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Real Estate
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May 20, 2013
Bankrupt Norse Holding Land Hostage, Suit Says
Dozens of New York landowners hit oil and gas producer Norse Energy USA with an adversary suit Friday, claiming the bankrupt company is holding their land hostage with expired leases while it waits for a hydraulic fracturing moratorium to lift.
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May 20, 2013
First Potomac Nets $259M In DC Industrial Portfolio Sale
First Potomac Realty Trust has entered into two separate deals to sell a 24-property industrial portfolio in the Washington, D.C., area for a total of $259 million, mostly to a Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII LP affiliate, the company announced Monday.
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May 20, 2013
$8.5B BofA Settlement Will Be Weighed By Judge, Not Jury
A New York state judge said Monday that she alone, and not a jury, will decide if Bank of America Corp. can go through with a $8.5 billion mortgage-backed securities settlement, finding that the process used doesn't require a jury.
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May 20, 2013
Wayne Newton Museum Developer Files Ch. 11 Plan
A bankrupt real estate developer that planned to turn Wayne Newton’s Las Vegas mansion into a Graceland-style museum filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan Friday which would pay all of its creditors in full, following an April settlement of litigation with the singer.
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May 20, 2013
Deals Rumor Mill: Freeport-McMoRan, Blackstone, Billabong
Executives at Freeport-McMoRan have hinted that they are revisiting their $6.9 billion bid for Plains Exploration after the target company's shareholders have been slow to support the landmark buyout, while Billabong continues to bleed value as negotiations with prospective buyers drag on.
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May 17, 2013
PokerStars' Bid To Buy Casino Sinks In NJ Court
A New Jersey judge on Friday ended PokerStars’ campaign to buy an Atlantic City casino, refusing to cement a temporary injunction preventing the casino’s owners from terminating the deal and declining to invalidate a contract written with terms unlike any the judge said he’d ever seen.
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May 17, 2013
Latham Witness Can't Claim Piece Of $10M Judgment
Latham & Watkins LLP didn't break the law when it refused to pay a portion of a $10.3 million judgment won by one of its clients in a real estate lawsuit to an auditor who testified at a deposition, since the auditor was a witness, not an expert, a California appeals court ruled Friday.
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May 17, 2013
NY Crane Rulings Affirm Building Owners' Liability Worries
Two recent court decisions clarify that New York property owners are responsible for crane safety, making projects in the state more costly and and building owners more open to liability, attorneys say.
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May 17, 2013
Fla. High Court Says City Can't Give Its Lien Superpriority
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a lower court's decision that Palm Bay, Fla., could not give its municipal code enforcement liens a superpriority status over a mortgage held by Wells Fargo Bank NA because it conflicts with state law.
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May 17, 2013
S. Korean Investor Drops $218M On Chicago Office Tower
South Korea-based real estate investor Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. entered the Chicago market Thursday with the $218 million purchase of 225 W. Wacker St., broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. said in a statement.
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May 17, 2013
Revenue-Sharing Deal Fueled Trump Condo Buys, Jury Hears
An Illinois woman suing real estate mogul Donald Trump's companies told a federal jury Friday that the revenue-sharing deal she alleges was unfairly pulled from hotel condominium buyers in Trump's luxury Chicago tower was an important factor in her decision to buy two units.
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May 17, 2013
NJ Sports Authority OKs Amusement Park Plans
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority on Friday gave key approvals for developer Triple Five Group Ltd.'s $3 billion American Dream amusement park project, though the action could reignite legal efforts by the New York Jets LLC and New York Football Giants Inc. to block the plans.
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May 17, 2013
First American Charges Excess Mortgage Fees, Class Claims
First American Title Co. was hit with a proposed class action in Texas on Friday that claims it overcharged homeowners for mortgage fees even though it knew the exact amounts to be paid to counties.
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May 17, 2013
Falcone, Execs Wrongly Forced Out Casino Co. CEO, Suit Says
Hedge funder Philip Falcone and two other executives involved in a Vietnam resort developer were hit by a lawsuit Thursday in New York state court over claims they forced out the development company's CEO through a wrongful administrative leave.
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May 17, 2013
MDM Group Buys Miami Lot For $1B Convention Center-Hotel
MDM Development Group has purchased land from the developer of the proposed Miami World Center on which it plans to build a convention center and massive Marriott hotel, a potential billion-dollar project the developer promises will “help shape the city's future.”
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May 17, 2013
No Conflict For RE Law Firm In NYC Tower Suit, Judge Says
A real estate-focused law firm can continue representing a developer in a dispute over a stalled Manhattan residential tower planned above a synagogue, a New York state judge ruled Friday, finding that any potential conflicts were too speculative.
