Commercial
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May 09, 2024
NY Panel Backs Landlord's Win In Sonder Legionella Case
A New York appeals court on May 9 mostly upheld a New York City landlord's victory against hospitality company Sonder in a dispute over unpaid rent at a luxury Manhattan apartment building following a Legionella outbreak.
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May 09, 2024
CBRE Reports CRE Investment Decline Slowed In Q1
U.S. commercial real estate investment volume fell less quickly in the first quarter of 2024 than it did at the end of 2023, according to a CBRE report.
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May 09, 2024
TPG Lands Nearly $8B Across 3 Asia-Focused Funds
Private equity giant TPG, advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, has closed three Asia-focused funds after securing a combined total of nearly $8 billion from investors.
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May 09, 2024
Judge Mulls Twitter's Rent Intent In Colo. Eviction Fight
A Colorado state judge asked a Boulder landlord Thursday why Twitter's intent mattered when it stopped paying rent after being acquired by Elon Musk, as the landlord fights for access to records to rebut the social media company's wrongful eviction claims.
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May 09, 2024
Ore. Tax Court Drops Valuation Of Mobile Home Park
An Oregon mobile home park should be reduced in value from $2.3 million to $1.7 million because an income analysis presented by the owners reflected the property's real market value better than a local assessor's method, the state's tax court said.
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May 09, 2024
Colo. Lawmakers Approve Extended Property Tax Cuts
Colorado would extend its current temporary property tax rate reductions into 2024 and would lower tax rates for future years under legislation passed by Colorado lawmakers that could save property owners about $1 billion in its first year.
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May 09, 2024
Solar Co., Michigan Town Agree To End Zoning Dispute
A solar energy company has agreed to drop its federal lawsuit accusing a Michigan township of imposing an illegal six-month zoning moratorium against solar projects.
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May 09, 2024
Hospital REIT Sees $736M Loss After Tenant's Ch. 11 Filing
Medical Properties Trust, a healthcare real estate investment trust, lost $736 million in the first quarter of the year from the financial collapse of Steward Health Care, a major tenant, and the write-off of an international joint venture, executives said on May 9.
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May 09, 2024
Treasury's Energy Tax Credit Regs Leave Room For 'Chaining'
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has said it is prohibiting the practice known as chaining that links two new ways to monetize clean energy tax credits, but recent final rules governing the two methods left the door open to possible exceptions.
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May 09, 2024
NFL Player-Turned-Atty Can't Appeal After Contempt Deal
An appeal of a contempt-of-court order by NFL-player-turned-lawyer Walter Bernard is moot because the underlying dispute over unpaid rent has been settled and Bernard has been released from jail, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.
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May 09, 2024
GE Dropped From Louisiana Factory Contamination Suit
A Louisiana federal judge has dropped General Electric from property owners' suit alleging widespread contamination caused by a now-closed manufacturing facility, finding an earlier merger by a subsidiary did not make the company a liable successor.
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May 09, 2024
Designer, Hotelier Sued For Allegedly Duping EB-5 Investors
Chinese investors in a luxury California hotel for green cards lodged a potential class action Thursday against a prominent interior designer and her hotelier husband for allegedly duping backers into believing Marriott would manage the hotel.
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May 09, 2024
Nossaman Scores New Land Use Partner For Seattle Office
Nossaman LLP announced it has hired an attorney with experience advising and defending clients in environmental matters as a partner for its environment and land use team in the firm's Seattle office.
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May 09, 2024
DLA Piper CRE Survey Finds Optimism Despite High Rates
A DLA Piper survey of commercial real estate professionals found that more are optimistic about the market this year than they were last year, although more than half are still bearish on the industry amid persistently high interest rates.
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May 08, 2024
Water-Damaged Conn. Hotel Sues Insurer For More Coverage
A Connecticut hotel took Sompo America Insurance Co. to state court after the insurer only partially covered substantial water damage that forced the newly opened lodge's closure and purportedly offered "nonsensical" justifications for denying full coverage.
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May 08, 2024
Winstead Moves Austin Office To New Horizon Bank Site
Winstead PC has relocated to Horizon Bank's newly completed office building in downtown Austin, Texas, moving from the Frost Tower, which the firm had called home for more than two decades.
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May 08, 2024
SEC Fines Real Estate Developer Over Unregistered Offering
A real estate development company and its owner will pay $250,000 to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claims they sold investors $1.4 million in promissory notes in an unregistered offering.
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May 08, 2024
From Trophy To Dead Weight At San Francisco's 111 Sutter
Paramount Group Real Estate, a New York-based firm with an $8.4 billion portfolio of trophy assets in New York and San Francisco, isn't interested in hindsight at 111 Sutter St., the Hunter-Dulin Building.
