Commercial
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April 03, 2024
5 Hotel Cos. Defeat Trafficking Claims, 2 Others Settle
An Ohio federal judge gave five hospitality companies early wins against a sex trafficking survivor's liability claims and dismissed two others following undisclosed settlement agreements, bringing an end to the survivor's suit alleging the companies should have seen warning signs and prevented what happened to her.
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April 03, 2024
Forchelli Appoints Environmental Practice Chair
Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP has announced the hiring of a partner with experience in organizations such as Miller Environmental Group Inc. and New York American Water to chair its environmental practice group.
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April 03, 2024
Hotels Eye Conversions, M&A As Construction Slows
Hotel operators are seeking growth through brand conversions and mergers and acquisitions as hospitality construction activity stagnates worldwide, JLL reported.
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April 03, 2024
RE Funds Lost Money For First Time Since '08, McKinsey Says
The real estate industry brought investors negative returns in 2023 for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, according to a year-end report from consultant McKinsey.
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April 03, 2024
Skanska Inks $1.4B Contract To Replace Seattle Bridge
Skanska and Washington's Department of Transportation closed a $1.4 billion bridge replacement contract that aims to update Seattle's Portage Bay Bridge so that it's up to "current seismic resiliency standards," the construction and development company announced.
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April 03, 2024
CBRE Economist Projects Real Estate Uptick For 2024
After largely retreating to the sidelines during the past couple of years of economic challenges, it is time for real estate players to step back on the field and take some risks — if cautiously — in light of the current economic outlook and solid industry fundamentals, CBRE Group Inc.'s global chief economist suggested Wednesday.
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April 03, 2024
Real Estate Lawyers On The Move
Goodwin Procter, Akin Gump and Dykema Gossett are among the law firms that have made recent real estate hires.
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April 03, 2024
Lawmakers Rail Against Amtrak's Union Station Takeover Bid
In a letter made public Tuesday, lawmakers raised concerns to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about Amtrak's pending bid to take control of Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, which, if successful, could upend eminent domain precedent.
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April 03, 2024
As EVs Catch On, Chargers May Be New Real Estate Standard
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure isn't yet a prerequisite for a successful real estate development, but experts say it's speeding toward becoming as standard as Wi-Fi or ATMs, even in an environment of rapid-fire regulatory and technology change.
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April 03, 2024
Winston Real Estate Leader Eyes Uptick In Deal Volume
In anticipation of multiple interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve later this year, commercial real estate deal flow is likely to pick up in the near term, Winston & Strawn LLP's real estate leader told Law360 in an interview.
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April 03, 2024
2024 Proxy Fight Preview: Hotel Operator, Shops, Offices
Every spring ushers in a new season of proxy fights between activist investors and boards of directors, and a handful of commercial property companies are in the midst of battles with dissatisfied shareholders, while the industry at large continues to face economic stressors.
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April 02, 2024
Lenders Notch Win In Tilting Manhattan Condo Loan Suit
A New York appellate court on Tuesday dropped an Israeli bank and several claims from a thorny loan dispute brought by the developers behind a slanted, half-built Manhattan tower, months after a trial court judge greenlit the lenders' request to foreclose on the property.
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April 02, 2024
NY Appeals Court Nixes Sanctions In $195M Mezzanine Loan Row
A New York state appeals court unanimously reversed $50,000 in sanctions against Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP on Tuesday in a dispute involving a $195 million mezzanine loan, ruling that the law firm's conduct during the suit wasn't frivolous under state law.
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April 02, 2024
Detroit Office Market Improving Somewhat In 2024, CBRE Says
Detroit's office market showed some good signs in 2024's first quarter, with the city seeing nearly 50,000 square feet of positive net absorption and the downtown area showing positive net absorption for the first time since 2023's second quarter, according to a new report on Tuesday.
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April 02, 2024
McGuireWoods Guides $414M Loan Deal For Brooklyn Tower
McGuireWoods LLP guided a mortgage loan deal in which an affiliate of real estate company The Brodsky Organization LLC borrowed $414.8 million from M&T Realty Capital Corp. for a 51-story, 858-unit Brooklyn residential tower, according to official property records.
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April 02, 2024
Berkeley Nixes Natural Gas Ban, But Shift To Electric Rolls On
The city of Berkeley has agreed to unwind a ban on natural gas infrastructure in new construction under a deal with the California Restaurant Association, possibly foreshadowing a shift away from such bans and toward new incentive structures for electrification, attorneys say.
