Commercial
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May 20, 2024
Mich. Town Can't Block $2B Battery Plant, Judge Rules
A Michigan federal judge has ordered that Green Charter Township can't prevent Gotion Inc.'s upcoming battery components plant, in which the company plans on investing more than $2 billion, from moving forward.
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May 20, 2024
EPA Touts Brownfield Grants In Visit To Polluted Philly Site
Biden administration officials visited a riverfront site in Philadelphia where the city is using federal support to clean up contamination and add amenities, as they promoted $3 million in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency support to four New Jersey communities.
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May 20, 2024
Ga. Court Sends Fatal Restaurant Shooting Suit To Trial
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday said a lawsuit against an Atlanta-area restaurant and its security company over a 2016 shooting on the premises should proceed to trial.
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May 20, 2024
Wyndham Wants Out Of Pa. Hotel's Labor Trafficking Case
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts argued to a federal court Monday it could not be plausibly alleged the chain knew or could have known that its former franchisee at a New Stanton, Pennsylvania, Days Inn was exploiting laborers in a room-for-hire scheme, and so it should be dismissed from the laborers' lawsuit.
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May 20, 2024
Kirkland Steers King Street Stake Buy In Data Center Co.
King Street Capital Management LP, represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has purchased a majority ownership stake in Silicon Valley data center operator Colovore LLC, the global investment firm announced Monday.
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May 20, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Davis Polk and Zegans Law were among the firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only four deals at or above the $15 million mark.
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May 20, 2024
Latham Adds Former Chief Legal Officer Of REIT In NY
Latham & Watkins LLP announced Monday that the former chief legal officer for real estate investment trust Safehold Inc. has joined the firm's New York office as a partner in the real estate practice.
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May 20, 2024
Simpson Thacher Leads Blackstone In $705M Biltmore Sale
Blackstone said Monday it has closed the sale of the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix to private equity real estate firm Henderson Park for $705 million, confirming January reports that the transaction was under contract and revealing Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Jones Day as counsel behind the deal.
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May 17, 2024
Utah, Farm Groups Ask To Reopen Bears Ears Monument Suit
The state of Utah and two farming associations have asked a D.C. federal court to lift a more than three-year stay in a tribal case over the Bears Ears National Monument, saying the case is now moot and another monument case is pending before the Tenth Circuit.
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May 17, 2024
RedBird Flags Brookfield 'Gamesmanship' In Chancery Suit
Private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners has urged Delaware's Court of Chancery to strike unauthorized motions by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners seeking dismissal of a RedBird suit to recover a $150 million escrow included in a $5.7 billion sale of data centers to Brookfield affiliates last year.
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May 17, 2024
Ohio School Board Can't Appeal Property Value To Court
An Ohio school board is prohibited from appealing a board of revision's valuation of a property that the school board didn't own to a court of common pleas, a state appeals court ruled.
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May 17, 2024
Office Vacancies, Distress Persist In First Quarter
Vacancy rates in the U.S. office market kept rising in the first quarter, with renewing tenants taking up less space since a rise in hybrid and remote work following the pandemic, according to a Colliers report.
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May 17, 2024
Pot Co. Can Amend Complaint Or Reply To Dismissal Motion
A Michigan federal judge has given a cannabis company three weeks to either amend its complaint against a former business partner or respond to a motion to dismiss its claims that the former business partner sabotaged a project by convincing investors to put their money elsewhere.
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May 17, 2024
North Carolina County Picked For $100M Driving Resort
A local developer is pursuing plans to build a $100 million luxury resort geared around cars that will include a 3-mile driving course linking condos on a 400-acre property in Moore County, North Carolina.
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May 17, 2024
Texas Justices Side With Car Dealership In Lease Dispute
The Supreme Court of Texas reversed and remanded a landlord's win against its former car dealership tenant, ruling Friday that the dealership's $1.3 million jury verdict wasn't upended when it gave up its appeal of a separate eviction suit.
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May 17, 2024
Real Estate Software Startup Agora Nabs $34M In Series B
Real estate software company Agora has raised $34 million in Series B funding, which will help it expand more quickly and enhance its investment management software products, the company announced on Thursday.
