Commercial
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January 30, 2025
Gov't Urges High Court To OK 2nd 'Buffalo Billion' Trial
The federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear the way for a second trial in a public corruption case tied to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" development initiative, saying prosecutors should be allowed to pursue charges under a different theory after the justices undid the original convictions.
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January 29, 2025
Experts Expect Tweaks, Not Teardown, For Renewable Credits
A Trump administration order to pause "green new deal" programs shouldn't halt tax credits for renewable power overnight, legal experts say, even if those programs and others within the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act could face fresh scrutiny.
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January 29, 2025
SEC Says PE Firm Defrauded Investors In $1B Fund
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued a private equity firm in Florida federal court Wednesday, alleging that it defrauded investors in a $1 billion fund by, among other things, falsely promising to segregate their assets and by transferring tens of millions of dollars into bank accounts held by the fund's leading executives.
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January 29, 2025
$17M Punitive Award Reversed In Miami Hotel's Noise Suit
A Florida state appeals court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against the owner of two Miami Beach hotels for committing fraud on the court in a commercial landlord-tenant dispute, but the court threw out a $17.4 million punitive damages award and ordered a new trial on that issue.
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January 29, 2025
Senate Banking Committee Forms NFIP Working Group
With the National Flood Insurance Program's authorization set to expire in March, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking has formed a working group to reform the program and work toward long-term reauthorization, a press release from committee chairman and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott said.
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January 29, 2025
Momentary Funding Freeze Gives Brownfields Pause
President Donald Trump's turbulent 48-hour federal funding freeze sent ripples through the brownfields industry, with developers — who often rely on the federal government as a major funding partner — unsure of the future feasibility of their projects.
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January 29, 2025
NYC Seeks Bids For 'Ambitious' Manhattan Redevelopment
New York City is seeking bids to redevelop the 66,000-square-foot Gansevoort Square area in Manhattan, and bidders have until April 30 to make their pitches, the mayor's office announced Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
Polsinelli Guides $135M Loan Deal For Ex-Pfizer NYC HQ
Northwind Group, guided by Polsinelli PC, loaned $135 million for a 33-story midtown Manhattan office tower that used to be part of Pfizer's New York City headquarters and will be converted into a residential property, the real estate private equity firm announced Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
Cooper Union Prevails In Dispute Over Chrysler Building
Cooper Union's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus does not amount to a breach of contract with the ground leaseholder of the Chrysler Building, which is owned by the university, despite allegations that the college's actions led subtenants to bail, a New York state court judge found Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
Historic Texas Hotel Nets $79M Construction Loan
The developer of El Tropicano Hotel has closed a $79 million construction loan as it works on overhauling the historic San Antonio, Texas, landmark.
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January 29, 2025
Real Estate Group Of The Year: DLA Piper
The real estate team at DLA Piper over the past year has shepherded deals on matters ranging from massive, billion-dollar data centers to inner city mixed-use projects and what's been widely reported as the largest private real estate development in the United States, securing a place among the 2024 Law360 Real Estate Groups of the Year.
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January 29, 2025
Construction Group Of The Year: Nossaman
Nossaman LLP's work on major projects like the $4.9 billion automated people mover system in Los Angeles International Airport and the $600 million modernization of Interstate 75 in Michigan scored the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Construction Groups of the Year.
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January 29, 2025
Katten Real Estate Leaders Suggest Prenegotiated Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy protection is usually a last resort for commercial real estate borrowers. But for a large distressed asset in a high-tax district, a prepackaged bankruptcy is a no-brainer, according to Katten partners Scott M. Vetri and Timothy G. Little. Here's how it would work.
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January 29, 2025
Swift Policy Shifts Make Adaptability Crucial In Real Estate
Few professionals understand the relentless pace of change quite like real estate attorneys do, and navigating the shifting sands of policy is becoming an all too familiar challenge where the only constant seems to be the need for constant adaptation.
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January 28, 2025
End To Third-Party Standing May Affect Ga. Civil Rights Suits
The Supreme Court of Georgia on Tuesday shut down a landowner's bid to sue her county on behalf of the would-be buyer of her property, declaring that Peach State courts will no longer recognize third-party standing as a means for plaintiffs to get in the courthouse's doors in a ruling experts say could have a wide effect on future civil rights cases.
