Drew
Marlar
- Position
- Partner
- Office
- Atlanta
Drew Marlar is a partner in the Tax Practice Group, where he advises economic-development, nonprofit, and public-private organizations on a broad range of tax-credit incentives and financing programs.
Drew is a highly experienced economic development finance attorney who helps mission-driven organizations across the country achieve their goals and create stronger communities. In addition to his 20 years in private practice, he has served as in-house counsel for Habitat for Humanity International and as general counsel for a nonprofit lending fund that provides facilities financing for charter schools. This 360-degree experience enables him to help clients identify tax-incentive programs and negotiate, structure, and implement effective tax-credit financing solutions.
Drew advises clients on a wide range of complex finance and real estate transactions, with a focus on bond financing, nonprofit governance and qualification, secured lending, community development, affordable housing, commercial development, and renewable energy and historic preservation projects. He provides guidance on major tax-credit programs such as the New Markets Tax Credit Program, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. He understands the challenges facing nonprofit and for-profit developers and investors — such as the lack of permanency of certain programs and rapidly fluctuating material and construction costs — and helps clients combine multiple types of financing into a single transaction.
In addition to his client work, Drew speaks regularly on economic development and tax-credit financing topics before industry organizations such as the National Association of Bond Lawyers. After earning his law degree, he served for three years as a law clerk in Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal.
Drew’s commitment to providing opportunities for his clients and their stakeholders extends across his professional and personal life. He has served as co-chair of his prior firm’s national inclusiveness, diversity, and engagement committee, and developed the strategic plan for a nonprofit lending fund’s diversity, inclusion, and equity program. He has provided pro bono counsel to the Kyle Pease Foundation, which provides adaptive sports equipment to disabled athletes, and Positive Impact Health Centers, a provider of HIV care. He was also the chapter leader for Trash Hero New York, a volunteer effort designed to create a cleaner, more livable city. Drew is regularly involved in initiatives aimed at protecting and restoring the oceans and other natural environments.
An outdoor-sports enthusiast, Drew has completed a number of Ironman events and marathons. In 2020, he successfully solo hiked the 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Katahdin, Maine. He also is a USA Track & Field-certified coach, a PADI open-water master scuba instructor, and an emergency first responder and CPR instructor.