Commercial
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February 18, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Cole Schotz and Seyfarth Shaw are among the law firms that picked up work on the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with commercial and residential transactions in Manhattan topping the list.
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February 18, 2025
Cadwalader Guides $1.5B Refi Of Manhattan MetLife Building
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP advised a $1.5 billion refinancing of the Irvine Co.'s MetLife Building in midtown Manhattan.
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February 18, 2025
Blackstone Affiliate Lends $189M To Storage Venture
Real estate financier Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. has provided $189 million in financing to Alterra IOS for 49 of its industrial outdoor storage sites that are located in 22 states and take up 235 acres, the industrial real estate platform announced Tuesday.
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February 18, 2025
Denver Landlord Says Defunct Moye White Owes Nearly $4M
A Denver landlord accused defunct law firm Moye White LLP in Colorado state court of owing almost $4 million after the law firm closed down in 2024.
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February 18, 2025
Simpson Thacher Guides $4B Asia-Pacific Real Estate Fund
PAG Real Assets raised $4 billion for the latest installment of a flagship real estate fund guided by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, with the alternative investment manager noting that the fund will focus on developed Asia-Pacific markets.
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February 18, 2025
Adams, Feds Ordered To Explain Dismissal Bid At Hearing
A Manhattan federal judge demanded details Tuesday and scheduled a hearing after the Justice Department asked to dismiss criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, signaling that the court would not rubber-stamp the request following allegations of a corrupt bargain and mass resignations of prosecutors in protest.
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February 18, 2025
Dechert, Paul Hastings Guide Barings' Takeover Of Artemis
Barings, advised by Dechert LLP, inked an agreement to snap up Paul Hastings LLP-led Artemis Real Estate Partners, an investment firm managing over $11 billion of assets, according to a Tuesday announcement.
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February 14, 2025
Morgan & Morgan Atty Accused Of Setting Up Rape Charges
Three men, including a real estate executive and a broker, facing sexual assault charges are asking a Florida court to force prosecutors to hand over reports by the victim's attorney at Morgan & Morgan PA, who the defendants say became part of the prosecution team and helped bring the charges.
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February 14, 2025
Maine Judge Denies Challenge To Corporate Transparency Act
A Maine federal judge upheld the Corporate Transparency Act, rejecting one of several challenges across federal courts claiming Congress lacked the power to require companies to disclose their real owners.
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February 14, 2025
Calif. Insurance Chief Backs Wildfire Mitigation, Recovery Bills
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced his support Friday for a slew of bills aimed at addressing wildfire mitigation and recovery, including measures to maximize insurance claim payouts and stabilize the state's insurer of last resort.
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February 14, 2025
Adams Case Careens Toward 'Messy' Hearing, Experts Say
The Manhattan federal judge overseeing the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is unlikely to rubber stamp a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to toss the case and may instead hold a hearing on the matter, which could get "messy" and "embarrassing," experts say.
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February 14, 2025
DOJ Files Motion To Drop Adams Case After Prosecutors Exit
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, following a flood of resignations by government lawyers who defied a top DOJ official's orders to drop the charges for political reasons.
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February 14, 2025
Akerman Brings On GC For Land Developer In Miami
Akerman LLP has expanded its real estate practice in Miami with a partner who formerly served as general counsel for the land developer of a master-planned community in South Florida.
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February 14, 2025
Developers Break Ground On New Orleans Office Project
Cypress Equities and Lauricella Land Co. announced that they have broken ground on an eight-story office tower in New Orleans' River District, adding that the project is the first Class A office building built within city limits since 1989.
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February 14, 2025
Data Center Execs See DeepSeek, Efficient AI As A Positive
Heads of two of the biggest data center companies said over the past week that the efficiencies of DeepSeek's artificial intelligence models are a boon for them and their industry, comments that come after their stock prices oscillated following news of the Chinese startup's product.
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February 14, 2025
Simpson Guides KKR On $850M-Plus Real Estate Credit Fund
Global investment giant KKR, advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, announced on Friday it had clinched its second opportunistic real estate credit fund, raising over $850 million for a dedicated strategy of investments in senior loans and real estate securities in the U.S. and Western Europe.
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February 14, 2025
What REITs Should Know About ESG Under Trump
Public companies in the real estate space should heed President Donald Trump's orders dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and think about what those directives mean for their environmental, social and corporate governance practices, a Sidley Austin LLP practice leader said.
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February 13, 2025
Calif. Fire Debris Ruling Raises LA Blaze Recovery Concerns
A California appellate court's ruling that two homeowners didn't have a covered claim for wildfire debris in their home has raised policyholder concerns that the decision could restrict coverage for Los Angeles fire victims, but some carrier lawyers say the ruling's impact could be limited to claims for lighter damage.
