Commercial
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August 07, 2024
Top Illinois Real Estate News In 2024 So Far
Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of Illinois so far this year, from brokerages' market forecasts and a casino deal to a $7 billion mixed-use project and a new stadium.
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August 07, 2024
NC Court Tosses Resort's Appeal Over Tree-Cutting Loss
The North Carolina Court of Appeals threw out a resort owner's appeal arguing that Dominion Energy North Carolina cannot remove trees on its property, holding instead that the resort owner abandoned its arguments when it failed to analyze the trial court's final judgment on appeal.
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August 07, 2024
SEC Accuses Urban Commons REIT Founders Of $70M Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the founders of the Urban Commons real estate investment trust of running a pair of fraud schemes involving investments in U.S.-based hotels that the regulator said collectively cost investors $70 million.
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August 07, 2024
Blackstone Buys Majority Stake In Renewable-Focused Firm
Blackstone Inc.-backed private equity funds have agreed to acquire a majority stake in renewable-energy focused engineering firm Westwood Professional Services Inc., under guidance from Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, marking Blackstone's latest bid to support energy transition, according to a Wednesday announcement.
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August 07, 2024
Fund Seeks Forced Sale Of Long-Stalled Baltimore Project
A Boston-based investment fund that backs development projects in disadvantaged communities is seeking to recoup $13 million it poured into a stalled mixed-use project in Baltimore, including through a forced sale, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.
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August 07, 2024
Nixon Peabody Real Estate Atty Returns To Boston Office
Nixon Peabody LLP rehired R. Lindsay Wilson II for a counsel position on its affordable housing and real estate team in Boston, the firm announced Wednesday.
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August 07, 2024
Venable, Fried Frank Ink Deal Halving Fannie Mae HQ's Space
Venable LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP guided Fannie Mae's lease renewal for a Washington, D.C., property, halving its headquarters' footprint at the building following reports it was looking to exit the property altogether.
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August 07, 2024
Ahead Of Due Date, Land Use Attorneys Steer NY Casino Bids
Applicants for three up-for-grabs New York casino licenses are not expected to formally submit for consideration until next year, but real estate developers working on 11 proposals that have been announced are laying the groundwork, including by engaging law firms.
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August 07, 2024
Office Buildings Reign Supreme In Terms Of NYC Tax Revenue
According to a Wednesday report from New York state's fiscal watchdog, ongoing woes in the office sector aren't going to punch a hole in the budget for New York City — which can expect to continue to receive an "outsized" proportion of its tax revenue from office buildings.
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August 07, 2024
Texas Last-Resort Insurer Approves 10% Rate Hike
Texas' windstorm insurer of last resort approved a 10% rate hike subject to state approval following expectations that Hurricane Beryl and other spring storm claims will significantly deplete the insurer's $451 million catastrophe reserve trust fund.
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August 07, 2024
Rising Star: Troutman Pepper's Alana T. Sliwinski
Alana Sliwinski of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP has guided multiple high-profile and climate-focused public-private partnerships in her career, most recently playing a pivotal role in the $7 billion construction of Terminals 1, 2 and 3 at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, earning her a spot among the construction law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 07, 2024
Rising Star: Skadden's Anoush Sarkissian
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP real estate counsel Anoush Sarkissian's work on major transactions such as advising alternative asset management company The RMR Group in an approximately $4 billion mortgage and mezzanine financing and its $80 million acquisition of multifamily real estate firm Carroll landed her a spot among the real estate attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 07, 2024
Rising Star: Willkie's Melissa Fischetti
Melissa Fischetti of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP navigated SL Green's $1.76 billion acquisition of 245 Park Ave, New York, amid contentious bankruptcy proceedings brought without the preferred equity investor's approval, earning her a spot among the real estate practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 07, 2024
Shumaker Construction Pro Jumps To Carlton Fields In Fla.
Florida's real estate market and construction law practices are continuing their boom after the height of the pandemic, and Carlton Fields has bolstered its expertise in those areas by adding a former construction law partner from Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP.
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August 07, 2024
Eyeing Electrification, Governments Reroute Post-Berkeley
Before it was struck down by the Ninth Circuit, Berkeley, California's 2019 ban on natural gas hookups in new construction paved the way for municipalities seeking to decarbonize their buildings. Now, municipalities keen on clean construction are walking a delicate line around federal preemption.
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August 07, 2024
Goodwin Leader Says Life Sciences Is Overbuilt In Boston
In the first of a series of Q&A's looking at life sciences real estate in various U.S. markets, one of Goodwin Procter LLP's real estate leaders told Law360 that, after a COVID-19-related surge, demand has recently fallen, leaving the sector in Boston overbuilt. Forthcoming Q&A's this month will look at the sector in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.
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August 07, 2024
Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme
The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.
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August 06, 2024
Judge OKs Foreclosure, Sale Of Midtown Manhattan Buildings
A New York state judge awarded Wilmington Trust with more than $140 million while approving the foreclosure and sale of two midtown Manhattan properties at the center of the trustee's suit over a default $105 million loan.
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August 06, 2024
Conn. AG Says Utility Misconstrued Power Plant Cleanup Deal
The Connecticut Attorney General's Office has told a state court that The United Illuminating Co., now part of Avangrid Inc., raised inapplicable defenses to an environmental cleanup lawsuit by misconstruing an earlier consent decree as a "contract" the government could breach as the utility remediated an abandoned New Haven power plant.
