Pedro Gassant

Pedro Gassant is a Miami governmental advocacy and development attorney who focuses his practice on land use, zoning and procurement matters. Specifically, Mr. Gassant handles Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP) amendments, zoning district boundary changes, variance applications and other matters in Miami-Dade County and the 34 municipalities within the county. In addition, Mr. Gassant advises clients in government procurement matters and prosecutes and defends bid protests.

Mr. Gassant also has significant litigation experience. As lead counsel, Mr. Gassant successfully argued his first case in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, reuniting a father with his son under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Mr. Gassant is a native of Miami and received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University. As an undergraduate, he was elected president of the Black Student Union and founded the East Gadsden Initiative, which implemented programs to assist students in preparing for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. He was also initiated into the Chi Theta Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and was recognized as the Humanitarian of the Year by Florida State University. Mr. Gassant currently serves as president of the Haitian Lawyers Association.

Mr. Gassant attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania. While there, he served as an editor of the Journal of International Law and helped develop a program teaching Kenyans their rights under the 2010 Kenyan Constitution. During the spring of 2011, Mr. Gassant traveled to Mombasa, Kenya and helped teach the same program to women living in the Mtongwe community.

Mr. Gassant’s prior representative engagements include:

• As lead counsel, obtained approval for the first 100 percent committed and restricted workforce housing development in Miami-Dade County
• As lead counsel, obtained approval of the first modern ready-mix facility in the City of Miami Gardens
• As lead counsel, obtained approval for over 2.5 million square feet of industrial space in the Town of Medley
• As lead counsel, obtained approval for 323 townhome units in the City of Florida City
• As lead counsel, obtained approval for 150 single-family homes in the City of Florida City
• As lead counsel, successfully defended a client against code enforcement proceedings, which sought in excess of $160,000 in code enforcement fines
• As co-counsel, obtained approval for several premiere convenience store and gas stations in Miami-Dade County
• As co-counsel, obtained approval for the rezoning of property that allowed for the development of 1170 multifamily units in Unincorporated Miami-Dade County
• As co-counsel, obtained approval for the first stand-alone electronic commercial billboard in Miami-Dade County
• As co-counsel, successfully defended a Comprehensive Development Master Plan Appeal challenge on behalf of a multifamily developer in the City of Hialeah
• As co-counsel, obtained approval of an Environmental Quality Control Board variance to allow diesel fuel to be used for emergency generator purposes at a skilled nursing facility
• As co-counsel, obtained approval of an Environmental Quality Control Board variance to allow septic tanks in lieu of connecting to sewer infrastructure