Robert W. Burgdorf Partner rburgdorf@nixonpeabody.com 585-263-1333 Fax: 585-263-1600 Rochester, NY Download vCard

Practice Areas

Real Estate & Community Development

Experience

Robert Burgdorf’s practice concentrates on all aspects of real estate law, with primary concentration on land-use planning and zoning, wind energy development, public utility siting, resort development, landlord/tenant matters, and real estate-related litigation.

Mr. Burgdorf specializes in the permitting and development of renewable energy projects, and has led the development of utility-scale wind energy projects in New York state. He is the co-author of the New York Zoning Law and Practice Report, "Siting Wind Farms in New York: Applicability of the Relaxed Public Utility Standards," and has been on the forefront of issues affecting the wind energy industry in New York.

Mr. Burgdorf has also represented several cellular telephone companies since the late 1980s, helping those companies secure land-use approvals for more than 1,000 sites for cellular telephone transmitting facilities, and helped create law in New York that cellular telephone companies are to be treated as public utilities for zoning purposes.

He is experienced in various aspects of project development and permitting, as well as real estate litigation, particularly matters related to zoning and Article 78 proceedings.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Burgdorf worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and clerked for the Department of Justice.

Admissions

Mr. Burgdorf is admitted to practice in New York and Pennsylvania.

Education

Cornell University Law School, J.D., cum laude
St. John Fisher College, B.A., magna cum laude

Affiliations

He is a member of the Monroe County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association.