Real EstateRSS

  • February 23, 2012

    Solow Ordered To Pay Citibank $100M Over Project Loan

    A New York appeals court on Thursday upheld a nearly $100 million judgment against real estate mogul Sheldon Solow over loans that weren't fully repaid to Citibank NA for a development project on Manhattan's East River shoreline.

  • February 23, 2012

    Q&A With Jeffer Mangels' Seth Weissman

    There is no question that borrowers and guarantors need adequate protection from unscrupulous lenders — but the law should not work as a bar on legitimate, trustworthy lenders exercising their negotiated remedies in a clear, efficient manner, says Seth Weissman, a partner with Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP specializing in real estate transactions.

  • February 23, 2012

    Clock Runs Out For Brookstreet CEO In SEC Fraud Suit

    Citing a "pattern of delay" by Brookstreet Securities Corp. and CEO Stanley C. Brooks, a California federal judge granted summary judgment to securities regulators Wednesday, telling them to tee up maximum penalties against the defendants for selling $300 million in toxic collateralized mortgage obligations.

  • February 22, 2012

    Judge Greenlights Real Estate Finance Co.'s Ch. 11 Plan

    A Colorado bankruptcy judge on Wednesday confirmed real estate finance company Merchants Mortgage & Trust Corp. LLC's Chapter 11 plan to restructure its business and continue working with a private equity partner, after no creditors objected to the plan.

  • February 22, 2012

    Hartz Mountain, Roseland Team Up On $450M Housing Complex

    Developers Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. and Roseland Property Co. plan to build a $450 million, 1,000-unit residential complex in Jersey City, N.J.'s waterfront district, provided the state revives a development tax credit program that recently stopped taking new applications, the companies said Wednesday.

  • February 22, 2012

    Peterson Buys Stake In Stalled $320M Md. Center

    Developer The Peterson Cos. has bought into a $320 million project in Bethesda, Md., that has been stalled for a decade and proposes more than 1 million square feet of residential, office, hotel and retail space, the company announced Wednesday.

  • February 22, 2012

    Bill Would Spur Lenders To Speed Up Short Sales

    A bipartisan trio of U.S. Senate lawmakers last week introduced a bill that would require banks and other mortgage lenders to respond to prospective short sale homebuyers within 75 days, expediting the process for underwater homeowners who are struggling to unload their properties.

  • February 22, 2012

    Watchdog Chides FHFA Over $100M Fannie Legal Fees

    A federal watchdog agency on Wednesday expressed concern over mounting legal fees reaching $100 million in taxpayer money used to defend ex-Fannie Mae executives facing securities fraud allegations.

  • February 22, 2012

    Chubb Doesn't Owe Starwood $10M In Defense Costs: Atty

    An attorney for a Chubb Corp. affiliate told a New York state appeals court Wednesday that the insurer shouldn't have to pay Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s defense costs for a lawsuit stemming from construction cost overruns at a Florida hotel.

  • February 22, 2012

    Sealink Hits BofA, Citi, Others With $949M RMBS Claims

    Irish financial firm Sealink Funding Ltd. on Tuesday hit a group of big banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Citigroup Inc. with a summons claiming they misrepresented the credit ratings of $949 million worth of investments in residential mortgage-backed securities.

  • February 22, 2012

    Gibson Dunn Bags Schulte Roth Real Estate Atty For NY Office

    A veteran commercial real estate attorney formerly with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP has joined Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP as a partner in the firm's New York office, Gibson Dunn announced Wednesday.

  • February 22, 2012

    NY Loft Developers Face Claims Of Mezz Loan Default

    The developers of New York's Artisan Lofts, a 16-story condominium complex in downtown Manhattan, were hit with a lawsuit on Wednesday over allegations that they defaulted on a $16 million mezzanine loan used to help finance the conversion of the property from an office building.

  • February 22, 2012

    Q&A With Kleinberg Kaplan's Ross Yustein

    The demand for housing and office space is inherently tied to the performance of the economy, but that aspect of risk isn’t currently present in the loan rating process or the appraisal process, says Ross Yustein, chairman of Kleinberg Kaplan Wolff & Cohen PC's national real estate practice.

  • February 22, 2012

    German Bank Takes RBS To Court Over $71M In RMBS

    German bank Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg sued Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and affiliated entities in New York state court Tuesday over alleged misrepresentations connected to the securitization and sale of $71 million in residential mortgage-backed securities.

  • February 22, 2012

    GE Trust Puts 2 Chicago Office Towers Up For Sale

    A pension trust managed by GE Asset Management Inc. is looking to sell its ownership interest of more than 1.1 million square feet in two Class B office towers in downtown Chicago, the broker running the sale said Wednesday.

  • February 22, 2012

    Office REIT Seeks Unpaid Rent From LA Law Firm

    Los Angeles litigation boutique Iverson Yoakum Papiano & Hatch LLP was hit with a complaint Friday in California court alleging it owes $167,500 in unpaid rent at the downtown Los Angeles US Bank Tower.

  • February 22, 2012

    Suit Says Broker DLA Duped Elderly In $300M REIT Sales

    New York-based brokerage firm David Lerner Associates Inc. was hit with a putative class action Tuesday for allegedly misleading elderly and unsophisticated clients into buying more than $300 million worth of securities from two real estate investment trusts.

  • February 21, 2012

    8th Circ. Revives Best Buy Suit Over DDR Mall Leases

    The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that Developers Diversified Realty Corp. affiliates violated leases with Best Buy Stores LP by self-insuring part of their shopping centers' liability coverage, but said further litigation is needed to determine their exact liability.

  • February 21, 2012

    Borrowers, Quicken Spar Over RESPA Reach In High Court

    A lawyer for a potential class of mortgage borrowers urged the Supreme Court in oral arguments Tuesday to find that the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act barred Quicken Loans Inc. and other lenders from collecting unearned fees, even if they weren’t shared with another party.

  • February 21, 2012

    LA County OKs Permits For Santa Clarita Development

    The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved several zoning recommendations and conditional use permits to allow Newhall Land Development Inc. to begin the first phase of its 12,000-acre megadevelopment in Santa Clarita, Calif.