Commercial

  • August 15, 2024

    Baha Mar Builder Blames Developer Debt As $1.5B Trial Wraps

    Counsel for the Chinese state-owned construction firm that built the Bahamian luxury resort Baha Mar closed out a bench trial in New York state court on Thursday arguing that it was the resort developer's overleveraged debt, not delays in the building process, that led to $1.5 billion in losses.

  • August 15, 2024

    Tax Pros Navigate Chaos, Rewards In Climate Law's 2nd Year

    Energy tax attorneys have been knee-deep in project finance deals for the past year since the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 triggered a flurry of clean energy investments, but the work, they say, has been fulfilling as part of broader efforts to save the environment.

  • August 14, 2024

    Top Stories From Real Estate's Latest Quarterly Updates

    Catch up on the headlines made by the largest public real estate companies during their latest quarterly earnings calls with investors, from data centers and lease deals to market forecasts and casinos. 

  • August 14, 2024

    Biz Says Mich. Cities Ignore Taxpayers In Fee-Or-Tax Fight

    A pipe fitting business has urged the Michigan Supreme Court to reject municipal organizations' "histrionic" arguments that cities' financial stability will be in jeopardy if the top court finds Detroit's fire inspection fee is a disguised tax, saying the groups are disregarding citizens' rights to be free from illegal taxes.

  • August 14, 2024

    BP Unit Can't Escape Truck Stop Suit, Developers Claim

    Companies suing a BP subsidiary for terminating their truck stop franchise agreement and leaving them stuck with unrecoverable development costs hit back against its "shotgun approach" to have their suit seeking more than $300 million in damages thrown out, telling an Ohio federal judge that their complaint is grounded in compelling claims.

  • August 14, 2024

    NY Judge Tosses Noise Suit Against Queens Tennis Club

    A New York state judge on Tuesday dismissed a Queens nonprofit's nuisance suit against The West Side Tennis Club, which was accused of being responsible for excessive noise coming from concerts held at its century-old outdoor stadium in the borough's Forest Hills neighborhood.

  • August 14, 2024

    Rising Star: Kirkland's Michael Shultz

    Michael Shultz of Kirkland & Ellis LLP has advised investor Blue Owl on several major transactions, including its $15 billion acquisition of real estate investment trust STORE Capital Corp. with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, earning him a spot among the real estate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 14, 2024

    NYC Hotel License Bill Rattles Hospitality Industry

    A bill that would introduce licenses for hotels in New York City has the hospitality industry up in arms, and attorneys shared concerns with Law360 that the public safety messaging behind the proposal is a shield for measures that would drive up labor costs.

  • August 14, 2024

    Rising Star: Latham's Dustin Paige

    Latham & Watkins LLP counsel Dustin Paige's work on large, complex deals, including a $7 billion joint venture between Digital Realty Trust and Blackstone Inc. to develop four hyperscale data center campuses and Flynn Properties' $1.1 billion acquisition of an 89-hotel portfolio and its subsequent refinancing, has earned him a spot among the real estate attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 14, 2024

    Rising Star: Perkins Coie's Mica Klein

    Mica Klein of Perkins Coie LLP has advised Microsoft on a series of data center and electrical substation construction projects across North, Central and South America and represents the Seattle Mariners in a major stadium renovation, earning her a spot among the construction law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 14, 2024

    Holland & Knight Atty Previews DC Flood Construction Rules

    With only weeks left in the public comment period of Washington, D.C.'s proposed flood hazard rule change — a regulation that significantly widens the area under strict climate-driven building guidelines — attorneys like Holland & Knight LLP partner Amy L. Edwards have been analyzing maps, base flood elevations and what constitutes a public use in client projects.

  • August 14, 2024

    DC Tax Relief Can Aid Office Projects, But It's No 'Silver Bullet'

    While tax relief programs may help a handful of office conversion projects in Washington, D.C., and make financial sense, much more needs to happen to bring the city's struggling downtown back to life again, real estate experts say.

  • August 14, 2024

    Commercial Real Estate Cases To Watch In 2024's Second Half

    A Jo-Ann Stores co-tenancy dispute in California, a New York EB-5 dispute and a continued Florida challenge to a 2023 law limiting foreign land ownership are among the matters real estate lawyers will be watching in the second half of 2024.

  • August 14, 2024

    DC To Put $61M Toward Upgrading Community Facilities

    The District of Columbia received more than $61.3 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury so that D.C. can improve community facilities such as public libraries and senior centers, the city's mayor, Muriel Bowser, announced.

  • August 13, 2024

    FDIC Looks To Dodge Suit Over First Republic Bank's Rent

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged a California federal court to toss a suit filed by a California landlord that once leased to First Republic Bank, arguing that federal law bars the suit because the FDIC is the bank's receiver.