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May 08, 2024
Brokers Lean On Other Business With Transactions Flat In Q1
Commercial real estate's big four brokers are still waiting for inflation to cool down so capital markets can rebound, despite signs in the first quarter that a recovery was underway.
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May 08, 2024
Norfolk Southern Class Counsel Talks Settlement, Legacy
With residents of East Palestine, Ohio, on the verge of a $600 million payout for the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment, plaintiffs' co-lead counsel Jayne Conroy shared some thoughts about the role property values played in the proposed settlement and what ripple effect their arguments might have in similar cases.
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May 08, 2024
Ballard Spahr Real Estate Pro Joins Hyland Levin In NJ
New Jersey regional firm Hyland Levin Shapiro LLP leveled up its real estate practice this week with the hire of a Ballard Spahr LLP attorney of more than five years, bringing significant experience in commercial real estate in and out of the law.
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May 08, 2024
Conn. Builder Drops $4.7M Stamford Pavilion Delay Suit
A Connecticut general contractor has dropped its lawsuit accusing the city of Stamford and an architecture practice of causing delays in a $4.7 million project and driving up the building company's costs as it tried to build a pavilion in a city park.
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May 08, 2024
Colo. Lawmakers OK Historic Structure Tax Credit Extension
Colorado's tax credit for rehabilitation of historic structures would be extended and apply to structures as young as 30 years old under legislation approved by the Senate and headed to the governor.
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May 08, 2024
Jones Day Hires Eversheds Construction Law Partner In NY
Jones Day has hired a former Eversheds Sutherland construction litigation partner, who is joining the firm in New York to continue his practice focused on major infrastructure projects and other construction-related work, the firm recently announced.
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May 07, 2024
Manhattan Office Leasing Grows, But Rents Don't
Though April activity in the Manhattan office sector drove year-to-date leasing up 42% compared to the prior year, average asking rents remained largely unchanged, per a report from CBRE.
Expert Analysis
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Potential WeWork Bankruptcy May Disrupt Coworking Spaces
If WeWork files for bankruptcy, as hinted at in its recent quarterly earnings report, landlords may struggle to take over management of WeWork's coworking spaces, but the coworking industry as a whole is showing some promise in adapting to the market's evolving post-pandemic office needs, says Ann Chandler at Hall Estill.
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How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth
Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.
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A Cautionary Tale Of Flawed Debt Accounting And SEC Fines
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent improper-accounting charges against Malvern Bancorp and its ex-CFO highlight crucial practice issues, including the need to objectively evaluate borrowers' credit, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Bat's Newly Endangered Status Likely To Slow Development
A recent change in the classification of the northern long-eared bat from "threatened" to "endangered" could have significant effects on development in large portions of the Eastern and Southeastern U.S. — and in the absence of straightforward guidelines, developers will have to assess each project individually, says Peter McGrath at Moore & Van Allen.
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Twitter Legal Fees Suit Offers Crash Course In Billing Ethics
X Corp.'s suit alleging that Wachtell grossly inflated its fees in the final days of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition provides a case study in how firms should protect their reputations by hewing to ethical billing practices and the high standards for professional conduct that govern attorney-client relationships, says Lourdes Fuentes at Karta Legal.
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Litigation Can Facilitate EB-5 Investor Visa Determinations
Processing times in the EB-5 investor visa program continue to rise, but filing a mandamus claim in the right venue against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may offer applicants mired in delay a means to expedite processing, says Mark Stevens at Clark Hill.
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ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act
While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Regulators Must Get Creative To Keep Groundwater Flowing
Even as populations have boomed in Sun Belt states like Arizona, California and Texas, groundwater levels have diminished due to drought and overuse — so regulators must explore options including pumping limits, groundwater replenishment and wastewater reuse to ensure future supplies for residential and commercial needs, says Jeffrey Davis at Integral Consulting.
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Law Firm Professional Development Steps To Thrive In AI Era
As generative artificial intelligence tools rapidly evolve, professional development leaders are instrumental in preparing law firms for the paradigm shifts ahead, and should consider three strategies to help empower legal talent with the skills required to succeed in an increasingly complex technological landscape, say Steve Gluckman and Anusia Gillespie at SkillBurst Interactive.
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Key Provisions In Florida's New Insurer Accountability Act
Florida's recent bipartisan Insurer Accountability Act introduces a range of new obligations for insurance companies and regulatory bodies to strengthen consumer protection, and other states may follow suit should it prove successful at ensuring a reliable insurance market, say Jan Larson and Benjamin Malings at Jenner & Block.
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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.