Commercial

  • February 11, 2025

    NY Bill Would Direct New Tax Revenue To Property Tax Cuts

    New York state would require money derived from new or increased taxes to be used to reduce local property taxes under a bill introduced in the Senate.

  • February 11, 2025

    Investor Oaktree Closes $16B Distressed Debt Fund

    Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management on Tuesday said it had closed a $16 billion distressed-debt fund aimed at providing capital to companies in a variety of industries, with Kirkland & Ellis advising. 

  • February 11, 2025

    Liquidating REIT Sells Denver Plaza For $132.5M

    Equity Commonwealth sold off its last office property, a 709,402-square-foot Denver office plaza, for $132.5 million to an unnamed buyer as it wraps up liquidation, the Chicago-based real estate investment trust announced.

  • February 11, 2025

    Colliers Expects Bumpy 2025 Recovery For Office Market

    Commercial broker Colliers said the U.S. office sector ended 2024 with signs of stability stemming from demand for top-quality space, even as falling rents at lower-tier buildings could spell an uneven recovery.

  • February 11, 2025

    NYC Mayor Says Bribery Case Is Over, Despite Silent Docket

    Amid an absence of activity on the court docket, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared Tuesday that the federal bribery case against him "will no longer continue," following reports of a U.S. Department of Justice memo directing prosecutors to drop the case.

  • February 11, 2025

    Bannon Cops To Fraud Scheme In Border Wall Case

    Donald Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, pled guilty Tuesday to a single felony fraud scheme charge in New York state court as part of a deal with Manhattan prosecutors to avoid jail time in his "We Build The Wall" charity fraud case.

  • February 10, 2025

    Calif. Ruling Holds Wildfire Debris Not A Coverable Loss

    Two California homeowners didn't have a covered claim for wildfire debris that infiltrated their home, a state appeals panel ruled, saying there was no evidence the debris caused the kind of loss or damage required for coverage.

  • February 10, 2025

    Morgan Stanley Exec Sees US Real Estate Poised For Upturn

    There is a lot of volatility and uncertainty in the world today, but a number of conditions point to the U.S. real estate market still being well-positioned to forge a recovery over the next few years, a leader of Morgan Stanley's real estate investment arm told attendees at a recent conference in Miami.

  • February 10, 2025

    Calif. Tribe Says DOI Gives It No Protection In Casino Row

    The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria told a California federal judge that the U.S. Department of the Interior filed an incomplete status report about how it will monitor another tribe's project plans for the construction of a casino, saying the report fails to protect FIGR.

  • February 10, 2025

    Ill. House Bill Seeks Study Of Eliminating Property Tax System

    Illinois would direct its Department of Revenue and the governor's Office and Management and Budget to determine the possibility of eliminating the state's property tax system and replacing the revenue with income tax receipts under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • February 10, 2025

    Simpson Thacher Brings On Registered Funds Partner In NY

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has hired a New York-based partner in its registered funds practice to focus on real estate and capital markets, the firm said Monday.

  • February 10, 2025

    Greenberg Traurig, Kirkland Guide $195M Hotel, Condo Loan

    Property owner, operator and developer GFI Capital Resources Group Inc. borrowed a $195 million mortgage loan for its downtown Manhattan hotel and condominium building in a deal guided by Greenberg Traurig LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

  • February 10, 2025

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Greenberg Traurig, McDermott Will & Emery and Pryor Cashman are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with an SL Green Realty Manhattan transaction leading the way.

  • February 10, 2025

    Latham, Hogan Lovells Advise Hyatt's $2.6B Playa Hotels Buy

    Latham & Watkins LLP guided Hyatt Hotels Corp. on a $2.6 billion acquisition announced Monday of Playa Hotels & Resorts NV — which operates resorts in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica — and worked with Hogan Lovells on the deal.

