Commercial

  • August 01, 2024

    Host Hotels & Resorts Buys Up NYC Hotel For $265M

    Hospitality-focused real estate investment trust Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. acquired a 234-room New York City hotel for $265 million in an all-cash transaction, the REIT announced on Aug. 1 during an earnings call for 2024's second quarter.

  • August 01, 2024

    Senate Advances Bipartisan Bill To End Hotel 'Junk' Fees

    The U.S. Senate voted to advance a bill out of committee that would crack down on "junk fees," or hidden fees tacked on to hotel or short-term rental bookings, an idea that has drawn bipartisan support.

  • August 01, 2024

    VICI Passes On Caesars Indianapolis Racino

    VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on gaming and resorts real estate, said  Aug. 1 in a call with analysts that it would not pursue a deal to purchase an Indianapolis racino and said it is well-prepared for potential mergers and acquisitions of its casino operators.

  • August 01, 2024

    Bahamas Resort Developer Seeks $1.5B In Builder Fraud Trial

    Counsel for the now-defunct developer of the Bahamian luxury resort Baha Mar opened a bench trial in New York state court Thursday arguing the company lost more than $1.5 billion because of a Chinese state-owned construction firm's "lies, competing agendas and broken promises."

  • August 01, 2024

    Real Estate Lawyers On The Move

    Honigman and Gordon Rees are among the firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.

  • August 01, 2024

    Office REIT To Liquidate After Facing Investor Pressure

    The president of Equity Commonwealth announced that the company will sell its four remaining office properties and wind down operations, after the real estate investment trust faced multiple calls to liquidate by activist stockholders.

  • August 01, 2024

    Investor Hits Arbor Realty With Securities Fraud Claims

    An investor accused real estate investment trust Arbor Realty Trust Inc. in New York federal court of misleading its investors about how the REIT was doing financially.

  • August 01, 2024

    3 Firms Advise JV To Build Downtown Denver Data Center

    Infrastructure investment firm Stonepeak said it has reached an agreement with American Tower affiliate CoreSite to build a $250 million multiphase data center in downtown Denver, Colorado, in a deal advised by Sidley Austin LLP, Sullivan & Worcester LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

  • July 31, 2024

    Top California Real Estate News In 2024 So Far

    Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of California so far this year, from homeless policy shifts and rent algorithm disputes to a $5 billion mixed-use project and a shareholder activist campaign.

  • July 31, 2024

    Steward Health Care Gets OK To Close 2 Mass. Hospitals

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday approved the closure of two Massachusetts hospitals owned by Steward Health Care after the debtor said that it was unable to find buyers for them.

  • July 31, 2024

    Separate Easement Contribution Docs Critical, IRS Atty Says

    Conservation easement donors must always keep separate documents from their donees that acknowledge the gifted property to qualify for a charitable tax deduction in the event the IRS requests such information during an audit, according to an agency counsel Wednesday.

  • July 31, 2024

    Public Storage Sees Declining Move-In Rents Abate In Q2

    Public Storage is continuing to see a slump in incoming rent from tenants moving into new storage units compared to last year, though the losses are decreasing quarter-over-quarter, according to executives in a Wednesday earnings call.

  • July 31, 2024

    Bank Of America Expects Easing Of Office Loan Losses In '24

    Bank of America said it saw losses on its office loans slow down in the second quarter and predicted fewer write-offs in the second half of 2024 in announcing earnings recently.

  • July 31, 2024

    Calif. Real Estate Pros Expect More Distress, Fewer Projects

    A majority of surveyed California real estate professionals foresee rising distress levels and a significant decline in new developments in the coming years, according to a new report.

  • July 31, 2024

    Minn. Tax Court Agrees Parking Lot's Value Is $4M, Not $10M

    A Minneapolis parking lot would be best valued as a buy-and-hold investment property and thus its assessed value should be lowered from $10.3 million to $3.9 million, the Minnesota Tax Court said.

  • July 31, 2024

    Minn. Shopping Center's $97M Value Upheld By State Justices

    A Minnesota shopping center was correctly valued for tax purposes at nearly $97 million, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, rejecting the property owner's argument that the valuation should consider a calculation of effective rent instead of market rent.

  • July 31, 2024

    Fox Rothschild Faces Malpractice Suit Over Land Row

    Two siblings have brought legal malpractice claims against Fox Rothschild LLP and a firm partner in New Jersey state court, accusing the lawyer of bungling a 1984 property deed and a 1993 trust belonging to their stepfather.

  • July 31, 2024

    Public Interest Firm Adds K&L Gates Ex-Partner As Managing Atty

    The Fairness Center, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based nonprofit legal services organization representing public-sector union employees against union officials, has expanded its leadership team this week by adding a former K&L Gates partner as a managing attorney.

  • July 31, 2024

    Ohio Tax Board Says Two McDonald's Properties Overvalued

    Two Ohio McDonald's restaurants were overvalued by the Lorain County Board of Revision, the state tax appeals board ruled, agreeing with the company's appraisal taking into consideration comparable properties.

  • July 31, 2024

    Rising Star: Kirkland's James Clark

    James Clark of Kirkland & Ellis LLP has for years worked on one of the world's largest development and infrastructure projects — a Herculean undertaking in Saudi Arabia — and in the process has earned a spot among the construction law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 31, 2024

    Rising Star: Fried Frank's Julianne Befeler

    Julianne Befeler of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP has been a key adviser on complex commercial real estate transactions for heavy hitters including Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Properties and Blackstone Inc., earning her a spot among the real estate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 31, 2024

    Rising Star: Simpson Thacher's Sam Rudik

    Sam Rudik, a recently promoted partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, guided Blackstone on several billion-dollar transactions over the past three years, including a handful of major development deals and acquisitions involving data centers, landing him a spot among real estate attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 30, 2024

    4th Circ. Refuses To Certify Class Of Golf Course Investors

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday declined to reverse a lower court order denying class certification to a group of Chinese investors who allege their money was used to purchase several golf courses, ruling they are not similar enough to make certification proper.

  • July 30, 2024

    Fla. County Board OKs Funding For $1.3B MLB Stadium

    A Florida county's commissioners on Tuesday approved $312.5 million in funding to go toward a new, $1.3 billion stadium for MLB's Tampa Bay Rays team.

  • July 30, 2024

    Ex-HFZ Capital Chief Can't Reduce Bail In $86M Fraud Case

    A Manhattan judge on Tuesday denied, for now, a request by the former head of troubled real estate firm HFZ Capital Group to lower a hefty bail requirement so he can get out of Rikers Island while fighting $86 million theft and tax fraud charges.

Expert Analysis

  • Keys To Navigating The Post-Pandemic CRE Market

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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.

  • Pickleball Makes Waves In Fla. Real Estate, With Risks In Play

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    Pickleball's burgeoning popularity in Florida is catalyzing a transformation in the state's commercial real estate market, but investors must take steps to navigate legal challenges related to noise, insurance and community dynamics, says Emmanuelle Litvinov at DarrowEverett.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • What Calif. Pot Permit Ruling Means For Enviro Compliance

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    While a California appeals court's recent decision in Lucas v. City of Pomona affirms the city's use of a statutory exemption for its commercial cannabis overlay permit program, the ruling does not mean that all applicants seeking similar approvals are exempted from state environmental compliance obligations, say Whitney Hodges and Barbara Machado at Sheppard Mullin.