Commercial

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • January 28, 2025

    NY Assembly Bills Seek Tax On Vacant Land, Buildings In NYC

    New York City would be permitted to impose taxes on certain vacant land and vacant residential properties under a pair of bills introduced in the New York state Assembly.

  • January 28, 2025

    Slaughter & May-Led JV To Buy 6 Warehouses Worth €470M

    Property investor Segro PLC said Tuesday that its joint venture with a pension fund has agreed to acquire six logistics centers in the Netherlands and Germany worth €470 million ($490 million), as the U.K. company plans to expand its presence in Europe.

  • January 27, 2025

    Feds May Trim $2B In Leases Over Trump's Term, Trepp Says

    Following President Donald Trump's order on Inauguration Day that federal workers return to the office, a Trepp report finds more than a third of all office space leased by the federal government could potentially be terminated during Trump's second term.

  • January 27, 2025

    Amazon To Open Office In Miami's Wynwood District

    Amazon has chosen Miami's Wynwood neighborhood for a new location in the Magic City, agreeing to lease 50,333 square feet at the soon-to-be-completed Wynwood Plaza mixed-use project, the owners said Monday.

  • January 27, 2025

    Party City Inks Deal To Sell IP, Assets In 2nd Ch. 11

    Bankrupt retailer Party City has reached a stalking horse agreement to sell its brand name, other intellectual property and related operating assets to an affiliate of the pop culture merchandiser Ad Populum LLC, which owns the brand behind Chia Pet and is an owner of the entertainment complex at Elvis Presley's home Graceland.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling

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    The Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned three decades of premises liability jurisprudence by ruling that the open and obvious danger defense is no longer part of a traditional duty analysis, posing the question of whether landowners will ever again win on a motion for summary dismissal, say John Stiglich and Meriam Choulagh at Wilson Elser.

  • Subchapter V Eligibility Ruling Raises Uncertainty For Tenants

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    A Virginia bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Macedon Consulting — that all remaining rent under a lease should be factored into a lessee's Subchapter V eligibility — raises the question, but does not address, how a court should calculate the amount of debt owed under a lease, creating significant risk for potential tenant debtors, says Sam Ashuraey at Ashuraey Law.

  • Parsing Tax Implications Of NYC Office Leasing Transactions

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    Though New York City's tax laws generally do not require negotiated contractual risk allocation in the case of sublease and early lease termination transactions, it is still helpful for counsel to both landlords and tenants to understand the laws' nuances, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • NY's Take On Premises Insurance Policies: What's In A Name?

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    A New York appellate court's recent decision in Wesco Insurance v. Fulmont Mutual Insurance — requiring insurance coverage for a property owner not named on the policy — strengthens a state case law trend creating a practical exception in premises liability cases to normally strict requirements for coverage, says Craig Rokuson at Traub Lieberman.

  • Bankruptcy Ruling Shows Section 363's Magic Has Its Limits

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    The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's recent ruling in Groves demonstrates that Section 363 — which allows a debtor-in-possession to sell their property in order to generate cash — fails as a tool when it’s used to turn a nondebtor entities' property into property of a debtor's bankruptcy estate, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Shifts In The CRE Landscape Demand Creative Loan Solutions

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    An increase in commercial real estate loan workouts makes it critical for borrowers, lenders and other CRE participants to examine all the available options and remedies, including mortgage and mezzanine foreclosures, bankruptcy filings and property short sales, say attorneys at Goulston & Storrs.

  • A Smoother Process For CRE Receiverships In Conn.

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    A newly effective Connecticut law concerning distressed commercial real estate provides a number of opportunities and strategic considerations for creditors, and should be watched even by counsel in other states as adoption of the law could become more widespread, say John Loughnane and Steven Coury at White and Williams.

  • What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief

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    Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • CRE Guidance Helps Lenders Work With Struggling Borrowers

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    In recognition of growing troubles with commercial real estate loans, four federal regulators' recently updated loan accommodations guidance provides a helpful framework for approaching loan workouts without the punitive results of adverse classifications, say Jaclyn Grodin and Muryum Khalid at Goulston & Storrs.

  • NYC Cannabis Landlord Accountability Law Has Limitations

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    A recently passed bill in New York City, aiming to crack down on the illegal cannabis market by levying fines against landlords who knowingly lease to unlicensed sellers, contains loopholes that may potentially limit the bill’s impact and lead to unintended consequences, say attorneys at Falcon Rappaport.

  • When Investment Banks Can Sell Real Estate In Calif.

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    When investment banks sell businesses that own property in California, they may run into trouble if they are not licensed real estate brokers, unless the property is merely incidental to the deal at hand, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.