Ceasar Mitchell, Dentons, Atlanta. (Courtesy photo)

Dentons has added another high-profile Atlanta politico as a partner to its marquee public policy practice—former Atlanta City Council president Ceasar Mitchell, who said he made the move from DLA Piper to combine his government and real estate development experience.

Mitchell joined Dentons' public policy practice on Monday to head the firm's local government solutions team, which advises clients on public-private initiatives around real estate and economic development.

“It was an opportunity I could not refuse,” he said. The public policy aspect “adds an additional arrow to my quiver for serving clients and growing my practice.”

As part of a real estate law team led by Maxine Hicks at DLA Piper, Mitchell worked on real estate development and financing matters. Hicks' team advises on large, complex mixed-use projects, often with a public-private component, such as the Atlanta Braves' new stadium in Cobb County and the adjacent shopping and restaurant zone.

Over the years, the Atlanta native said, he's also developed a public policy practice drawing on his 16 years of experience as an elected official. Mitchell served on the Atlanta City Council from 2002 to 2018, the last eight years as president, and pursued an unsuccessful run for mayor in the crowded 2017 race.

Mitchell said the chance to “create a sweet spot” between real estate law and public policy at Dentons was a big draw. Local government solutions such as public-private partnerships are often related to real estate development or, more broadly, economic development initiatives, he explained.

He said his clients include real estate developers and banking institutions but declined to name them without permission.

“I really enjoyed my time at DLA Piper. I practiced with Maxine Hicks for 15 years, and I have the greatest respect for the firm and the people there,” Mitchell said.

At Dentons, he said, he's joining a team of public policy lawyers who are well-known and respected in Atlanta, and are also firm leaders nationally and globally. Two partners who divide their time between Atlanta and Washington, Eric Tanenblatt and Gordon Giffin are, respectively, the global chair of Dentons' public policy practice and the firm's global vice chair.

“To be in arm's reach of this kind of leadership is exciting to me,” Mitchell said.

Many of Dentons' public policy lawyers are former elected officials. Dentons' Atlanta office includes former state Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, and two former Georgia Attorneys General, Sam Olens and Thurbert Baker.

Atlanta managing partner Sharon Gay and Steve Labovitz, both partners in Dentons' public policy practice, helped pioneer the use of tax allocation development financing for redevelopment in Georgia. Gay, an expert on land use, zoning and economic incentives, has advised on the development of Ponce City Market, Atlantic Station, Avalon, Glenwood Place and Krog Street Market. Labovitz has advised on tax incentives for large development projects, including the TAD and public financing used to build Atlantic Station, the nation's largest brownfield project.

TADs are a good example of public-private development initiatives, Mitchell said, adding that he originated four of Atlanta's 10 TADs during his City Council tenure: Turner Field, Metropolitan Parkway, Campbellton Road and the Hollowell Parkway-MLK Drive corridor. He also was a champion of Atlanta's best-known TAD, the Atlanta BeltLine.

Mitchell said TADs must be narrowly tailored to operate as an “inducement for economic development without eating away the tax base.”

TADs work by earmarking a portion of real estate property taxes for a tax-free bond that finances infrastructure and improvements to stimulate private investment in a designated area for a specified time period. The idea is that public entities, such as schools, give up a portion of their property tax proceeds but reap the reward of an expanded tax base down the road.

Public-private initiatives could be TADs or another type of government incentive structure, Mitchell said. “It's really about government partnering with the private sector to address needs and create solutions in a community by bringing redevelopment to an area that's lost its economic vitality.”

For these kinds of projects, Mitchell said, it's critically important to “understand the community you're in to find common ground so the public and private entities can work together and create a win-win.”

“It's what I've done as a lawyer and as an elected official,” he said.

Mitchell said he's out of politics, at least for now. “I'm a lawyer, father, husband—and I love my city. I will give to the city in whatever capacity I may serve, but right now I'm practicing law and loving it,” he said.

“But never say never,” he added.