Commercial
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April 17, 2024
Okla. Lawmakers OK Use Of Images For Property Inspections
Oklahoma would allow county assessors to inspect property remotely using aerial images taken from airplanes after an initial in-person inspection under a bill passed by the state House of Representatives and headed to the governor.
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April 17, 2024
No Redo For Insurer In Hail Damage Dispute, Judge Says
A Texas federal court refused to rethink its ruling denying an insurer's early win in a hail damage coverage dispute with a textile company, saying the insurer provided no new information that could change the court's finding or establish the court's manifest error.
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April 17, 2024
99 Cents Seeks Quick Ch. 11 Auction For IP, Real Estate
Bankrupt discount retail chain 99 Cents Only hopes to sell its real estate, store leases and intellectual property by May 21 as part of its speedy Chapter 11 winding down, according to an auction procedures motion filed with the Delaware bankruptcy court.
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April 17, 2024
Porter Hedges Adds Real Estate Pro From Munsch Hardt
Porter Hedges LLP is expanding its Texas team, bringing in a Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC real estate pro as a partner in its Houston office.
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April 17, 2024
Insurer Owes No More Water Damage Coverage, Court Says
A Nationwide unit was required to pay only $5,000 to a Tennessee building's owner after water from a sewer or drain pipe backed up and overflowed within, a Tennessee federal court ruled, finding a water damage exclusion in the company's policy made a $5,000 sublimit applicable.
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April 17, 2024
Small-ish Banks Have A Big Commercial Real Estate Problem
As the market braces for commercial real estate distress, regulators are turning their attention to smaller banks and their outsize portion of loans backed by commercial real estate. Both the SEC and the FDIC have sharpened their focus on the risks.
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April 17, 2024
West LA Office Vacancy Rate Continues To Climb, Nears 25%
The office vacancy rate in West Los Angeles continued to rise in the first quarter of 2024 and is now approaching 25% as major questions remain about the future of brick-and-mortar office space needs, according to a recent report from Colliers.
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April 17, 2024
DC Office Market Leasing Sees Uptick, Colliers Says
Leasing activity in the District of Columbia's office sector increased in 2024's first quarter, despite negative net absorption of more than 450,000 square feet, according to a Colliers report.
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April 17, 2024
Proptech Profile: Jurny Builds AI Base For Short-Term Rentals
Technology is an essential part of successfully running and scaling up a short-term rental portfolio, given the decentralized nature of the business with properties spread across different locations. But to date, operators have faced a fragmented landscape of tech solutions, which can greatly frustrate their efforts.
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April 16, 2024
Trump, Insurer Defend $175M Bond In NY AG Case
Donald Trump and the Delaware insurer that agreed to post the former president's $175 million bond in his civil business fraud case told a Manhattan judge that they have the money in cash, after New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned the sufficiency of the bond.
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April 16, 2024
Virginia Judge Tosses State Broadband Law Challenge
The Association of American Railroads has lost its challenge to a Virginia federal law that gives broadband providers easier access to railroad property and that the group says constitutes illegal taking, after a judge knocked out all the suit's claims for various reasons.
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April 16, 2024
Partners Group Buys Minority Stake In Hospitality PE Firm
Partners Group has acquired a minority stake in hospitality-focused Trinity Investments that has a $500 million goal, the private equity firms announced.
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April 16, 2024
NY Outdoor Stadium Can Host Concerts During Noise Row
A century-old outdoor stadium in New York where the Beatles once played can continue operating as it battles disgruntled neighbors after a state judge denied the residents' request for a preliminary injunction because they had not shown that noise from the stadium was unreasonable.
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April 16, 2024
Feds, PPG Reach $22.8M Deal To Clean Up NJ Superfund Site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a settlement with PPG Industries Inc. on Tuesday under which the company has agreed to cough up more than $22.8 million to cover the estimated future cleanup costs and maintenance at the Riverside Industrial Park Superfund Site in Newark, New Jersey.
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April 16, 2024
Hedge Fund Asks Court To Toss REIT's Suit In Takeover Row
New York hedge fund Blackwells Capital LLC fired off the latest shot in its ongoing board takeover spat with a Texas-based hotel real estate investment trust, asking Monday for a federal judge to toss a lawsuit aimed at warding off the proxy contest.
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April 16, 2024
JLL Guides $290M Construction Loan For Dallas Tower
JLL's capital markets team lined up a four-year, floating rate $290 million construction loan for Parkside Uptown, a 30-story, 500,000-square-foot office tower under construction in Dallas, JLL announced Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
Companies Wrongly Found Insolvent, Texas Court Rules
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday reversed a decision by a lower court that named two companies partially owned by a real estate developer that filed for bankruptcy as insolvent as well, saying a state court "abused its discretion" by putting the two entities in receivership.
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April 16, 2024
Real Estate Co. Closes $84.3M Va. Industrial Property Buy
Terreno Realty Corp. bought a 357,000-square-foot Alexandria, Virginia, industrial property for $84.3 million, the industrial real estate company announced Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
NY Budget Deal Revives 421a Credit In Housing Supply Push
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said state lawmakers have agreed to the terms of a state budget reviving an expired affordable housing tax credit, backing office-to-residential conversions and taking other steps to combat New York City's housing affordability crisis.
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April 16, 2024
3 Takeaways From Urban Land Institute's Resilience Summit
Real estate professionals across the country convened in New York City last week to talk about how to navigate an inconvenient truth in real estate — that extreme weather and climate change must be factored into investments. Here are three takeaways from the conference.
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April 16, 2024
High Court Sides With Texas Landowners In Takings Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of landowners in a dispute with Texas, finding the owners can pursue their takings claim pursuant to state law but leaving open a larger Fifth Amendment takings question.
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April 15, 2024
NYC Offers 'Wholesale' Zoning Update To Boost Affordability
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and city planning officials are relying on a constellation of zoning changes that loosen parking requirements, permit more density and aid building conversions as part of a plan that could pressure state lawmakers to act on housing costs.
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April 15, 2024
JLL Closes REIT's $171M Boston Hotel Sale
Ashford Hospitality Trust completed a $171 million sale of Boston's 390-room Hilton Back Bay hotel to a joint venture of Certares Management LLC and Belcourt Capital Partners, in a deal arranged by JLL.
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April 15, 2024
Goodwin, Baker Donelson Guide MPT In $1.1B Hospital Sale
Medical Properties Trust Inc. has sold its majority stake in five Utah hospitals to a joint venture with an unnamed investment fund, in a $1.1 billion transaction advised by Goodwin Procter LLP and Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC that comes days after the real estate investment trust sold another group of hospitals for $350 million.
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April 15, 2024
New San Diego Offices Drove Q1 Vacancies, CBRE Says
CBRE said San Diego's office vacancy rate had yet to peak in the first quarter of 2024 thanks to a rash of new project deliveries, forcing a continued decrease in asking rents.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Rare Reg A+ Fines Reflect New Era Of SEC Enforcement
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.
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Factors To Consider When Structuring Data Center Contracts
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.
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Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling
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.
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Subchapter V Eligibility Ruling Raises Uncertainty For Tenants
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.
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Parsing Tax Implications Of NYC Office Leasing Transactions
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.
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Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention
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.
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NY's Take On Premises Insurance Policies: What's In A Name?
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.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shows Section 363's Magic Has Its Limits
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.
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In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development
As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Shifts In The CRE Landscape Demand Creative Loan Solutions
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.