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February 13, 2025
Eric Adams Donor Accused Of Stealing COVID Housing Funds
A New York City hotel owner with ties to Mayor Eric Adams was among three individuals accused of scheming to steal tens of millions of dollars from a program intended to get certain incarcerated individuals out of detention centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
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February 13, 2025
Exec Cops To Conspiring To Overbill Gov't In Station Project
A former executive for a masonry contractor involved in the multimillion-dollar restoration of Philadelphia's historic 30th Street Station has admitted to a scheme that involved bribing an Amtrak employee to overcharge the federal government $2 million for the project, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said Thursday.
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February 13, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Defaulted Notes, EB-5 Investor Fraud
The North Carolina Business Court has been handed in the first half of February a receivership case involving a defaulted $17.5 million promissory note, a fraud suit by Chinese EB-5 investors and a request to depose the chief legal officer of Smithfield Foods Inc.
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February 13, 2025
Ashford Closes $580M Mortgage Loan Secured By 16 Hotels
Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust said it has secured $580 million in financing to pay off debt coming due this summer with a new loan secured by 16 properties, part of a nearly $1 billion portfolio in default after a 2018 deal.
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February 13, 2025
Profs Back Hotel Guests In 3rd Circ. Algorithmic Pricing Case
A group of academics has joined antimonopoly groups to support hotel guests accusing several Atlantic City casino hotels of using shared software to fix room rates in their Third Circuit fight to revive their suit.
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February 13, 2025
Brookfield Eyes Data Centers In Optimistic Market Outlook
Canadian asset manager Brookfield Corp. said Feb. 13 in its fourth-quarter earnings call it expects the real estate market to recover, and sees big investment opportunities at the intersection of infrastructure and renewable power for data centers.
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February 13, 2025
Buyer Seeks $3.5M Price Cut Over Bungled Conn. Mill Cleanup
A property developer has asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to lower the purchase price of a polluted industrial site in Branford from $6 million to $2.5 million, saying the seller failed to develop legitimate remediation plans and breached a settlement agreement that ended prior litigation.
Expert Analysis
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Effectual Relief Questions Linger After Section 363 Ruling
In the months since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in MOAC Mall Holdings, courts and practitioners must grapple with the issue of what effectual relief courts may grant upon an appeal of an unstayed sale order, says Monique Jewett-Brewster at Hopkins Carley.
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3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations
With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Ga. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
Legislation signed into law in the second quarter of the year in Georgia tackled a broad range of issues that will affect financial institutions, from money laundering and consumer protection to commercial financing disclosures and a lengthy cleanup of the banking and finance code, says Elizabeth Garner at Parker Hudson.
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Sackett Ruling, 'Waters' Rule Fix Won't Dry Up Wetlands Suits
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency narrowing the scope of Clean Water Act protections, the Biden administration is amending its rule defining "waters of the United States" — but the revised rule will inevitably face further court challenges, continuing the WOTUS legal saga indefinitely, say attorneys at Milbank.
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Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.
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NY, NJ Regs Give Clarity To Cannabis Investors, Ancillaries
Proposed laws and regulations in New York and New Jersey would clarify some previously murky legal waters, thus expanding the ability of investors, lenders and ancillary service providers to work with marijuana business in these states, say David Waxman and Heidi Urness at McGlinchey Stafford.
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What To Expect From High Court's Whistleblower Case
The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Murray v. UBS Securities will likely have widespread implications for the future of anti-retaliation whistleblower litigation, and could make it more difficult for would-be whistleblower-employees to succeed on anti-retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, say Ann-Elizabeth Ostrager and Diane McGimsey at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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RICO Ruling Makes US More Attractive Foreign Creditor Forum
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin, allowing a foreign plaintiff to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to enforce a foreign arbitral award, will make judgment creditors more likely to seek out U.S. courts to remedy efforts to frustrate the enforcement of international arbitration awards, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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5 Strategies For Restructuring Underperforming CRE Loans
With commercial real estate industry conditions expected to deteriorate further in the coming months, market participants should consider a number of strategies to help resolve challenged investments, ranging from financial restructurings to project phasing, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Post-Ciminelli Predictions On Right-To-Control Convictions
The recent Second Circuit filings in Binday suggest that the government will fight to preserve its right-to-control convictions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Ciminelli decision, and offer clues about key issues that will drive post-Ciminelli litigation, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Steps To Success For Senior Associates
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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A Clearer Path To Speedy Guaranty Litigation In NY Courts
Recent cases indicate that New York's Appellate Division, First Department, is shifting its stance regarding when agreements with both monetary and nonmonetary obligations qualify for expedited litigation, and highlight best practices for drafting guarantees and notes, say Joshua Kopelowitz and Bansari Sheth at Fox Rothschild.