Commercial
-
May 14, 2024
Goldman Sachs Secures $7B For Real Estate Credit Investing
Goldman Sachs Alternatives pulled in more than $7 billion in its latest credit-focused fund and related investment vehicles, as the firm goes after financing opportunities in dislocated real estate markets across the world.
-
May 14, 2024
Feds Dodge Salt Lake City's Suit Over $1B Gondola Plan
A Utah federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the federal government from a Salt Lake City lawsuit challenging federal approvals of a $1 billion plan to address traffic congestion by building the world's longest gondola.
-
May 14, 2024
Tenn. Judge Wants Default Win For Bank But No Atty Fees
A Tennessee magistrate judge recommended partially granting a default judgment win to a bank suing a Florida-based developer accused of defaulting on about $15.3 million in loans, but also suggested denying the bank attorney fees.
-
May 14, 2024
Polsinelli Grows With 2 CMBS Experts From Kilpatrick
Polsinelli PC has brought on two shareholders in Florida and North Carolina from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, bolstering the firm's real estate finance and financial services offerings, according to a Tuesday announcement.
-
May 14, 2024
London-Based Legal Recruiter Opens 1st US Shop In Miami
London-based legal recruiting firm Buchanan Law announced Tuesday that it is opening its first U.S. location and second shop overall in Miami, touting the city's status as a principal hub for the country's East Coast legal industry.
-
May 13, 2024
REIT Inks Deal To End Investors' Board Takeover Bid
Presidio Property Trust has agreed to nominate one new director to its board, ending a Zuma Capital Management-led investor group's bid to replace five of the real estate investment trust's six board members, in a deal guided by three law firms.
-
May 13, 2024
Petersen Health Receivership Deal Draws US Trustee Concern
Senior living chain Petersen Health Care Monday told a Delaware bankruptcy judge it has struck a deal to resolve the status of a number of its facilities that are in receivership, but the U.S. Trustee's Office said the deal may bend the Bankruptcy Code too far.
-
May 13, 2024
NJ Justices Hold Contract Supersedes Real Estate Wage Law
The contract a real estate agent signed deeming him an independent contractor is enough to resolve his claims of improper wage deductions, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday, saying that a state three-prong test doesn't need to apply.
-
May 13, 2024
White House Bars Real Estate Deal Near Air Force Base
President Joe Biden is ordering a recent purchaser of real estate near an Air Force base in Wyoming to sell portions of the property, based on a public tip and a finding from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that cryptocurrency mining there presents a national security risk.
-
May 13, 2024
Nursing Home Says Buyer's Lease Silence Endangers Future
An Ohio-based nursing home operator claimed Monday that its Pickaway County nursing home is in "imminent danger" because the company's owners are threatening the licensing and management of the nursing home by refusing to acknowledge terminated leases and not making the transition to a new lessee and operator.
-
May 13, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Dylan Chan Law Firm, Norris McLaughlin and Morgan Lewis are among the law firms that grabbed work on the largest New York City real estate deals to hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only three deeds above the $15 million mark become public.
-
May 13, 2024
Colliers Says Outer Boroughs Industrial Leases Jumped In Q1
Industrial leasing in New York City's outer boroughs picked up in the first quarter, with a film studio leasing in central Queens leading the way, according to an analysis from Colliers.
-
May 10, 2024
Vegas Hotels, Software Cos. Escape Price-Algorithm Suit
A Nevada federal judge has permanently tossed a proposed class action that accused two software companies and multiple hotel operators of using an algorithm software in a price-fixing scheme for hotel room prices on the Las Vegas Strip.
-
May 10, 2024
Boston's Industrial Market Seeing Vacancies Rise
The vacancy rate of metropolitan Boston's industrial sector rose to 9.8% in 2024's first quarter, which is four percentage points higher than the rate seen at the end of 2021, Colliers reported Friday.
-
May 10, 2024
Disney World's Lone Independent Resort Gets $734M Refi
JLL's hotels and hospitality group said Friday that it had arranged a $735 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan to refinance the Walt Disney Co.'s Swan & Dolphin resort, a 2,619-key property adjacent to theme parks in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
-
May 10, 2024
Activist Blasts REIT Buybacks, Hotel Sale During Proxy Fight
Activist investor Blackwells Capital LLC has sharply criticized a plan by Braemar Hotels & Resorts to sell a California hotel for $165 million and use part of the proceeds for share buybacks as Blackwells is pressuring shareholders to shake up the board of the real estate investment trust at an upcoming meeting.
-
May 10, 2024
Ex-Wife's Deal With Dallas CRE Firm Ends Kickback Claims
The former wife of Dallas commercial real estate executive Clifford Fischer has agreed to drop a federal lawsuit accusing Fischer and members of an advisory board to his company of running a scheme to pay themselves unspecified millions in illegal kickbacks for business referrals.
-
May 10, 2024
NY Judge Won't Toss Lender's Win In 3M Campus Suit
A New York federal judge refused to reconsider a lender's victory over a loan guarantor who allegedly owed payments for a $64 million loan related to 3M's now-foreclosed Austin, Texas, campus, but found the billing too high when determining attorney fees.
-
May 10, 2024
3 Takeaways From The Real Deal's New York City Forum
Industry professionals at The Real Deal's New York City Real Estate Forum this year aired a lot of grievances about housing and development policies in the Big Apple and Empire State, though panels also touched on a major problem facing lenders.
-
May 10, 2024
Simpson Thacher, Sheppard Mullin Guide $246M NYC Deal
Blackstone affiliates offloaded 21 properties surrounding New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Terreno Realty Corp. in a $246 million deal guided by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
-
May 10, 2024
3 Firms Advise On $250M Great Wolf Waterpark Financing
VICI Properties Inc. said Friday it has originated a $250 million mezzanine loan as part of $1.5 billion in financing to waterpark operator Great Wolf Resorts Inc., in a transaction advised by Hogan Lovells, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP.
-
May 09, 2024
10th Circ. Appeal May Expand Pollution Coverage In NM
The Tenth Circuit will hear oral arguments May 20 to determine whether absolute pollution exclusions doom a New Mexico property owner's quest for $120,000 in defense coverage in a case attorneys say could determine the future of such environmental coverage in the state.
-
May 09, 2024
Vinson-Led EnCap Lands $1.5B For Energy Transition Fund
Vinson & Elkins LLP advised EnCap Investments LP on a $1.5 billion fund that seeks to invest in projects meant to decarbonize the power industry, as well as in low-carbon fuels and other green ventures.
-
May 09, 2024
NY Appeals Court Says Parking Garage Is Rent-Stabilized
A New York state appeals court on May 9 upheld a housing agency's decision finding that a parking garage in a building in the Bronx borough of New York City is rent-stabilized.
-
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.
Expert Analysis
-
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
-
Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
-
$175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed
The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.
-
Calif. Ruling Shows Limits Of Exculpatory Lease Clauses
A California court's recent decision in Epochal Enterprises v. LF Encinitas Properties, finding a landlord liable for failing to disclose the presence of asbestos on the subject property, underscores the limits of exculpatory clauses' ability to safeguard landlords from liability where known hazards are present, say Fawaz Bham and Javier De Luna at Hunton.
-
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
-
Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling
A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.
-
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
-
A Legal Playbook For Stadium Construction Agreements
As a new wave of construction in the professional sports arena space gets underway, owners must carefully consider the unique considerations and risks associated with these large-scale projects and draft agreements accordingly, say attorneys at Akerman.
-
Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
-
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
-
The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
-
Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
-
How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations
Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.