Sylvia Michas is a Senior Attorney at Chico & Nunes, where she concentrates her practice in the areas of land use and zoning, real estate development and municipal law in the City of Chicago and surrounding municipalities. She has several years of experience representing clients in complex residential and commercial zoning matters throughout the City and has appeared before the Chicago City Council Committee on Zoning, Chicago Plan Commission, the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals and numerous City departments.

Her work has involved a wide range of commercial and residential projects located both in the city and the suburbs, which includes planned developments, special uses, tax increment financing, rezoning, subdivision/vacation/dedications, licensing and miscellaneous government regulatory issues.

She guides projects through the maze of reviews and approvals required for land use entitlements and she counsels clients on community relations issues necessary to secure development rights and privileges.

Prior to entering the practice of land use and real estate law, Sylvia spent three years working as a Senior Associate with BMO Harris Bank, where she gained significant experience practicing in the areas of uniform commercial code and banking regulations.

Representative Transactions:

• Obtained approvals for a planned development consisting of a mixed-use community consisting of 494 residential units, 540,000 square feet of retail and commercial uses, as well as a 1.2 acre central plaza in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.
• Obtained approvals for a planned development consisting of the redevelopment of a 300,000 square foot vacant building into a prominent automobile dealership and negotiated $8.5 million in Tax Increment Finance assistance from the City of Chicago.
• Obtained approvals for a planned development consisting of a mixed-use development consisting of two residential high-rise towers each twenty-one stories tall, totaling nearly 380 residential units and a 9-story base containing approximately 290,000 of retail square footage in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.
• Represented numerous real estate developers and individuals in securing Variations and Special Uses for both residential and commercial real estate developments.

Admissions:

• Illinois

Memberships:

• American Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
  

Education:

• J.D., DePaul University College of Law 2001
• BA in Sociology, Minor in Business Administration, Illinois Wesleyan University 1988