Commercial
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January 30, 2025
Trump Tariffs Could Raise LA Fire Insurance Recovery Costs
Large new tariffs under the second Trump administration could increase the cost of recovery efforts in Los Angeles for a series of major fires that are already expected to come with record-setting expenses for the insurance industry, according to experts.
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January 30, 2025
Historic Soda Co. Says Ex-Officer's Lease Suit Is 'Revenge'
Foxon Park Beverages Inc., a century-old soft drink maker in Connecticut, has asked a state court judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it entered into an unfair lease agreement with another company owned by the same family, arguing that the entities' former president brought it for an improper purpose.
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January 30, 2025
Agency In NJ Town Loses Retrial Bid In $26M Land-Taking Fight
A New Jersey federal judge has denied a redevelopment agency's bid for a new trial in a land-taking battle after a jury determined it should pay $25.6 million for a 22-acre former Michelin Tire & Rubber Co. factory, ruling that it failed to meet the high bar set to overturn a verdict.
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January 30, 2025
Fla. Board OKs $450M Plan To Build Acute Care Hospital
A Florida hospital board gave the green light for a $450 million plan to build a six-story, "hurricane-hardened" acute care hospital in North Port, Florida, that's expected to start operating in fall 2028, the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System announced.
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January 30, 2025
Croatia Fends Off 2nd Claim Over Luxury Golf Resort
Croatia has prevailed in a second claim initiated by an Israeli investor in a proposed development of luxury villas, hotels and golf courses after an international tribunal ruled Wednesday that the case repeated previously rejected claims, the country's counsel said.
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January 30, 2025
Crypto Cos. Seek $6.3M From Travelers Over Building Fire
A pair of cryptocurrency mining companies accused two Travelers units of exacerbating their fire loss, telling a Michigan federal court that they negligently allowed individuals to steal their mining machines and hired a debris removal contractor that caused the property to collapse, seeking more than $6.3 million in damages.
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January 30, 2025
MoFo Guides Welltower's $900M Senior Living REIT Deal
Healthcare real estate investment trust Welltower Inc. plans to acquire NorthStar Healthcare Income Inc., a senior living facility REIT, in a $900 million deal led by Morrison Foerster LLP.
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January 30, 2025
Fla. Firm's $1M Loan Dispute Returns To NJ State Court
A New Jersey federal judge has remanded a suit accusing a Florida firm and a lender of fraudulently inducing an investor to make a down payment of more than $1 million on a loan that never materialized, according to a Thursday court order.
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January 30, 2025
Blackstone Bullish On Data Center Demand As AI Evolves
Trillion-dollar asset management firm Blackstone Inc. said it had one of the best quarters in the firm's history in a call with analysts on Thursday, and although real estate was not a bright spot, the firm touted its private credit business and data center demand despite competing Chinese artificial intelligence.
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January 30, 2025
Gov't Urges High Court To OK 2nd 'Buffalo Billion' Trial
The federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear the way for a second trial in a public corruption case tied to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" development initiative, saying prosecutors should be allowed to pursue charges under a different theory after the justices undid the original convictions.
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January 29, 2025
Experts Expect Tweaks, Not Teardown, For Renewable Credits
A Trump administration order to pause "green new deal" programs shouldn't halt tax credits for renewable power overnight, legal experts say, even if those programs and others within the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act could face fresh scrutiny.
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January 29, 2025
SEC Says PE Firm Defrauded Investors In $1B Fund
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued a private equity firm in Florida federal court Wednesday, alleging that it defrauded investors in a $1 billion fund by, among other things, falsely promising to segregate their assets and by transferring tens of millions of dollars into bank accounts held by the fund's leading executives.
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January 29, 2025
$17M Punitive Award Reversed In Miami Hotel's Noise Suit
A Florida state appeals court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against the owner of two Miami Beach hotels for committing fraud on the court in a commercial landlord-tenant dispute, but the court threw out a $17.4 million punitive damages award and ordered a new trial on that issue.
