Description:
Job Description:Apex is seeking Real Estate Counsel to manage real estate transactions related to the development, financing, construction, and operation of utility-scale renewable energy projects. This position reports to the Vice President, Real Estate Counsel, and will be joining a small team of Real Estate Counsels operating within the Land Management Department.
Our Real Estate Counsels occupy a multi-faceted role and provide leadership for projects at all phases of the development life cycle. The position requires impressive cross-functional skills as you'll have insight into the entirety of the development process.
Our ideal candidate is an action-oriented, hard-working team player who can jump in and support projects from a variety of angles. This position requires excellent communication and writing skills as well as the ability to balance priorities and shift needs on the go. A passion for renewable energy is a must.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Prepare real estate contracts required in conjunction with the development, construction, and operation of renewable energy projects
- Negotiate leases, easements and other real estate agreements with landowners and landowner attorneys
- Review title commitments, title proformas, ALTA surveys and supervise title curative work required to obtain title policies
- Work closely with title companies and finance counsel to satisfy all requirements leading up to project financing
- Lead real estate efforts related to project finance including responding to real estate due diligence requests from lenders, investors and other financing partners
- Interact with landowners and landowner attorneys in a manner that projects a positive image of the company
- Coordinate with engineers, project managers, GIS leads, O&M team, and finance experts subject matter experts in a professional and efficient manner.
- Provide legal support across all functions of the Land Department operations including property administration, leasing and title curative
- Anticipate real estate issues, develop plans to mitigate real estate issues and advise on real estate risks and opportunities
Qualifications:
Success Profile
To succeed as a Real Estate Counsel at Apex Clean Energy, you'll need to excel within the following criteria:
- Juris Doctor degree from an ABA accredited law school
- Admitted to a state bar and eligible for and willing to apply for admission to Virginia State Bar as corporate counsel (if not already admitted as a full member)
- Minimum 5 years of experience with large-scale, leveraged real estate transactions, solar, wind and/or battery storage experience strongly preferred
- Strong grasp of real estate contract terms and conditions, and ability to understand and interpret complex legal documents
- Familiarity with lease negotiations and experience reviewing vesting deeds, entity documents and trust agreements
- Familiarity with mineral severances and mineral title curative work
- Familiarity with tax credit equity and lender expectations related to real estate documents, title policies and ALTA surveys
- Ability to work closely with cross-functional teams of internal and external resources
- Excellent leadership, communication, organizational, and negotiation skills
- Ability to project a positive image of the company and cultivate and maintain positive relationships
- Ability to work in Charlottesville, Virginia preferred (hybrid or remote options available)
Additional Information:
How You'll Grow
At Apex Clean Energy, our professional development plans focus on helping people at every level of their career to identify and use their strengths to do their best work every day. From entry-level employees to senior leaders, we believe there's always room to learn. We offer opportunities to help sharpen skills in addition to hands-on experience in the dynamic, fast-paced renewable energy industry. From on-the-job learning experiences to a robust multi-week onboarding experience to formal development programs, our professionals have a variety of opportunities to continue to grow throughout their career.
