won EPA's 2006 Phoenix Award for best Brownfield redevelopment in the United States. He was also instrumental in advancing MEPA clearance for the construction of Langwood Commons, a mixed-use residential and office redevelopment in Stoneham, Mass., that had become mired for a decade in the environmental review process. Peterson also expedited the permitting of Edgewood, the first major 40R smart-growth project brought to market in Massachusetts, encompassing a 400-unit residential apartment complex on a portion of a former state hospital property in North Reading, Mass.
Peterson, who received his B.A. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University and his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, is a member of Mass. Bar. He serves on the national board of directors of NAIOP and as co-chair of NAIOP's Mass. Growth Committee. He is also a member of the Boston Bar Association and is a past president of the Real Estate Bar Association for Mass.