Commercial
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August 05, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Breuer Herskowitz and Morici & Morici were among the law firms that handled the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, with all of the week's deals north of $20 million happening in Manhattan.
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August 05, 2024
Andrews Myers Construction Atty Joins Cozen O'Connor
Cozen O'Connor has hired a construction litigator in California who has more than 14 years of experience representing clients in matters involving infrastructure, industrial and other construction projects, the firm announced Monday.
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August 05, 2024
Data Center Co. Secures $3B In Green Financing
Stack Infrastructure obtained $3 billion in financing for four of its environmentally friendly U.S. data center campus projects, adding to the total of $15 billion in financing for all its projects, the data center developer and operator announced Monday.
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August 05, 2024
Latham Helps Woodside Buy Clean Ammonia Biz For $2.4B
Australian oil and gas giant Woodside Energy will buy OCI NV's low-carbon ammonia facility in Texas for $2.35 billion in cash to help with its transition to cleaner forms of energy, the companies said Monday.
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August 02, 2024
NYC Landlord Hits Firm, Atty With $3M Legal Malpractice Suit
A New York City landlord that rented to online grocery delivery company FreshDirect has filed a $3 million legal malpractice suit against Horing Welikson Rosen & Digrugilliers PC and one of its partners in state court, saying their alleged negligence resulted in a dismissed case against the grocer.
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August 02, 2024
HFZ Capital Cops To $86M Fraud Charges, Blames Ex-Chief
Defunct real estate firm HFZ Capital Group pled guilty in an $86 million criminal case Friday, admitting that its former top executive Nir Meir evaded New York City property taxes and stole funds from commercial and residential building projects.
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August 02, 2024
Colo. Appeals Panel Rejects Lower Tax Rate For Hospital
A Colorado rehabilitation hospital should be classified as a commercial property for tax purposes because it was predominantly designed for its services and not for residency, a state appeals court said, reversing a state assessment board.
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August 02, 2024
Insurers Seek Quick Win In $2M Injury Coverage Suit
An AmTrust Financial unit and a Hartford unit each told a New York federal court that the other must solely cover a Manhattan property owner in a construction worker's $2 million injury action, disagreeing over whether the owner is an additional insured under the Hartford unit's policy covering a lessee.
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August 02, 2024
Ex-Loeb Tax Atty Latest Addition To Kilpatrick's NY Team
A former Loeb & Loeb LLP attorney is bringing his experience in U.S. federal tax matters and real estate transactions to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, the firm announced Thursday.
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August 02, 2024
Land Sale Deals Allowed In Colo. Eminent Domain Dispute
A Colorado appeals court ruled against the city of Westminster in its eminent domain action, ruling that three comparable sales contracts and an adjacent land parcel's $51.5 million purchase and sale contract can be admitted as evidence in a valuation trial.
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August 02, 2024
Property Plays: VICI, Host Hotels, Tampa Bay Rays
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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August 02, 2024
Home REIT Sells 226 Properties For £26.5M
Struggling real estate investment trust Home REIT PLC said Friday that it has sold approximately 9% of its portfolio of properties for gross proceeds of £26.5 million ($34 million) to reduce its debts and provide capital for its operations.
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August 02, 2024
Shartsis Friese Adds Real Estate Litigator In San Francisco
Shartsis Friese LLP has expanded its real estate team, announcing that it has brought in a litigator and bankruptcy expert from SSL Law Firm LLP as a partner in San Francisco.
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August 01, 2024
Lewis Brisbois Slams RICO Claims Alleging 'Sham' Suits
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has urged a California federal judge Tuesday to toss Chinese investors' accusations that its attorneys filed lawsuits to cover their failure to read "draconian" contract terms that led the investors to lose their $92.5 million stake in a $2.5 billion Los Angeles mixed-used development.
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August 01, 2024
Host Hotels & Resorts Buys Up NYC Hotel For $265M
Hospitality-focused real estate investment trust Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. acquired a 234-room New York City hotel for $265 million in an all-cash transaction, the REIT announced on Aug. 1 during an earnings call for 2024's second quarter.
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August 01, 2024
Senate Advances Bipartisan Bill To End Hotel 'Junk' Fees
The U.S. Senate voted to advance a bill out of committee that would crack down on "junk fees," or hidden fees tacked on to hotel or short-term rental bookings, an idea that has drawn bipartisan support.
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August 01, 2024
VICI Passes On Caesars Indianapolis Racino
VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on gaming and resorts real estate, said Aug. 1 in a call with analysts that it would not pursue a deal to purchase an Indianapolis racino and said it is well-prepared for potential mergers and acquisitions of its casino operators.
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August 01, 2024
Bahamas Resort Developer Seeks $1.5B In Builder Fraud Trial
Counsel for the now-defunct developer of the Bahamian luxury resort Baha Mar opened a bench trial in New York state court Thursday arguing the company lost more than $1.5 billion because of a Chinese state-owned construction firm's "lies, competing agendas and broken promises."