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August 06, 2024
Hotel's Ch. 11 Plan Nixes San Jose Tax Claim, Judge Says
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday ordered the city of San Jose, California, to dismiss a state court action seeking the payment of taxes and other obligations by the former operator of a luxury hotel, saying the Chapter 11 plan of SC SJ Holdings released the claims.
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August 06, 2024
Vornado Lines Up Deal To Lease 15-Floor NYC Office Building
Vornado Realty Trust has reached a "handshake deal" with an undisclosed company to lease 1.1 million square feet of office space at 770 Broadway once Meta vacates the 15-floor building in Lower Manhattan, the real estate investment trust's CEO revealed Aug. 6.
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August 06, 2024
Big Brokers Predict Capital Markets Rebound In Late '24
Commercial real estate's largest brokers, in announcing second-quarter earnings, said they are expecting capital markets activity to rebound in the second half of the year, in a turn Cushman & Wakefield's CEO called a "waterfall effect."
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August 06, 2024
Dentons Names Real Estate Atty As Vancouver Office Leader
Dentons promoted Canadian real estate partner Scott Wilson to an office managing partner role in its Vancouver office, the firm announced.
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August 06, 2024
DC Circ. Rules Russia Is Immune From Suit Over Jewish Texts
The D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday that the federal court never had jurisdiction over a Jewish group's decades-old allegations that Russia is illegally holding on to its long-lost sacred texts, finding that the country has sovereign immunity and voiding nearly $200 million in fines levied against Russia.
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August 06, 2024
Starwood Eyes Rate Cuts Amid Stormy Quarter
Starwood Property Trust told investors on Aug. 6 that the real estate investment trust had foreclosed on three properties and downgraded ratings for several others, hinging hopes for the future on expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to cut interest rates soon.
Expert Analysis
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Compliance Primer: Foreign Investment In US Real Property
The rise in foreign investment in U.S. real property, especially agricultural land, has led to increased national security concerns, meaning it’s important to understand reporting requirements under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act and state-level statutes, and to monitor legislative proposals that could create more stringent reporting and review processes, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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How CRE Loans Would Shift Under New Bank Capital Rules
Attorneys at MoFo discuss how commercial real estate loans would fare under federal banking agencies' proposed changes to how large banks risk-weight loans, particularly how CRE loans are weighed based on the current standardized framework versus the proposed expanded approach.
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Calif. GHG Disclosure Law Will Affect Companies Worldwide
California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which will require comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions disclosures from large companies operating in the state, will mean compliance challenges for a wide range of industries, nationally and globally, as the law's requirements will ultimately trickle out and down, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
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What Retail Landlords Must Know About Permitted Transfers
As trying economic times require tenants to create options to cease their operations by transferring their lease obligations to other parties, retail landlords must give significant thought to how permitted transfers are drafted, and how parties are to be protected in the present and the future, says Scott Grossfeld at Cox Castle.
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Proactive Measures While NY Foreclosure Law Is In Limbo
While questions about the scope and constitutionality of New York's Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act might not be resolved by courts for years, lenders, borrowers and other interested parties can take action to protect their rights and potentially expedite appellate review, say Allison Schoenthal and Andrew Kim at Goodwin.
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EB-5 Investment Period Clarification Raises More Questions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' recent clarifying guidance for EB-5 investors, specifying that the statutory investment period begins two years from the date of investment, raises as many questions as it answers given related agency requirements and investors' potential contractual obligations, says Daniel Lundy at Klasko Immigration Law Partners.
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A Guide For Landlords Pivoting To Medical Office Buildings
The current commercial real estate landscape presents a unique opportunity for landlords, real estate developers and investors to accommodate the growing health care industry's need for office buildings, though proper navigation of complex regulations and leasing concerns is necessary, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.
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NY Co-Ops Must Avoid Pitfalls When Navigating Insurance
In light of skyrocketing premiums, tricky exclusions and dwindling options, New York cooperative corporations must carefully review potential contractors' insurance policies in order to secure full protection, as even seemingly minor contractor jobs can carry significant risk due to New York labor laws, says Eliot Zuckerman at Smith Gambrell.
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What To Consider When Converting Calif. Offices To Housing
In light of California legislators' recent efforts to expedite the process for converting offices into residential buildings, developers should evaluate both the societal upsides, and the significant economic and legal hurdles, of such conversions, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.
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Ch. 12 Ruling Is A Helpful Addition To Interest Rate Case Law
In its recent In re: Topp ruling, the Eighth Circuit addressed the question of which rate of interest debtors should pay under a bankruptcy plan, showing that the choice of interest rate plan is a factual issue subject to appellate review for clear error, and not a legal issue subject to de novo review, says Donald Swanson at Koley Jessen.
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Appellate Rulings Highlight Telecom Standard Uncertainties
Two recent contrasting appellate opinions in Cellco v. White Deer Township and NMSurf v. Webber — interpreting Sections 332 and 253 of the Communications Act, respectively — demonstrate the continuing uncertainty carriers face when challenging state and local requirements that may impede their provision of telecommunications services, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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How Investors Can Seize Renewables Opportunities In RE
As governments and stakeholders increasingly focus on sustainability in the real estate sector, investors could capture significant upside by implementing an operational real estate strategy focused on renewable energy sources, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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Insurance Cos. Are Stretching Construction Standard Limits
In the construction sector, the importance of closely vetting downstream parties' insurance policies has never been more critical — owners and general contractors need to be on the lookout for ever broader carrier-specific expansions of standard insurance provisions that are perilous for risk transfer, says Eric Clarkson at Saxe Doernberger.