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January 29, 2025
Senate Banking Committee Forms NFIP Working Group
With the National Flood Insurance Program's authorization set to expire in March, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking has formed a working group to reform the program and work toward long-term reauthorization, a press release from committee chairman and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott said.
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January 29, 2025
Momentary Funding Freeze Gives Brownfields Pause
President Donald Trump's turbulent 48-hour federal funding freeze sent ripples through the brownfields industry, with developers — who often rely on the federal government as a major funding partner — unsure of the future feasibility of their projects.
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January 29, 2025
NYC Seeks Bids For 'Ambitious' Manhattan Redevelopment
New York City is seeking bids to redevelop the 66,000-square-foot Gansevoort Square area in Manhattan, and bidders have until April 30 to make their pitches, the mayor's office announced Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
Polsinelli Guides $135M Loan Deal For Ex-Pfizer NYC HQ
Northwind Group, guided by Polsinelli PC, loaned $135 million for a 33-story midtown Manhattan office tower that used to be part of Pfizer's New York City headquarters and will be converted into a residential property, the real estate private equity firm announced Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
Cooper Union Prevails In Dispute Over Chrysler Building
Cooper Union's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus does not amount to a breach of contract with the ground leaseholder of the Chrysler Building, which is owned by the university, despite allegations that the college's actions led subtenants to bail, a New York state court judge found Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
Historic Texas Hotel Nets $79M Construction Loan
The developer of El Tropicano Hotel has closed a $79 million construction loan as it works on overhauling the historic San Antonio, Texas, landmark.
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January 29, 2025
Real Estate Group Of The Year: DLA Piper
The real estate team at DLA Piper over the past year has shepherded deals on matters ranging from massive, billion-dollar data centers to inner city mixed-use projects and what's been widely reported as the largest private real estate development in the United States, securing a place among the 2024 Law360 Real Estate Groups of the Year.
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January 29, 2025
Construction Group Of The Year: Nossaman
Nossaman LLP's work on major projects like the $4.9 billion automated people mover system in Los Angeles International Airport and the $600 million modernization of Interstate 75 in Michigan scored the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Construction Groups of the Year.
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January 29, 2025
Katten Real Estate Leaders Suggest Prenegotiated Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy protection is usually a last resort for commercial real estate borrowers. But for a large distressed asset in a high-tax district, a prepackaged bankruptcy is a no-brainer, according to Katten partners Scott M. Vetri and Timothy G. Little. Here's how it would work.
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January 29, 2025
Swift Policy Shifts Make Adaptability Crucial In Real Estate
Few professionals understand the relentless pace of change quite like real estate attorneys do, and navigating the shifting sands of policy is becoming an all too familiar challenge where the only constant seems to be the need for constant adaptation.
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January 28, 2025
End To Third-Party Standing May Affect Ga. Civil Rights Suits
The Supreme Court of Georgia on Tuesday shut down a landowner's bid to sue her county on behalf of the would-be buyer of her property, declaring that Peach State courts will no longer recognize third-party standing as a means for plaintiffs to get in the courthouse's doors in a ruling experts say could have a wide effect on future civil rights cases.
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January 28, 2025
Judge OKs Refiling Of Suit Over $20M Austin Nightclub Deal
A Texas federal judge granted a bid to dismiss a suit claiming a title company handed over $3 million to a fraudster, saying Tuesday that she would allow the plaintiff to rework its complaint to show the defendants were indeed more heavily tied to the sham than the current complaint contended.
Expert Analysis
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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The Clock Is Ticking For Fla. Construction Defect Claims
Ahead of the fast-approaching July 1 deadline for filing construction defect claims in Florida, Sean Ravenel at Foran Glennon discusses how the state's new statute of repose has changed the timeline, and highlights several related issues that property owners should be aware of.
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It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills
After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms
As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.
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How Real Estate Cos. Can Protect Their IP In The Metaverse
The rise of virtual and augmented reality creates new intellectual property challenges and opportunities for real estate owners, but certain steps, including conducting a diligence investigation to develop an understanding of current obligations, can help companies mitigate IP issues in the metaverse, says George Pavlik at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
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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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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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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.