About Mitch

Executive Vice President & General Counsel

TechCity Properties

Responsibilities included all management and legal aspects of the redevelopment of a 258-acre former IBM complex to create a competitive clean technology campus. The mission at TechCity is to convert the former single-employer buildings containing over 2.5 million square feet to useable flexible-lease locations for multiple clean energy related companies. My work involved obtaining all governmental approvals to incorporate a new Master Plan for demolishing and constructing buildings as well as building an inner roadway system on the site that is designated as a RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) project by the US Environmental Protection Agency. A major accomplishment was the execution of a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Consent Order with IBM that “peeled off” parcels of land and substantially reduced the size of the original inactive hazardous waste site at TechCity. In addition, I oversaw all legal aspects of redevelopment, including drafting and negotiating all commercial leases, review and negotiation for all financial lending agreements, and drafting legal papers to commence or respond to all legal proceedings, including bankruptcy.

Program Manager / Associate Counsel

NYSERDA

As Program Manager, my responsibilities included all management aspects related to the development of NYSERDA’s 280-acre Saratoga Technology + Energy Park (STEP), a clean-energy and environmentally proactive business park. I collaborated with various government entities to obtain financing, grants, loans, permit approvals, and in-State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) analysis. I coordinated activities with energy partners including the neighboring Luther Forest Technology Campus (location of GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ chip-fab), the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering, STEP’s largest tenant GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ executive offices, and various state-wide clean energy incubators. My accomplishments included substantially increasing the number of tenants at STEP to near full occupancy despite a severe downturn in the economy, as well as executing multiple cooperative agreements with government and private entities to fulfill STEP’s mission. As Associate Counsel, I collaborated with various program staff in including the Research, Development and Deployment department at NYSERDA to facilitate tasks including developing and issuing solicitations, evaluating proposals, collaborating on contract negotiation, and facilitating program implementation.

As lead counsel on various Public Service Commission utility rate cases, I worked with staff regarding the implementation of energy efficiency programs throughout the state. My work with the PSC resulted in cooperative agreements with both the PSC and privately owned utilities to implement energy efficient programs in specific areas of the state. I also provided legal support to NYSERDA work groups, including those promulgating energy efficiency equipment standards, as well as advising the agency’s Program Planning Committee of the Board. This responsibility required offering analysis and making recommendations concerning all committee matters including the Authority’s program budget.

Associate Counsel

Divorsetz Stinziano Gilberti Heinz & Smith, PC

I was hired to open the Albany office for this Syracuse-based firm, specializing in environmental and land-use issues. Clients included large developers, manufacturing companies, municipalities and localities, and power producers. Responsibilities included in-depth analysis of the SEQRA process, review and drafting of zoning laws, preparation for submission of permit applications to the Adirondack Park Agency and municipalities, and drafting of environmental compliance guides after conducting audits/inspections of facilities. Concurrently, I also chaired the Risk Reduction Work Group of the New York State Comparative Risk Project which developed pollution prevention strategies that were the basis for implementation of 2009 outdoor burning regulations by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Bureau Chief - Environmental Enforcement

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

I served as Chief of the Enforcement & Compliance Assurance Bureau, supervising up to six enforcement attorneys and support staff for various divisions including air, water, solid & hazardous wastes, mineral resources, lands & forests, watershed, and pesticides. I also oversaw all statewide regulatory fee disputes, bankruptcy, and financial assurance matters, as well as prosecuted statewide and regional enforcement actions in various media programs, regulatory disputes and multi-media proceedings, including those against NYC Department of Sanitation (Fresh Kills Landfill) and TruGreen Limited Partnership. These two matters resulted in the closing of the Fresh Kills Landfill and New York City paying a monetary penalty after many years of prior litigation and the payment of the largest penalty to the state for violations related to pesticide use, respectively. In addition, I served as program attorney for the Pollution Prevention Unit and incorporated the first environmental management plan requirement in a Consent Order with another state agency.

Partner

Khosrova & D'Orazio, PC

Specializing in commercial/residential real estate and corporate transactions as well as commercial litigation, I managed transactional matters including commercial/residential leasing, contract drafting for asset, stock and real estate sales, bank loan document production for traditional mortgages and asset based lending, loan work-outs, wills, and employment and severance agreements. Litigation experiences included debt collections in amounts of up to $3.5 million, defense of lender liability and diversion transactions, employment disputes, mortgage foreclosures, landlord-tenant disputes and bankruptcy matters. Clients included MTB Bank; The Bank of New York; Summit Bancorp, Walters & Samuels Inc.; Watermark Associates, Inc.; and a variety of metropolitan area businesses.

Head of Real Estate Department

Plunkett & Jaffe, PC

Managing staff members of this firm’s real estate department, I primarily streamlined and expedited the loan production process by financial institutions. Matters included commercial and residential closings, commercial and residential loan document production and mortgage foreclosure litigation. I worked on behalf of various lending institutions including Bankers Trust Company; The Dime Savings Bank of New York, FSB; Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company; The Prudential Bank; and Goldome Bank, FSB.

Tax Attorney

Arthur Andersen LLP

Specialized in tax consulting to real estate developers and REIT's, including The Taubman Company, Inc., and in the preparation of financial comparisons effected by federal and local tax laws and tax law proposals.