Steven M. Elrod represents private and public sector clients on land use, zoning and real estate matters. He is the chairman of Holland & Knight's National Land Use and Government Team and is the executive partner of the firm's Chicago office. He also served on Holland & Knight's national board of directors for two consecutive terms.
Mr. Elrod is the corporation counsel for the City of Highland Park, Il., and the village attorney for the Villages of Northbrook, Glencoe, Lincolnwood and Carpentersville, Il. He is also actively involved in the general representation of the firm’s more than two dozen Chicago area local government clients.
Mr. Elrod represents owners and developers in a variety of real estate and transactional projects. He handles large tract property acquisition and retail leasing, and is regularly engaged to secure zoning relief entitlements, incentives and approvals from state and local governments. His practice focuses on:
public-private partnerships
planned developments
tax incentive and abatement agreements, including tax increment financing (TIF) and special service area (SSA) financing
annexation, subdivision and development agreements
affordable housing and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities
Mr. Elrod has extensive experience in the litigation of land use issues, including eminent domain; regulatory taking and inverse condemnation; RLUIPA; and the First Amendment. He successfully argued a religious land use case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
In May 2014, Mr. Elrod was elected to the office of Treasurer of the 20,000 member Chicago Bar Association, and currently serves on the board of the Chicago Bar Foundation. He is the immediate past chairman of the board of directors of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing law-related and civic education to elementary and high school students.
Mr. Elrod is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches Local Government and Land Use Law. In 2013, he received the Outstanding Adjunct Professor Award from Northwestern University.