  • February 10, 2025

    Ill. Bill Seeks Income Tax Break For Child Care Property Tax

    Illinois would create an individual and corporate income tax deduction for property taxes paid by privately owned child care centers under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • February 07, 2025

    Project Foes Face Suit Over Pittsburgh Gay Bar Historic Filing

    A developer and the estate for the former owner of a landmark Pittsburgh gay bar have sued two residents of the city's Polish Hill neighborhood, claiming they moved to deem the property historic as a ploy to frustrate plans for a market-rate housing project at the site.

  • February 07, 2025

    Appellate Court OKs Trim Of Goldman Family Portfolio Battle

    A New York state appellate court affirmed a trial court's toss of several claims brought against the late Sol Goldman's real estate empire by inheritors who allege his daughter squeezed them out of the family business and manipulated an appraisal when they sought to cash out on their stake.

  • February 07, 2025

    Property Plays: KKR, Freshfields, Sonesta

    Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.

  • February 07, 2025

    Industrial REIT Says Interest Rates Dampen 2025 Outlook

    A Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. executive told investors that, while the real estate investment trust had "solid results" in the fourth quarter, high interest rates and other economic factors are poised to slow its growth in 2025.

  • February 07, 2025

    Judge Sides With Ga. Railroad In Eminent Domain Battle

    A Georgia state court judge sided Thursday with a railroad company in an eminent domain fight with residents opposing the construction of a rail spur through their property, upholding a Georgia Public Service Commission ruling that gave the green light to the condemnation.

  • February 07, 2025

    Under The Radar: Bankruptcy News You May Have Missed

    A onetime financial adviser to UpHealth is opposing the debtor's Chapter 11 plan, Hearthside Food Solutions' official committee of unsecured creditors has balked at the company's executive bonus proposal in bankruptcy, and one-time investors in defunct real estate investment firm RealtyShares willingly dismissed a suit against the firm's former directors, litigation that had outlived the firm's Chapter 7 by more than a year.

  • February 07, 2025

    Ballard Spahr Prepares Move To New Downtown Denver Office

    Ballard Spahr LLP plans to move 60 of its attorneys and other employees to a new downtown Denver office in August, having signed an 11-year lease for 19,000 square feet of space, the law firm announced Friday.

  • February 07, 2025

    Katten Real Estate Partner Joins Greenberg Traurig In Chicago

    Greenberg Traurig LLP has added former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP partner Daniel Elrod as a shareholder in its Chicago real estate practice, bringing experience advising debt funds, life insurance companies and institutional lenders on a variety of deals.

  • February 07, 2025

    Aztec Fund To Sell 3 Office Buildings To Settle Ch. 11 Dispute

    Private equity investment group Aztec Fund told a Texas bankruptcy judge Friday it will sell three office buildings and aim to liquidate through Chapter 11 to resolve a dispute over the insolvency case with Bank of America.

  • February 07, 2025

    2 RE Execs, Brother Assaulted 60 Women, Feds Say

    Three brothers from Florida, including two prominent real estate executives, denied sex-trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court Friday alleging they conspired to drug and rape women, as a prosecutor said the authorities have interviewed over 60 victims.

Expert Analysis

  • Ga. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

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    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.

  • Sackett Ruling, 'Waters' Rule Fix Won't Dry Up Wetlands Suits

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    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.

  • Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

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    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.

  • NY, NJ Regs Give Clarity To Cannabis Investors, Ancillaries

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    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.

  • What To Expect From High Court's Whistleblower Case

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    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.

  • RICO Ruling Makes US More Attractive Foreign Creditor Forum

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    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.

  • 5 Strategies For Restructuring Underperforming CRE Loans

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    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.

  • Post-Ciminelli Predictions On Right-To-Control Convictions

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    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.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    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.

  • How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse

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    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.

  • A Clearer Path To Speedy Guaranty Litigation In NY Courts

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    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.

  • LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped

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    Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.

  • High Court Ruling Provides New Avenue For Foreign Plaintiffs

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin offers a new path for foreign plaintiffs attempting to enforce arbitral awards in the U.S., but it also leaves the standard for such attempts under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act unsettled, say attorneys at Wiley.