Commercial

  • February 28, 2025

    Nixon Peabody Adds Smith Gambrell Real Estate Atty In NY

    An experienced real estate attorney who focuses his work on commercial transactions has made the move from Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP to Nixon Peabody LLP's New York office.

  • February 28, 2025

    Dallas-Area Officials OK Features For $2.5B Mixed-Use Project

    Planning officials in Frisco, Texas, have signed off on a parking garage, an amphitheater and a group of 10 retail and restaurant buildings for a developer's $2.5 billion project north of Dallas called Firefly Park.

  • February 28, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Gibson Dunn, Skadden

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone acquires Safe Harbor Marinas, National Grid sells its green subsidiary in the U.S. to Brookfield, Apollo Global Management buys Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc., and Teleflex splits into two publicly traded companies.

  • February 27, 2025

    Honduras Loses Bid To Duck US Developer's $11B Claim

    An international tribunal has rejected Honduras' bid for an early exit from a politically sensitive $10.7 billion claim asserted by a U.S. property developer over a nixed law that created special economic zones known as ZEDEs, ruling Wednesday that the developer was not obligated to first exhaust local remedies.

  • February 27, 2025

    Real Estate Fund Says Property Cos. Lost Investor Funds

    A real estate investment fund has sued various companies associated with a man accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding investors in an alleged $1 billion scheme, telling a Florida state court that the companies made off with millions of dollars of investor funds meant to go toward specific real estate projects.

  • February 27, 2025

    Judge Axes NYC Loan Row, Sanctions Firm For Depositions

    A New York federal judge has dismissed a commercial real estate lender's claims against two guarantors for a 2022 loan it made, ripping the lender and its ex-counsel, Fox Rothschild LLP, for deposition no-shows.

  • February 27, 2025

    NRA Urges High Court to Consider NY Carry Law Case

    The National Rifle Association and the superintendent of New York State Police are at odds over whether the U.S. Supreme Court should take up a case regarding a state law requiring "good moral character" as a prerequisite to obtaining a gun permit, with both sides filing dueling briefs to the justices.

  • February 27, 2025

    Landlords Can't Duck Injury Claim From Dweller Not On Lease

    A Washington state appeals court said Thursday that landlords must face a claim from a pregnant woman who was injured from a fall down a flight of stairs, even though she had not signed the rental lease, in an opinion that said the lower court erred by tossing the case on the eve of trial without giving proper notice.

  • February 27, 2025

    Starwood Execs Say Multifamily Starts Will Keep Dropping

    Starwood Property Trust executives said on a Feb. 27 earnings call that they believe impending tariffs and immigration policy will drive rents up and multifamily starts down, even as the company reported foreclosing on three multifamily properties in the fourth quarter.

  • February 27, 2025

    Wildfires Threaten Over $2T Worth Of Properties, Risk Co. Says

    About 4.3 million homes worth $2.15 trillion are facing heightened risk of wildfire damage across the United States, while intensifying climate conditions continue to impact the affordability and availability of insurance, risk modeling company ZestyAI reported Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    Insurer For Mass. Gaming Board Off Hook For Land Dispute

    A Massachusetts state court judge said Landmark American Insurance's duty to defend the state's Gaming Commission in a long-running lawsuit over the site of the Encore Boston Harbor Casino ended nearly three years ago.

  • February 27, 2025

    Energy Co. Sued Over Rent, Radioactive Waste Disclosures

    A Brooklyn property owner and two companies accused National Grid of owing rent on the site of a former industrial facility and impeding their businesses by not telling them quickly enough that there were radioactive materials there.

  • February 27, 2025

    Judge Won't Force Victim's Atty's Reports In Sex Assault Case

    A Florida state judge on Thursday denied a request by three men, including a real estate broker, facing sexual assault charges to force discovery of reports by the victim's attorney at Morgan & Morgan PA.

  • February 27, 2025

    How Adams' Latest Move Might Checkmate The DOJ

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams' push to permanently dismiss his federal corruption case is a clever legal strategy that appears to have backed the government into a corner, experts say.

