Sean Suder

Practice Areas

Land Use, Zoning, Commercial Real Estate, Historic Preservation, Real Estate Taxation, Eminent Domain, Real Property Litigation

Career

Sean has served as lead counsel on commercial real estate and development matters including, purchase and sale transactions, all types of leases, zoning and land use approvals and appeals, real estate tax matters, and real estate financing and refinancing. He is licensed to practice law in Ohio, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia.

Sean Suder is a go-to adviser to both private and public-sector clients on all legal matters

related to the development and use of real property, including, specifically, zoning,

acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, title and survey matters, and easements and licenses.

Sean is a frequent author and speaker on matters of real estate and zoning and is

regularly hired by lawyers and law firms to serve as an expert witness in zoning cases.

Sean has worked on developments in both suburban and urban settings, including

numerous urban infill and historic redevelopment projects.

He gained extensive knowledge and experience in local government by serving as Chief

Counsel for Land Use and Planning for the City of Cincinnati from 2010 to 2014. In that

role, he served as lead counsel for the city’s new zoning and land development code and

award-winning historic preservation ordinance. Sean also represented the city in all land

use, zoning and historic preservation matters, including representing and advising the

Department of City Planning, the City Planning Commission, the Historic Conservation

Board, Board of Building Appeals, and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

In his role with ZoneCo, Sean has consulted with numerous communities throughout the U.S. on crafting modern, clear, consistent, usable and defensible zoning codes.

Professional Memberships

Cincinnati Bar Association

American Planning Association (APA)

Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Ohio, Kentucky

Sean has practiced in more than 70 jurisdictions throughout Ohio and Kentucky.

Publications

Quoted regularly in the following publications:

- Cincinnati Enquirer

- Cincinnati Business Courier

- Governing Magazine

- WVXU (NPR) Radio

Clients

Commercial real estate developers, property owners, landlords and tenants (all sectors), local governments

Work Highlights

Sean has closed more than $1B in commercial real estate transactions, while also practicing before zoning boards and commissions to obtain development approvals in more than 70 jursidictions in Ohio and Kentucky.

Industry Sector Expertise

All commercial real estate sectors; real estate development; greenfield development; urban infill development; adaptive reuse and historic preservation.

Experience

Sean started his career at Clark Construction in Bethesda, MD. After law school, Sean was a real estate and land use associate attorney at the law firm of Keating, Muething & Klekamp (KMK) from 2004-2010. He was recruited to the serve as the Chief Counsel for Land Use and Planning for the City of Cincinnati from 2010-2014. Following his local government service, Sean was a partner in the law firm of Graydon, Head & Ritchey (now Bricker Graydon) from 2014-2016 and an equity partner in the law firm of Calfee, Halter & Griswold from 2016-2020.

Sean started the law firm of Suder, LLC in November 2020.

Education