Denise Ganz
Senior Counsel
Overview
Denise Ganz is senior counsel in Holland & Knight's West Palm Beach office.
Ms. Ganz has nearly 40 years of experience in public finance. In addition to representing counties, cities, school districts, community development districts, water management districts, and other special districts as bond counsel and disclosure counsel, Ms. Ganz has represented major investment banking firms as underwriter's counsel. She also has regularly served as borrower's counsel for not-for-profit corporations and developer's counsel to various real estate developers in a variety of tax-exempt financings.
Ms. Ganz has also represented local governments throughout Florida to structure and document innovative finance techniques for capital projects of all types, including public-private partnerships (P3), stadiums, lease-purchase arrangements, and provided advice on the use of special assessments and impact fees. Ms. Ganz has significant experience handling annexation matters, election law issues, legislative drafting, interlocal agreements and the formation of special districts.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Ganz was a partner in an Am Law 200 law firm, where she focused on public finance matters.
Representative Experience
- Participated as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, developer's counsel or underwriter's counsel in a significant number of financings involving community development districts, water management districts, and other special districts for residential and mixed-use developments throughout Florida
- Served as bond counsel for a large Florida county in connection with several of its airport financings
- Served as disclosure counsel for a large Florida county in connection with an airport financing comprised of five series of bonds that include new money bonds, refunding bonds and auction rate bonds
- Served as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel in connection with bonds issued by or for a port authority
- Served as general counsel for an expressway authority in connection with bond issues for various toll road improvements
- Participated as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter's counsel in numerous covenant to budget and appropriate transactions
- Significant experience in the area of water, wastewater and stormwater financing, including the ability of issuers to levy and pledge impact fees in connection therewith
- Drafted ordinances levying water and wastewater impact fees and stormwater fees
- Served as counsel in connection with a number of bond issues secured by sales taxes and tourist development taxes, including as bond counsel to major Florida counties
- Served as counsel in connection with a variety of tax increment financings, including as bond counsel to a multidistrict community redevelopment agency in Florida
- Experienced in drafting community redevelopment agency legislation
- Served as counsel in connection with certificate of participations (COPs) issued by cities, counties and school districts throughout Florida
- Experienced as counsel in connection with conduit financings of all types
- Experienced as counsel in connection with education financings of all types, including school district financings, charter school financings and higher education financings
- Assisted a large Florida county with financing its convention center and related convention center hotel and garage projects
- Served as placement agent's counsel for a proposed arena for a new professional sports franchise to be financed through state sales tax bonds
- Served as bond counsel to a special district which was to include a sports arena, and drafted legislation establishing the district, including provisions relating to the issuance of bonds
- Served as special finance counsel to a Florida sports team in drafting legislation and providing advice in the team's effort to secure tax-exempt financing for the construction of a baseball stadium
- Participated in numerous bond issues which were secured by credit enhancement of various types, include municipal bond insurance and letters of credit
- Drafted and negotiate insurance agreements with municipal bond insurers in connection with bond issues
- Drafted and negotiated interlocal agreements, including complex multiparty agreements involving multiple community development districts
- Served as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and borrower's counsel in connection with a variety of taxable transactions, including relating to financing unfunded pension obligations
- Experienced in municipal equipment leasing transactions ranging from small vendor leases to public offerings involving large equipment acquisition programs
Credentials
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
- University of Florida, B.S., Journalism and Communications
- Florida
- National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL), 1987
- The Florida Bar, City, County and Local Government Law Section
- American College of Bond Counsel, Fellow, 2023
- Order of the Coif
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated