Susan Bloch

Overview

Susan Bloch specializes in redevelopment and real estate matters, and is the Chair of the firm’s Redevelopment, Real Estate and Affordable Housing Practice Group. Susan represents public agencies and private and non-profit developers in transactions involving the acquisition, development, financing, leasing and sale of residential, commercial and industrial properties; the development and implementation of affordable housing policies and programs; and the adoption, amendment and implementation of redevelopment plans.

Susan has negotiated and drafted real estate acquisition, development, disposition, financing and leasing documents for redevelopment agencies, municipalities and other public entities, including the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Leandro, Placer County Redevelopment Agency, Sacramento Regional Transit District, East Bay Regional Parks District, the City of Union City, the City of Rancho Cordova, the City of Dublin, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Milpitas, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of South San Francisco, the City of Millbrae Redevelopment Agency, and the Petaluma Community Development Commission. She has experience with projects developed with conventional financing as well as tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits.
Prior to joining Meyers Nave, Susan represented institutional lenders, private developers and non-profit organizations in connection with leasing, development and financing transactions. She also served as borrower’s counsel, bond counsel and disclosure counsel in several transactions involving the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to finance healthcare facilities and senior and multi-family housing developments.
Before beginning her practice as an attorney, Susan served as Program Manager with the Sacramento Housing and
Redevelopment Agency and as a consultant to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and the National Economic Development and Law Center. She has been a speaker at conferences and seminars sponsored by the League of California Cities, the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), the California Redevelopment Association, Housing California, the Northern California Association for Non-Profit Housing, and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. She has published articles and manuals on tax-increment financing and financing tools for affordable housing and community development.
 

Presentations and Publications

  • Trainer, “Critical Elements of the OPA/DDA” Redevelopment Institutes of the California Redevelopment Association, July 2009, San Ramon.
  • Speaker, “Leveraging Public Funds for Affordable Housing.” Sonoma County Bar Association, October 2008.
  • Speaker, “Before Saying “Yes”: How Local Governments Can Evaluate Proposed Affordable Housing Projects.” Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California Annual Conference, September 2008.
  • Trainer, “Basic Affordable Housing” and “Advanced Affordable Housing.” Redevelopment Institutes of the California Redevelopment Association, May 2006, May 2007, May and July 2008.
  • Moderator and Speaker, “Motel Conversion: Creating Permanent Affordable Housing.” Housing California Annual Conference, Sacramento, April 2008.
  • Speaker, “Plan Adoption, Amendment and Merger.” California Redevelopment Association, Introduction to Redevelopment program, April 2008.
  • Moderator and Speaker, “From Slum to Shangrila: Converting Dilapidated Transient Motels into Affordable Housing.” CRA/Cal-ALHFA Affordable Housing Conference, October 2007.
  • Moderator and Speaker, “Tackling Neighborhood Blight: From Problem Motels to Permanent Affordable Housing.” California Chapter of American Planning Association Annual Conference, October 2007.
  • Moderator and Speaker, “Motel Conversion: Creating Permanent Affordable Housing.” League of California Cities Annual Conference, September 2007.
  • Speaker, “Redevelopment Agreements.” CEB Land Use Seminar, September 2006.
  • Speaker, “Investigating Real Estate: What Public Agencies Need to Know Before They Buy.” Meyers Nave Client Seminar, May 2006.
  • Speaker, “The Powers of Redevelopment.” California Redevelopment Association, Introduction to Redevelopment Program, April 2006.
  • Speaker, “Getting Blight Right: A Review of Recent Case Law and Tips for Bulletproofing Redevelopment Plan Documents.” California Redevelopment Association Legal Issues Symposium, August 2005.
  • Speaker, “Redevelopment and Cost-Sharing Agreements.” Municipal Management Association of Northern California, Fall 2004.
  • Speaker, “Anatomy of a Mixed-Income Multi-Family Housing Project: Land Use and Financial Tools that Increase Affordability.” Bay Area City Attorneys Association (BACA), Spring 2004.
  • Speaker, “Introduction to Redevelopment.” California Redevelopment Association, Fall 2002.
  • Author, Tax Increment Financing: A Tool for Community Development, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, 1988.
  • Co-author, “Developments in Non-profit Production of Low-Income Housing,” with David Kirkpatrick and Mary Ann Dillon, Clearinghouse Review, January 1987.
  • Author, “Unique Partnership Launched in Chicago.” Economic Development and Law Center Report, July/August 1985.

Professional and Community Affiliations

  • Member, State Bar of California
  • Member, Real Estate and Local Government Sections, State Bar of California
  • Member, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Member, Real Estate Section, Bar Association of San Francisco
  • Member, State and Local Government Law Section, American Bar Association
  • Member, Affordable Housing and Community Development Forum, American Bar Association

Education

  • University of California at Davis, JD, 1995
  • University of California at Berkeley, MA, City Planning, 1987
  • University of Michigan, BA with distinction, 1979