Tara Sullivan

Tara Sullivan is an attorney and member of Holland & Knight's West Coast Land Use and Environmental Group who brings 20 years of experience with San Francisco's land use and political landscape to her practice. She has deep knowledge of local regulations, can navigate the city's complicated processes and has a proven track record of guiding complex development projects through city approvals. With a background in urban planning and historic preservation, Ms. Sullivan brings a distinct perspective to her clients' projects and is known as a problem-solver.

Ms. Sullivan assists clients with due diligence and analysis for properties and businesses during the acquisition, selling and leasing of all types of real estate (commercial, residential, industrial, research and development (R&D), along with vacant and developed), ensuring that they are well-informed of what is feasible and/or of potential roadblocks. She advises corporate and private clients on zoning, entitlement, preservation and environmental issues. She is well-versed in a variety of development project types, from large-scale, mixed-use developments with land donations, development agreements and community benefits, to small-scale, single-family homes. Ms. Sullivan's work does not end with obtaining planning entitlements; she works with clients on the post-entitlement phase, from building permits, utility-infrastructure approvals, encroachment permits, mitigation plans and subdivision applications, to drafting construction contracts, easements and other agreements. Her clients come to her for the full-circle process of developing a project.

Ms. Sullivan's clients rely on her knowledge of San Francisco's political landscape as it relates to land use and development, as well as for her connections throughout the city formed after years of collaborating with public officials, agency staff, private and public entities, and individuals. She provides real-world advice regarding client issues and is a strong advocate for her clients' needs.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Sullivan worked for 10 years at a boutique land use law firm in San Francisco. While there, she worked on a variety of projects throughout the city, including large mixed-use developments, industrial, office and R&D uses. She also worked with national retailers, corporate developers and individual homeowners and helped clients abate enforcement actions and defend their projects from neighbor opposition. Ms. Sullivan was involved with her clients at every stage, assisting with preliminary design review, preapplication meetings, the environmental review and entitlement phase, and post-entitlement permitting. She assisted owners and developers to create new housing and establish emerging technology businesses, as well as worked with developers to revitalize the downtown core following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before joining the private sector, Ms. Sullivan worked at the San Francisco Planning Department as a legislative liaison/policy analyst and senior project planner. During her time in government, she served as the appeals coordinator for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Conditional Use Authorization approvals. She was responsible for dozens of legislative amendments to the Planning Code, as well as with the development of the Historic Preservation Commission and related municipal code regulations. She advised on legislation that strengthened the city's nuisance laws to incentivize the rehabilitation of vacant properties, enabled new eating and drinking establishments in neighborhood commercial districts and rezoned landmarked properties to enable the transfer of development rights. She worked on streamlining the department's internal processes, including creating an expedited CEQA checklist, and was a part of several development team reviews, including the Pier 70 and Potrero Power Plant sites. Ms. Sullivan's experience in local government allows her to bring a pragmatic approach in negotiating with government agencies.

Ms. Sullivan began her land use career in New York City, where she worked for several preservation organizations prior to obtaining her master's degrees in urban planning and historic preservation. Before attending law school, Ms. Sullivan worked as a preservation planner for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, evaluating projects for compliance with preservation standards and providing technical assistance on historic building materials.