  • February 27, 2025

    Mich. Bill Would Bar Local Tax Caps That Require Rate Cuts

    Michigan would bar local governments from enacting property tax caps on annual revenue that require an automatic tax rate cut under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • February 26, 2025

    Trump Orders Fed Agencies To Plan For Large Layoffs

    The White House is telling federal agencies to submit plans for "large-scale" layoffs by mid-March, accusing them of siphoning funding for "unproductive and unnecessary programs" and "not producing results for the American public."

  • February 26, 2025

    AI Efficiency A Risk For Data Centers? Attys Don't Think So

    The risks facing deals in the data center space currently revolve around whether power is available and when — not whether artificial intelligence models may become so efficient that certain types of digital infrastructure facilities lose their appeal, attorneys told Law360.

  • February 26, 2025

    Dewberry Ruling May Lead To More Defendants In TM Fights

    Plaintiffs in trademark disputes likely will consider including multiple defendants in their complaints when it's unclear who holds the profits from the alleged infringement, according to intellectual property attorneys, after the U.S. Supreme Court remanded a case because nonparty affiliates of a defendant were ordered to pay an award that reached nearly $47 million.

  • February 26, 2025

    Real Estate Takes Stock Of Federal Lease Upheaval

    As the federal government rebalances its real estate holdings, firms that lease to federal agencies are assessing their exposure. Some firms are poised to benefit from the cost-cutting or have leases that are shielded from termination. But a weak office market may make it easier for the government to drop even those leases.

  • February 26, 2025

    Zimbabwe Says $440M Arbitral Award Can't Be Enforced

    The Republic of Zimbabwe is opposing a bid for summary judgment by a Swiss-German family and two forestry and sawmill companies several months after the D.C. Circuit ruled that a lower court could enforce $440 million worth of arbitral awards against the country.

  • February 26, 2025

    Taft Pulls In 3 New Attys For Chicago Real Estate Group

    Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has added two partners and an associate to the real estate team in its 160-attorney Chicago office, the law firm announced.

  • February 26, 2025

    'Congress Favors Arbitration' In EB-5 Suit, 11th Circ. Told

    A Canadian citizen who is accused in a Florida lawsuit of defrauding foreign investors told the Eleventh Circuit in a hearing Wednesday that a lower court wrongfully sent the case back to state court and denied a request to halt proceedings, telling the panel that "Congress favors arbitration."

  • February 26, 2025

    How One Atty Approached AI Price Gouging Amid LA Wildfires

    In a recent Q&A, an LA-area lawyer who helped a hotel handle inadvertent price spikes following the January fires discussed that matter, as well as the larger question of price gouging at hotel and rental properties.

  • February 26, 2025

    Ariz. Sen. OKs Extending Property Tax Oversight Commission

    Arizona would extend the life of its Property Tax Oversight Commission by eight years under legislation approved Wednesday by the state Senate.

  • February 26, 2025

    Simpson Thacher Guides $1B Real Estate Secondaries Fund

    Neuberger Berman, an investment management firm advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, has capped its second real estate private equity secondary fund at $1.05 billion, surpassing its target by $200 million, according to a Wednesday announcement.

Expert Analysis

  • $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Calif. Ruling Shows Limits Of Exculpatory Lease Clauses

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    A California court's recent decision in Epochal Enterprises v. LF Encinitas Properties, finding a landlord liable for failing to disclose the presence of asbestos on the subject property, underscores the limits of exculpatory clauses' ability to safeguard landlords from liability where known hazards are present, say Fawaz Bham and Javier De Luna at Hunton.

  • Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling

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    A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.

  • A Legal Playbook For Stadium Construction Agreements

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    As a new wave of construction in the professional sports arena space gets underway, owners must carefully consider the unique considerations and risks associated with these large-scale projects and draft agreements accordingly, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face

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    Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.

  • How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations

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    Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule

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    Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.

  • New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks

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    Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • DC's Housing Tax Break Proposal: What's In It, What's Missing

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    Proposed Washington, D.C., rules implementing the Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement program — for commercial property owners who convert properties into residential housing — thoroughly explain the process for submitting an application, but do not provide sufficient detail regarding the actual dollar value of the abatements, says Daniel Miktus at Akerman.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: The Terms Matter

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine recent decisions from the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which offer reminders about the importance of including contract terms to address the unexpected circumstances that may interfere with performance.

  • Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE

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    As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.

  • New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures

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    A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.