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April 02, 2024
Cemetery Owner Can't Sell Unused Land, NC Panel Rules
The operator of two North Carolina cemeteries couldn't convince the state Court of Appeals to let her section off unused land for a potential sale, with a three-judge panel ruling Tuesday state law forbids her from transferring the property even if remains are not interred.
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April 02, 2024
King & Spalding Lands 3 Kasowitz Partners For Biz Litigation
King & Spalding LLP announced Tuesday that it had hired three partners for its business litigation practice from Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, including the co-chair of Kasowitz's real estate litigation practice group.
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April 02, 2024
La. Property Owners, Insurers To Arbitrate Hurricane Claims
A Hurricane Ida damage coverage dispute between seven New Orleans-area property owners and their insurers will be stayed pending arbitration, a Louisiana federal judge ruled, agreeing with the insurers that the policy's arbitration agreement is enforceable under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
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April 02, 2024
NY Pot Biz Says Store Placement Rules Unconstitutional
A marijuana company is suing the New York State Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management, along with others, alleging rules restricting how close dispensaries can be to one another are too vague.
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April 02, 2024
WeWork Drops 150 Leases To Cut Rent Costs By $8B In Ch. 11
Coworking company WeWork has agreed to exit 150 leases and restructure others to reduce its future rent payments by some $8 billion, saying the "significant milestone" paves the way for it to exit Chapter 11 by the end of May.
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April 01, 2024
Trump Posts $175M Bond, Pausing $465M Fraud Judgment
Donald Trump on Monday posted a $175 million bond, ducking, for now, enforcement of a nearly $465 million civil fraud judgment against him and his businesses in the New York attorney general's case accusing them of defrauding banks and insurers.
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April 01, 2024
Health System Says $1B In Losses Dooms Beth Israel Hospital
Mount Sinai Health System Inc. told a New York state court to let it go forward with its plans to shut down Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, arguing that it reached its decision to close the Manhattan hospital "after a decade of mounting losses at MSBI amounting to over $1 billion."
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April 01, 2024
Baltimore Office Sector's Tenancy Decline Continues In Q1
Baltimore's embattled office market saw occupancy rates dip for the fifth consecutive quarter, during which leasing activity was driven largely by government office lease renewals, per a report from CBRE.
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April 01, 2024
Justices Won't Review Mortgage Vehicles' Tax Break
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case from a group of whistleblowers who pressed for an Internal Revenue Service review of tax-exempt status for real estate mortgage investment conduits.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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A Smoother Process For CRE Receiverships In Conn.
A newly effective Connecticut law concerning distressed commercial real estate provides a number of opportunities and strategic considerations for creditors, and should be watched even by counsel in other states as adoption of the law could become more widespread, say John Loughnane and Steven Coury at White and Williams.
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What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief
Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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CRE Guidance Helps Lenders Work With Struggling Borrowers
In recognition of growing troubles with commercial real estate loans, four federal regulators' recently updated loan accommodations guidance provides a helpful framework for approaching loan workouts without the punitive results of adverse classifications, say Jaclyn Grodin and Muryum Khalid at Goulston & Storrs.
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NYC Cannabis Landlord Accountability Law Has Limitations
A recently passed bill in New York City, aiming to crack down on the illegal cannabis market by levying fines against landlords who knowingly lease to unlicensed sellers, contains loopholes that may potentially limit the bill’s impact and lead to unintended consequences, say attorneys at Falcon Rappaport.
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When Investment Banks Can Sell Real Estate In Calif.
When investment banks sell businesses that own property in California, they may run into trouble if they are not licensed real estate brokers, unless the property is merely incidental to the deal at hand, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market
Variable rate loans, which were an advantageous borrowing method prior to the recent Federal Reserve rate hikes and subsequent volatility, are now the difference between borrowers remaining current on their obligations and defaulting due to the sharply increasing debt service requirements of their loans, say attorneys at Cassin & Cassin.
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Parsing FTC's Intercontinental-Black Knight Merger Challenge
The Federal Trade Commission's recent Article III case challenging a merger between Intercontinental Exchange and Black Knight suggests the agency is using a structuralist approach to evaluate the merger's potential anti-competitive harm, says David Evans at Kelley Drye.
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Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.