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August 01, 2024
Real Estate Lawyers On The Move
Honigman and Gordon Rees are among the firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.
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August 01, 2024
Office REIT To Liquidate After Facing Investor Pressure
The president of Equity Commonwealth announced that the company will sell its four remaining office properties and wind down operations, after the real estate investment trust faced multiple calls to liquidate by activist stockholders.
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August 01, 2024
Investor Hits Arbor Realty With Securities Fraud Claims
An investor accused real estate investment trust Arbor Realty Trust Inc. in New York federal court of misleading its investors about how the REIT was doing financially.
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August 01, 2024
3 Firms Advise JV To Build Downtown Denver Data Center
Infrastructure investment firm Stonepeak said it has reached an agreement with American Tower affiliate CoreSite to build a $250 million multiphase data center in downtown Denver, Colorado, in a deal advised by Sidley Austin LLP, Sullivan & Worcester LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
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July 31, 2024
Top California Real Estate News In 2024 So Far
Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of California so far this year, from homeless policy shifts and rent algorithm disputes to a $5 billion mixed-use project and a shareholder activist campaign.
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July 31, 2024
Steward Health Care Gets OK To Close 2 Mass. Hospitals
A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday approved the closure of two Massachusetts hospitals owned by Steward Health Care after the debtor said that it was unable to find buyers for them.
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July 31, 2024
Separate Easement Contribution Docs Critical, IRS Atty Says
Conservation easement donors must always keep separate documents from their donees that acknowledge the gifted property to qualify for a charitable tax deduction in the event the IRS requests such information during an audit, according to an agency counsel Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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Key Issues When Navigating A Tenant's Bankruptcy
In light of recent Chapter 11 filings by Rite Aid and WeWork — companies with thousands of commercial leases — practitioners should review issues that can arise when bankruptcy is used to exit a lease, including the consequences of lease rejection and the statutory cap on landlord damage claims for a rejected lease, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security
In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Sale-Leasebacks May Provide A Safe Financing Alternative
Amid rising interest rates and unpredictable market conditions, sale-leasebacks can be a useful investment option for both buyers and sellers, though their potential drawbacks demand careful consideration, says Chanel Di Blasi at Crosbie Gliner.
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5 Recent Developments Family Offices Are Watching In 2024
Although family offices have long been exempt from many of the more onerous regulations and reporting requirements governing U.S. investment advisers and asset managers, recent amendments to federal rules will have an impact on how family offices invest and operate in 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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A Challenging CRE Environment Holds Opportunities In 2024
As the commercial real estate market faces reduced occupancy levels and rising financing costs, the new landscape will be favorable to those who can leverage capital, strategic vision and expertise to meet challenges like taking on distressed properties and converting office space to residential use, say Nesa Amamoo and Vered Rabia at Skadden.
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What The 2023 Bank Failures Taught Us, And What's To Come
As 2023 draws to a close, it's apparent that the bank failures this past spring sparked a seismic shift in the regulatory and supervisory landscape for banking organizations, and the consequences are still continuing to be felt throughout the financial sector as we head into 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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A Difficult Year For CRE, But Future May Be Brighter
2023 was a challenging year for the commercial real estate industry, marked by significant uncertainty, but market pressure and signs of rising interest rates provide some reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the year ahead as pandemic headwinds and gridlock fade away, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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3 Developments That Will Affect Hospitality Companies In 2024
As the hospitality industry continues its post-pandemic recovery, it faces both challenges and opportunities to thrive in 2024, including navigating new labor rules, developing branded residential living spaces and cautiously embracing artificial intelligence, says Lauren Stewart at Sheppard Mullin.
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What WeWork's Ch. 11 Filing Means For Landlords
WeWork’s recent Chapter 11 filing in New Jersey has the potential to be one of the most consequential cases in the real estate industry in many years, and presents a number of issues for landlords, including unexpired leases, assumption, assignment and more, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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The 4 Top Philadelphia Commerce Court Opinions Of 2023
Four 2023 rulings from the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas — including decisions on judicial privilege, stay requests, sheriff's sales and the appointment of a receiver — highlight the court's commitment to stringent standards and address evolving challenges in commercial litigation, say Jonathan Hugg and Sarah Boutros at Eckert Seamans.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 2023 High Court Rulings
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued four bankruptcy law opinions — an extraordinary number — and a close look at these cases signals that changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code will have to come from Congress, not the courts, says Phillip Shefferly at the University of Michigan Law School.
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Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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5 Traps To Avoid When Selling CRE In Las Vegas Area
When dealing with commercial real estate in Clark County, Nevada — which includes the Las Vegas metro area — even sophisticated sellers may be ensnared by a myriad of tricky issues, ranging from transfer tax nuances to arbitration laws, says Chris Walther at Fennemore Craig.