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May 17, 2013
Rakoff Gives Dexia's $774M JPMorgan MBS Suit 2nd Life
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Friday vacated an earlier decision dismissing Dexia NV/SA's suit accusing JPMorgan Chase Bank NA of selling defective residential mortgage-backed securities, saying that a New York state court should handle the Belgian bank's $774 million claim.
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May 17, 2013
SunTrust Blocks FINRA Arbitration In MBS Row
SunTrust Banks Inc. on Friday won its bid to thwart a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration proceeding against it by Connecticut hedge fund Turnberry Capital Management LP in a dispute over soured mortgage-backed securities when a New York federal judge ruled Turnberry was not a SunTrust unit’s customer.
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May 17, 2013
Pa. Rep. Wants More Clarity In Royalty Checks To Gas Lessors
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker introduced legislation on Thursday designed to ensure that deductions taken out of royalty checks issued to landowners who lease their properties to gas drillers are clearly broken down.
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May 17, 2013
Amazon's Plan For Fla. Warehouse Hits Sales Tax Snag
Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. and Florida's Department of Revenue have failed to reach an agreement on what Amazon's sales tax collection in the state should be if it builds a warehouse facility there, state officials confirmed Friday.
Expert Analysis
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A Troubling Surprise For Construction Projects
Recently, the D.C. Circuit surprisingly overturned a decision that invalidated the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to veto a Clean Water Act “dredge and fill” permit, putting several construction projects under threat of losing permit authorization. Although the case specifically refers to a coal mining operation in West Virginia, it has serious implications beyond the coal industry and state, say attorneys with Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.
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The ABCs Of Data Center Leasing
Data centers house the computer servers and equipment that allow you to use your computer at work and stream a movie through Netflix, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With demand continuing to grow for the foreseeable future, this is one of the hottest, but least understood, real property types, says Michael Rechtin of Quarles & Brady LLP.
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Condemn Now, CEQA-Compliance Later? Maybe
Must a public project receive environmental clearance before an agency may begin acquiring property for it? In Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC v. East Bay Regional Park District, the California Court of Appeal answered no, permitting an agency to file an eminent domain action prior to complying with the California Environmental Quality Act, but the holding appears limited, say attorneys with Nossaman LLP.
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Del. Draws Line In The Sands Of Discovery
In resolving Morgans Hotel Group Co. Kalisman v. Friedman, the Delaware Court of Chancery carefully drew the line to allow discovery of communications between counsel and a special committee that the plaintiff-director was a member of, but shielded communications between counsel and a subcommittee on which the plaintiff-director did not serve, says Herbert Kozlov of Reed Smith LLP.
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Parsing The 4th Circ. Stance In Campbell V. Hanover
Almost 50 years after its Decker decision, the Fourth Circuit in Campbell v. Hanover Insurance Co. — In re ESA Environmental Specialists Inc. — has reaffirmed the vitality of the earmarking defense. The decision also allowed the Fourth Circuit to shed light on the contemporaneous exchange for new value defense, say Jason Harbour and Tara Elgie of Hunton & Williams LLP.
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3 Courts Weigh In On Faulty Workmanship Coverage
After a spate of bad decisions for policyholders on whether general liability policies can provide coverage for construction liabilities, three courts recently have done an about-face, holding that there is coverage in certain circumstances. In light of these rulings, policyholders should ensure that their policies include the "subcontractor exception" to the "your work" exclusion, says John Berringer of Reed Smith LLP.
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5 Arbitration Assumptions That Aren't Always True
Arbitration is often thought to be preferable to litigating in court, and in some circumstances, it may be. Deciding to arbitrate, however, should be the result of a careful analysis of the benefits and disadvantages. That analysis requires examining some common perceptions, say Frank Emory and Rita Davis of Hunton & Williams LLP.
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A Must-Read For 'Repo' Counterparties
Given that few courts have construed the meaning of “repurchase agreement” as used in the Bankruptcy Code, the recent case of In re Homebanc Mortgage Corp. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware is a must-read for “repo” counterparties, say attorneys with Alston & Bird LLP.
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So You Think You Have Replacement Cost Coverage ...
In light of the Illinois Appellate Court's decision in Area Erectors Inc. v. Travelers Property Casualty Co., insureds should know that just because they have a “replacement cost” policy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re entitled to recover the cost from the insurer to replace damaged property, says Neil Posner of Much Shelist PC.
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Legal Notices In Bankruptcy: To Read Or Not To Read?
Notice is an integral part of the judicial system, and unless you are made aware of a pending proceeding against you or that may alter your legal rights, no action taken should affect you. However, the converse is also true — if you receive notice, almost any action can be taken against you, says Jeffrey Gansberg of Much Shelist PC.