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May 17, 2024
JPMorgan Trust Inks $48M JV For Queens Retail Center
JPMorgan Real Estate Income Trust forked over $48 million for a 95% interest in a New York City shopping center, in a joint venture with Acadia Realty Trust, the bank announced.
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May 17, 2024
Blank Rome Advises On $200M Mortgage Loan For NYC Tower
Blank Rome LLP advised on a mortgage loan deal where an entity connected to real estate company The Gotham Organization borrowed more than $200 million from Wells Fargo for a residential mixed-use tower on Manhattan's Lower East Side, according to official property records.
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May 16, 2024
Funko Beats Investor Suit Over Warehouse Move For Now
Toy company Funko Inc. on Thursday beat a proposed investor class action alleging it failed to disclose accurate information about problems relocating a distribution center and updating critical software, with a Washington federal judge saying the investors have failed to prove the company's statements were false or misleading, among other things.
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May 16, 2024
NJ Lets Some School Districts Hike Property Taxes Above Cap
New Jersey will allow school districts that experienced cuts in state school aid to request increases in local property tax levies above previously permitted amounts without voter approval under a bill signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.
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May 16, 2024
CBRE Biz's Software Liable For NY Sales Tax, Judge Rules
A facilities management business owned by CBRE is liable for New York sales tax on its bundled services, which included sales of prewritten software, an administrative law judge said in a determination released Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Oversight Hearing Adds Pressure On Calif. Insurance Chief
Under growing pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the insurance industry, California’s top insurance regulator defended its process of implementing proposals to stabilize the Golden State’s faltering homeowners insurance market.
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May 16, 2024
Ex-Execs Accuse Truist Of Hijacking Control Of Mortgage Unit
Three former executives who spearheaded the real estate finance arm of Truist Financial Corp. before they left for a competitor are countersuing the bank for allegedly usurping control of the business, saying Truist then tried forcing them out to skirt paying severance.
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May 16, 2024
NYS Conservation Dept. Regional Leader Joins Harris Beach
Harris Beach has brought a former Capital Region director for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation into its commercial real estate practice, saying Thursday that he will tap his environmental knowledge to serve entities like commercial developers, institutional lenders, corporations, partnerships and nonprofits.
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May 16, 2024
Dechert Guides $232M Loan For Manhattan Apartments
Dechert LLP advised on a deal in which a property owner borrowed a consolidated, amended and restated $232 million leasehold mortgage loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank for a Manhattan apartment building, according to official property records.
Inside Proxy Fight That (Briefly) Ousted Hotel REIT Exec.
Here, Law360 Real Estate Authority recounts the litigious proxy fight following a failed purchase offer from an activist investor questioning the relationship of two Texas real estate investment trusts, which led to the chairman and a director being ousted for a matter of hours before being reappointed.
Miami Not Immune To Office Distress, Foreclosure Bid Shows
In the third in a series of stories on distressed office properties in various U.S. markets, Law360 Real Estate Authority looks at what the struggles facing a newer office building in one of Miami's hippest neighborhoods mean for one of the nation’s strongest markets.
Property Deals See More Scrutiny As Tip Sparks Forced Sale
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is likely this year to look at additional real estate deals near government property, experts told Law360 Tuesday, a day after the White House ordered a real property divestment near a Wyoming Air Force base following national security concerns.
Expert Analysis
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Ga. Law Creates Challenges For Foreign Ownership Of Land
Under Georgia's new law limiting certain foreign possessory interests in agricultural land and land near military properties, affected foreign persons and entities will need to do significantly more work in order to ensure that their ownership remains legal, say Nellie Sullivan and Lindsey Grubbs at Holland & Knight.
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Questions Remain After Mass. Adverse Possession Case
A recent Massachusetts Land Court decision, concerning an adverse possession claim on a family company-owned property, leaves open questions about potential applicability to closely held corporations and other ownership types going forward, says Brad Hickey at DarrowEverett.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict
In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.
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Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits
In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation
A New York federal court’s recent ruling in In re: Cortlandt provides guidance on how to calculate a landlord's damages claim when a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, changing from an approach that considers the remaining rent due under the lease to one that considers the remaining time, say Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten at Loeb & Loeb.