Commercial

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • April 01, 2024

    Staten Island Firm Must Face Hostile Work Environment Claim

    A New York federal judge has partially dismissed an employment discrimination suit against a State Island law firm, nixing discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a Black former office manager while allowing claims over the firm's allegedly hostile work environment to proceed to trial.

  • April 01, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Kriss & Feuerstein and Goldberg Weprin are among the law firms that worked on the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, a period that included a pair of transactions for residential units at a Manhattan Fifth Avenue condo tower.

  • April 01, 2024

    Ore. Tax Court Upholds Nursing Home's $10.6M Valuation

    The owner of an Oregon nursing home did not present enough evidence to change the $10.6 million valuation found by a local assessor, the state tax court said.

  • April 01, 2024

    High Court Won't Hear Mass. Residents' Tribal Land Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition by a group of Massachusetts residents seeking to reverse a ruling that allowed the Department of the Interior to take 321 acres into trust for the development of a billion-dollar tribal hotel and casino.

  • March 29, 2024

    Weed Investors' Money Shift Cost Co. Millions, Suit Says

    A Michigan entrepreneur has hit his ex-partner with a $5 million lawsuit, accusing him of wrecking plans to buy a 10-acre marijuana grow facility near Ann Arbor by poaching the lead investors so he could fund his own Colorado cultivation.

  • March 29, 2024

    Greenberg Traurig Reps MTA In Grand Central Restaurant Deal

    New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority signed restaurant Tracks Raw Bar and Grill to a 10-year lease at the MTA's Grand Central Madison in a deal in which the MTA was represented by Greenberg Traurig LLP, the firm announced.

Expert Analysis

  • Best Practices For Lenders To Limit Recourse Liability

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    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.

  • The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney

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    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.

  • Rising Interest Rates Bring Risk For Construction Contractors

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    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.

  • Keys To Navigating The Post-Pandemic CRE Market

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As the commercial real estate market continues to face repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers should use office occupancy and leasing volume numbers to anticipate future trends and help guide clients through an uncertain landscape, says Joseph Calvanico at J2C Valuations.

  • To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation

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    Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.

  • How Rate Exportation Is Shifting Amid Regulatory Trends

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    All banks and their partners, including fintechs, that wish to lend to borrowers in multiple states and charge uniform interest rates should heed regulatory developments across the country and determine how best to mitigate risks in their efforts to offer credit to consumers on a nationwide basis, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks

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    The continuing underperformance of the U.S. commercial real estate market has significant implications for the financial performance and disclosure requirements for various banks, especially regional ones with large debt exposures, say Atanu Saha and Yong Xu at StoneTurn.

  • Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts

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    As material price escalation clauses have remained popular in construction contracts despite an easing of recent supply chain issues, attorneys representing owners should understand key considerations for negotiating such clauses, and strategies to mitigate potential exploitation by contractors, says H. Arthur Black II at Brooks Pierce.

  • Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11

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    After years of financial trouble and the recent announcement that it has substantial doubt that it would be able to continue as a going concern, WeWork may have a bankruptcy filing in its future that would have a significant impact on landlords and other stakeholders who are owed money by the company, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

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    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing

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    While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.

  • Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals

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    The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.