Commercial

  • April 24, 2024

    Vantage Data Centers Lands $3B Green Loan For Growth Plan

    Vantage Data Centers has announced it secured a $3 billion green loan from a bank syndicate led by Wells Fargo Securities to fund the development of sustainable data centers in North America.

  • April 24, 2024

    BakerHostetler Renews Office Lease In SF Skyscraper

    BakerHostetler has signed a five-year lease renewal for office space on the entire 31st floor of San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid, located at 600 Montgomery Street, the firm announced April 24.

  • April 24, 2024

    Acore Raises $1.4B For Commercial Real Estate Debt Fund

    Acore Capital LP overshot its fundraising goal for a commercial real estate credit fund and closed with $1.4 billion worth of equity commitments raised, the commercial real estate debt manager announced.

  • April 24, 2024

    KKR Financing REIT Expects $140M Loss From Office Distress

    The president of KKR & Co.'s financing-focused real estate investment trust said Wednesday that the company will likely face $140 million in losses in the second quarter due to distress in parts of its office loan portfolio.

  • April 24, 2024

    Croke Fairchild Leader Eyes Data Center Power Question

    As demand for data centers continues to skyrocket, site selection for new facilities is increasingly focusing on access to power to actually keep the centers running, Croke Fairchild's real estate leader told Law360.

  • April 23, 2024

    Residents Say NJ Township, Grower Rushed Land Use Permits

    Residents of a New Jersey neighborhood are hopping mad about plans to put a cannabis growing facility a stone's throw from their residential street, telling a state court that the local township didn't properly assess the site plan for the project before approving it.

  • April 23, 2024

    WeWork Urged To Add Info Ahead Of Ch. 11 Plan Doc Hearing

    Bankrupt flexible office space company WeWork Inc. will present its Chapter 11 plan disclosure statement for court approval April 29 in New Jersey, but a judge there urged the debtor to add significant information to the document ahead of that hearing, which the court scheduled on shortened notice.

  • April 23, 2024

    CoStar Rival Is Asking To Free Ride, 9th Circ. Told

    CoStar urged the Ninth Circuit not to revive antitrust counterclaims from Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc., despite backing from the Federal Trade Commission, arguing the rival is trying to use antitrust law to get free access to its platforms.

  • April 23, 2024

    Judge Quiets NY Outdoor Stadium For Frazzled Neighbors

    A state judge has temporarily muffled the activities of a century-old outdoor stadium in New York, ordering it to hire an independent contractor to monitor noise levels and to place barricades that prevent concert-goers from wandering into nearby neighborhoods.

  • April 23, 2024

    Shearman Hires Weil RE Atty In New York

    Shearman & Sterling LLP has hired a real estate partner in New York from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP whose practice focuses on advising clients on real estate matters who work in the hospitality, digital infrastructure and a range of other industries, the firm announced Monday.

  • April 22, 2024

    Petersen Health Shouldn't Get LLCs Back, Creditor Says

    A loan servicer of bankrupt senior-living company Petersen Health Care has asked a Delaware bankruptcy court to dismiss the Chapter 11 cases of 16 of Petersen's affiliates, saying they could not file for bankruptcy because they were at the time, and still are, in receivership.

  • April 22, 2024

    Judge Finds Feds Own Historic Virgin Islands Resort

    A U.S. Virgin Islands federal judge has found the government owns the title to the historic Caneel Bay resort on a St. John peninsula, ruling against an operator in a dispute that arose after the resort suffered damage from back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes in 2017.

  • April 22, 2024

    Real Estate Investment Cos. Owe SEC $8.4M For $17.5M Fraud

    A pair of companies allegedly used in service of a fraudulent real estate investment scheme will pay over $8.4 million to end claims they were part of the $17.5 million ploy that took in more than 150 would-be investors with claims that the securities involved were "recession-proof."

  • April 22, 2024

    Miami Seaquarium Operator Fights Eviction Bid In $35M Suit

    The operator of the Miami Seaquarium is fighting an alleged attempt by Miami-Dade County to unlawfully terminate its lease, saying in a federal lawsuit it will lose $35 million from a possible eviction that occurred after the company's CEO criticized county officials in an email over the facility's condition.

  • April 22, 2024

    Seattle Property Owners Can't Use COVID To Stop $160M Tax

    A Washington appeals court said on Monday that Seattle can keep a $160 million property tax to pay for waterfront improvements, in an opinion that rejected an argument that diminished property values after COVID-19 should force the city to recalculate the tax.

  • April 22, 2024

    Feds Botched Building Contract Prices, Watchdog Reports

    Federal building overseers in the Southeast U.S. used distorted pricing for medium-term construction contracts that produced significantly inflated and unreasonably low-cost estimates, according to a government watchdog.

  • April 22, 2024

    NY Creates New Affordable Housing, Conversion Tax Breaks

    Developers in New York City could qualify for new property tax abatement programs for building affordable housing and converting office buildings into affordable housing units under the New York state budget that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hocul signed into law.

  • April 22, 2024

    Lessee Axed From NC Doctor's Quarrel With Ex-Partner

    The North Carolina Business Court has purged a defendant from an ophthalmologist's lawsuit claiming his former partner has reneged on a settlement to buy out the ophthalmologist's half of the practice, finding the defendant wasn't a party to the settlement and can't now be bound to it.

  • April 22, 2024

    Ralph Lauren Can Continue Appeal Of COVID Coverage Loss

    The Third Circuit on Monday lifted a stay that sidelined a Ralph Lauren Corp. appeal of a district judge's ruling that the fashion retailer failed to show insurable physical damage to stores from the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the case to an appellate motions panel with three similar actions.

  • April 22, 2024

    Trump, NY AG Reach Deal To OK $175M Fraud Appeal Bond

    Donald Trump's lawyers agreed Monday to bond conditions requiring the former president to give up control of his $175 million cash deposit pending appeal of a $465 million civil fraud judgment, staving off scrutiny from both the New York attorney general and the judge who entered the award.

  • April 22, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Davis Polk and Rosenberg & Estis are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period that saw properties for a variety of asset classes — including an office building — trade hands.

  • April 22, 2024

    Mo. Tax Board Says Horse Breeding Farm Is Agricultural Land

    A Missouri property used to breed and care for horses that are shown at shows should have been classified as agricultural instead of commercial, the state tax commission ruled.

  • April 22, 2024

    Latham-Led CoStar To Buy Matterport In $1.6B Deal

    Latham & Watkins LLP-advised CoStar Group said Monday it has agreed to buy 3D spacial-capture technology company Matterport at an estimated enterprise value of $1.6 billion, in a deal that will add its virtual property tour technology to CoStar's existing real estate information and analytics offerings. 

  • April 19, 2024

    Attys Wary Of 'Zero Tolerance' Approach In New PFAS Rule

    With Friday's finalization of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule designating two "forever chemicals" as hazardous, the stakes just got higher for real property due diligence work.

  • April 19, 2024

    Casino SPAC Can Return Money, Not Shares, Chancery Rules

    Stockholders in a blank-check company that failed to merge with a Philippines-based casino are entitled to a distribution from $37.5 million sitting in trust, but the company may not redeem any shares until an investor's Delaware lawsuit plays out, a Chancery Court vice chancellor said Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • 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

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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.

  • 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.

  • Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention

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    As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.