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January 28, 2025
Judge OKs Refiling Of Suit Over $20M Austin Nightclub Deal
A Texas federal judge granted a bid to dismiss a suit claiming a title company handed over $3 million to a fraudster, saying Tuesday that she would allow the plaintiff to rework its complaint to show the defendants were indeed more heavily tied to the sham than the current complaint contended.
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January 28, 2025
Life Sciences REIT Exec Sees Market Boon In Trump Admin
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.'s founder and executive chairman applauded the Trump administration in a Tuesday earnings call, saying several expected reforms will indirectly aid key life science real estate markets.
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January 28, 2025
Dubai Co. Begins Condo Project At Surfside Collapse Site
Dubai-based developer DAMAC International said Tuesday it plans to build its first U.S. real estate project in the town of Surfside, Florida, at the site where the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed in June 2021, resulting in the deaths of 98 people.
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January 28, 2025
Citadel Taps Related For Miami Tower, While Another Is Cut
In a pairing of heavyweights in their fields, Citadel LLC has announced that it is partnering with developer Related Companies to build the hedge fund's planned waterfront supertall tower in Miami's Brickell Financial District. But the news was accompanied by word that another prominent tower project in the neighborhood will not be moving forward.
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January 28, 2025
BCLP Adds Ex-Brownstein Hyatt Real Estate Atty In Denver
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP hired a former Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP real estate attorney as a partner for its commercial real estate team in its Denver office, the firm announced Monday.
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January 28, 2025
Ohio Board Nixes Bid To Cut Regal Theater's Value
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals rejected arguments that a Regal Cinemas property's value should be cut to $4 million from $11.6 million, saying the property owner didn't show that a county appraiser's valuation based on leases and rents of similar properties across seven states was flawed.
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January 28, 2025
Industrial Developer Invests $120M Into NC Distribution Center
PNK Group invested $120 million into a High Point, North Carolina, distribution center that it built on behalf of water hygiene and conservation company Ecolab Corp., the industrial property developer announced Tuesday.
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January 28, 2025
Guns Owners Urge Justices To Throw Out NY Carry Law
Members of the Gun Owners of America Inc. have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a New York carry law that the Second Circuit largely upheld last year, arguing that the lower appellate court's ruling "doubled down" on erroneous conclusions already vacated the last time the justices heard the case.
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January 28, 2025
Greenberg Traurig Digital Infrastructure Leader Joins Kirkland
Kirkland & Ellis LLP has picked up the longtime co-chair of Greenberg Traurig LLP's digital infrastructure, data center and cloud computing industry group, who has joined the firm's corporate practice group in Washington, D.C.
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January 28, 2025
Wynn Fraud Trial Still On As Appeals Court Declines To Step In
A Wynn Resorts subsidiary cannot challenge a decision allowing a trial on accusations that it misled the former owner of the site of its Encore Boston Harbor casino into cutting the property's sale price by $40 million, the state's intermediate-level appeals court has ruled.
Expert Analysis
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Best Practices For Lenders To Limit Recourse Liability
As projects face loan maturities in a higher interest rate environment, lenders should diligently observe even seemingly innocuous formalities following an event of default in order to minimize potential recourse liability, especially when borrowers have certain covenants, say Ryan Goins and Matthias Kleinsasser at Winstead.
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The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Michael Lehet at Ogletree Deakins discusses the role of knowledge management attorneys at law firms, the common tasks they perform and practical tips for lawyers who may be considering becoming one.
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Rising Interest Rates Bring Risk For Construction Contractors
With rising interest rates causing many construction projects to be slowed or halted, it's important for general contractors to implement safeguard measures against the risk of significant financial losses caused by owner-driven schedule modifications, says Kevin Riexinger at Gfeller Laurie.
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Keys To Navigating The Post-Pandemic CRE Market
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
As the commercial real estate market continues to face repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers should use office occupancy and leasing volume numbers to anticipate future trends and help guide clients through an uncertain landscape, says Joseph Calvanico at J2C Valuations.
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How Rate Exportation Is Shifting Amid Regulatory Trends
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.
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How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks
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.
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Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts
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.
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Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11
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.
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Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing
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.
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Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals
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.
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Pickleball Makes Waves In Fla. Real Estate, With Risks In Play
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.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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.
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What Calif. Pot Permit Ruling Means For Enviro Compliance
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.