  • August 13, 2024

    Anadarko Settles Wyo. Landowners' Antitrust Case For $12M

    Occidental Petroleum Corp. unit Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will pay $12 million to resolve a federal class action from Wyoming landowners accusing the extraction company of anticompetitively hoarding permits to block and control local oil and gas development, resolving the suit Monday — very nearly on the courthouse steps.

  • August 13, 2024

    'Delusional' Ex-Atty Gets 25 Years For Bank Embezzlement

    An Illinois federal judge blasted a former attorney and real estate developer Tuesday as she handed him 25 years in prison for misappropriating a bank's embezzled money, saying he was "delusional" to assert he's a victim in the case.  

  • August 13, 2024

    Lender Wins $17M Judgment In Miami Property Row

    An affiliate of Canadian real estate investment firm Romspen won a $17 million judgment in Florida state court and the right to foreclose on undeveloped land near the Miami International Airport.

  • August 13, 2024

    Partnerships' Easement Fight Ends As Gov't Drops IRS Notice

    An Alabama federal judge dismissed a complaint by dozens of partnerships claiming they shouldn't have to comply with an IRS notice regarding conservation easement transactions, following an Eleventh Circuit ruling upholding the notice as invalid and the government's agreement not to enforce it.

  • August 13, 2024

    Goetz Fitzpatrick Adds New Partner To Roster Ahead Of Merger

    As it prepares to merge with a Northeastern law firm at the start of next year, New York-based construction and real estate firm Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP announced the addition of a name partner from another Empire State firm Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz Coschignano PLLC.

  • August 13, 2024

    Starwood Property's Former GC Joins Its Parent As COO

    The former general counsel for Starwood Property Trust Inc. is returning to its parent company Starwood Capital Group after a short stint with a private equity firm.

  • August 13, 2024

    Buchalter Adds Real Estate Trio From Nashville Boutique

    Three attorneys from a Tennessee real estate boutique, including the firm's founder, have joined Buchalter PC's Nashville office.

  • August 12, 2024

    Cannabis Advocates Drop Lawsuit Against Mich. Town

    A cannabis entrepreneur and local developers have agreed to end a lawsuit against a Michigan township that claimed the municipality's leaders blocked them from opening a marijuana dispensary.

  • August 12, 2024

    Claims Trimmed In Goldman Family's NYC Property Battle

    A New York state judge has tossed several claims that inheritors of the late Sol Goldman's real estate empire filed in a dispute over control of the family business, while keeping mismanagement claims against the deceased billionaire's daughter alive.

  • August 12, 2024

    NYC Office Guarantors Fight 'Surrealistic' Recourse

    The guarantors of financing on a Midtown Manhattan office building sued the lender Aug. 8, saying it tricked the borrower into an arrangement that could leave the guarantors liable for the full loan amount and attorney fees in a separate federal lawsuit.

Expert Analysis

  • How Rate Exportation Is Shifting Amid Regulatory Trends

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    All banks and their partners, including fintechs, that wish to lend to borrowers in multiple states and charge uniform interest rates should heed regulatory developments across the country and determine how best to mitigate risks in their efforts to offer credit to consumers on a nationwide basis, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks

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    The continuing underperformance of the U.S. commercial real estate market has significant implications for the financial performance and disclosure requirements for various banks, especially regional ones with large debt exposures, say Atanu Saha and Yong Xu at StoneTurn.

  • Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts

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    As material price escalation clauses have remained popular in construction contracts despite an easing of recent supply chain issues, attorneys representing owners should understand key considerations for negotiating such clauses, and strategies to mitigate potential exploitation by contractors, says H. Arthur Black II at Brooks Pierce.

  • Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11

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    After years of financial trouble and the recent announcement that it has substantial doubt that it would be able to continue as a going concern, WeWork may have a bankruptcy filing in its future that would have a significant impact on landlords and other stakeholders who are owed money by the company, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

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    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing

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    While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.

  • Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals

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    The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • Pickleball Makes Waves In Fla. Real Estate, With Risks In Play

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    Pickleball's burgeoning popularity in Florida is catalyzing a transformation in the state's commercial real estate market, but investors must take steps to navigate legal challenges related to noise, insurance and community dynamics, says Emmanuelle Litvinov at DarrowEverett.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • What Calif. Pot Permit Ruling Means For Enviro Compliance

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    While a California appeals court's recent decision in Lucas v. City of Pomona affirms the city's use of a statutory exemption for its commercial cannabis overlay permit program, the ruling does not mean that all applicants seeking similar approvals are exempted from state environmental compliance obligations, say Whitney Hodges and Barbara Machado at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rare Reg A+ Fines Reflect New Era Of SEC Enforcement

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement of civil penalties against 10 microcap companies for violations of Regulation A+ shows that as the SEC continues to expand its enforcement efforts, its focus remains on protecting investors of all sizes — including those investing in the historically less-scrutinized Reg A+ issuers, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Factors To Consider When Structuring Data Center Contracts

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    Data center leases and service agreements grant very similar rights and impose similar obligations, but they also hold notable differences and a range of factors that are important to consider when selecting which form of agreement to use, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.