About Rob Brennan
Robert L. Brennan, Jr. is an attorney, real estate professional, and public speaker with an accomplished law, politics, and housing development background.
Rob is Counsel at the law firm of Smolak & Vaughan LLP, representing real estate developers, builders, and landowners in creating sustainable housing across a broad spectrum of community models throughout Massachusetts. He is a recognized thought leader at the intersection of “Housing AND Climate” and is actively engaged at local, state, and national levels in leveraging industry solutions and innovation to meet these pressing crises in lockstep.
Rob is often asked to address local, state, and national industry groups on overcoming the challenges of building more housing across a spectrum of income affordability.
Robert L. Brennan, Jr. is an attorney, real estate professional, and public speaker with an accomplished law, politics, and housing development background.
About John Smolak
John is well–known regionally for his expertise in complex land use, environmental and economic development transactions, representing for-profit, non-profit and quasi-governmental organizations. Prior to co-founding the firm, John was the Co-Chair of the Real Estate & Environmental Practice Group
of Burns & Levinson LLP in Boston.
John brings to his practice particular expertise in governmental permitting, structuring public/private partnerships with state and local governments on behalf of developer clients involving complex mixed-use redevelopment projects, securing zoning amendments, and local, state and federal entitlements for projects frequently involving federal and state tax incentives and subsidies, negotiating development agreements often involving urban redevelopment projects, warehouse and distribution facilities, and multifamily housing projects.
He regularly counsels developers on the requirements for satisfying the complex land use and environmental laws and regulations applicable to large-scale industrial warehouse and e-commerce , commercial, and multifamily and mixed use residential projects throughout the region. His expertise is deepest in complex permitting matters, building on his frequent participation in state-level regulatory, policy and rulemaking efforts involving land use and environmental matters affecting residential and commercial real estate development.
A significant portion of John’s current development practice involves working with clients on affordable and market-rate multifamily residential projects where he has been involved in the permitting of over 3,000 residential units, frequently involving public-private redevelopment partnerships using state and federal economic development incentives. He also regularly advises clients on environmental compliance with federal, state, and local laws governing oil or hazardous materials, solid waste and recyclable materials, water pollution control, occupational health and safety, and historic preservation matters.
