Miles Imwalle

Practice Areas

Real Estate and Land Use

Career

Miles Imwalle is the chair of Coblentz's Real Estate practice group. He advises clients on all aspects of the land use entitlement process and has shepherded some of the largest, most complex and controversial projects through the state’s notoriously difficult entitlement process, finding the most practical, efficient, and defensible path to obtaining entitlements.

Miles has a sophisticated understanding of the byzantine regulatory process development projects face, including compliance with state and federal environmental review statutes (NEPA and CEQA), the federal and California Endangered Species Acts, the Williamson Act, emerging California regulations addressing climate change, and local zoning and related laws and regulations. He understands these projects often require approvals from several local, regional, state, and federal agencies, each with different objectives and cultures. Miles works creatively and collaboratively with regulators to navigate potential pitfalls while seeking pragmatic solutions to seemingly intractable problems.

Miles also has developed a deep interest and expertise in California’s evolving housing laws and has pioneered the use of recent legislation, including SB 35, the Housing Accountability Act, and recent reforms to the State Density Bonus Law.

Miles works with a variety of clients and has successfully navigated entitlements for projects ranging from corporate R&D and office campuses, mix-use, housing rich transit-oriented developments, industrial facilities, and renewable energy projects. His work has helped with the approval of thousands of residential units, millions of square feet of office and R&D development and gigawatts of renewable energy.

Education