Pennsylvania Real Estate, Land Use and Zoning Attorney

A partner in Obermayer’s Business & Finance Department, Kellie co-chairs the Land Use and Zoning team and serves as a member of the Firm’s management committee. Her practice focuses on real estate, with an emphasis on zoning and land development, commercial transactions and matters involving specialized and sensitive land uses. Kellie advises businesses, developers,  financial institutions, and individuals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey through all aspects of real estate transactions for residential, corporate, and large industrial clients, including sales and acquisitions, development, entitlements, and leasing.

Kellie is a problem-solver. She strives to communicate effectively with her clients and all stakeholders throughout the development and transactional processes.

When she is not practicing law, Kellie devotes her time to multiple non-profit boards and committees for community organizations, including Delaware Valley University and the Bucks County Conservation District. She particularly enjoys her time spent with her son and daughter, golfing, and attending various Philadelphia sporting events.

Kellie handles a broad range of land development matters, with an emphasis on the entitlements process, including securing municipal subdivision and land development approvals for residential, commercial, and industrial developments; zoning hearing board proceedings; and preparation of zoning map and text amendments.

In her real estate practice, Kellie advises clients on commercial and high-value residential real estate transactions, including sales and acquisitions, and financing.  Her practice includes drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, title and regulatory review, and coordination of various other real estate–related transactional documents. 

 Kellie also regularly consults with Pennsylvania and New Jersey real estate professionals on issues relating to residential agreements, dispute resolution, and litigation avoidance.

Kellie has experience in all aspects of commercial finance transactions for borrowers and lenders, including due diligence, title review, financing structure, negotiations, and loan documentation. She assists developers in the financial aspects of land development deals, and represents local and regional financial institutions in the structuring, negotiating, and the closing of business and commercial real estate loan transactions.

Representative matters include a wide variety of land uses, including residential development, retail, warehouse, hotel, hospital, and education uses.  Some of Kellie’s notable accomplishments include:

• Land Development Approvals for the Redevelopment of a Public High School Campus
• Land Development Approvals for Pennsylvania’s first of kind Behavioral Health Crisis Center. Represented the Lenape Valley Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization providing behavioral health services in Southeast Pennsylvania in a cooperative development with the County of Bucks to develop a first of its kind in Pennsylvania crisis stabilization center in Doylestown Township.
• Settlement Reached for Land Development Approvals for Commercial Car Wash in Bucks County. After a denial of multiple dimensional variances and a special exception, Obermayer negotiated a stipulated settlement agreement with the municipality, resulting in full zoning and land development approval for a commercial car wash on a major commercial corridor in Central Bucks County.
• Residential Real Estate transactions. Represented various clients in the sale and purchase of high-value real estate throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, including the highest value single-family residential real estate transaction in Bucks County.
• Land Development Approval of a mixed-unit residential Affordable Housing Development in Central Bucks County. After a successful zoning ordinance amendment to permit an affordable housing development in Central Bucks County, Obermayer obtained preliminary land development approval, including required approval from an adjacent municipality for the development of 60 senior affordable apartment units and 18 townhouses with a municipal park.
• Representation of multiple hospitality clients in transactional matters relating to the sale of hospitality business operations and real estate; obtained zoning relief for development of a boutique hotel in Bucks County; and worked with hospitality clients in various operational matters.
• Serving pro bono as transactional and land development counsel for the development of an institutional property in Bristol Borough, Bucks County. This project represents the first crisis residential center in the County. Included in the services were lease negotiation, financing, and land development entitlements.
• Securing land development approvals for multiple significant addition to a regional hospital, together with the development of over 100,000 square feet of additional medical office space on the hospital campus.
• Facilitating the conversion of a residential care facility for individuals with developmental disabilities for one of the largest religious institutions in Pennsylvania. The project included legal analysis; review of real estate leases; zoning, land development, and subdivision approvals; federal law analysis under the ADA and the FHA, including obtainment of reasonable accommodations under those federal statutes; and representing the client in its relationship with Pennsylvania government agencies.
• Negotiating multiple court-approved settlements of zoning disputes among the municipality, neighbors, and the property owner, ensuring the client’s continued use and development potential of the property.

 Kellie has been selected for inclusion in Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers® every year between 2012 and 2025, making the Rising Stars list from 2012 through 2017 in the Land/Use Zoning and Real Estate categories. Kellie was also selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America®  from 2018 to 2026. She was also recognized by Best Lawyers® in 2022 as a “Lawyer of the Year.”  Kellie was first recognized in the community when chosen by a panel of judges for inclusion in the inaugural class of the Bucks County “Forty Under 40”, a select group of forty young professional leaders in the County.

Kellie currently serves on the Board of Directors as vice-president of Lenape Valley Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that offers mental and behavioral health services throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties. She was honored by the LVF Board of Directors as the recipient of the 2016 and 2024 President’s Awards for her distinguished commitment to the development of The Lodge at Lenape Valley Foundation and the Bucks County Crisis Center, respectively.

Kellie was appointed by the Bucks County Commissioners to serve on the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Conservation District in 2021, and currently serves as the vice-president.  The BCCD works to protect and improve the natural resources of the County, and is delegated by the PA Department of Environmental Protection to administer Chapter 102 of the PA regulations.

In 2023, Kellie was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees of Delaware Valley University, where she currently participates on the Land Assets and Audit & Risk Committees.

Kellie also serves on the Parks and Recreation Board of Doylestown Township, where she resides, and is a past member of the Township’s Environmental Advisory Council.

Kellie is a former member of the Council of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA). This section of the PBA is an association of Real Estate and Estate attorneys, with a council comprised of experienced and top attorneys in the Commonwealth.

Awards Won*

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