Commercial
-
April 17, 2025
Blackstone Sees 'Speed Bump' In Real Estate Recovery
Officials at investment giant Blackstone told analysts on April 17 that they expected the direct impact of tariffs on its businesses to be limited, although a wider downturn could be more troubling.
-
April 16, 2025
Real Estate Lawyers Chart Dealmaking Under Tariffs
As real estate transaction attorneys navigate uncertainty in the market, some deals are being put on ice, while elsewhere, clients are rushing to negotiate protections from price hikes or find opportunistic deals.
-
April 16, 2025
Trump Ends Clinton, Carter Policies On Fed Facility Sites
President Donald Trump rolled back two decades-old orders directing the federal government to prioritize urban areas and historic districts when choosing locations for federal facilities.
-
April 16, 2025
IBM Sues Insurers Over $900M In Environmental Expenses
IBM has taken several of its excess commercial general liability insurers to New York federal court, arguing that following IBM's coverage settlements with underlying insurers, they are now on the hook for over $900 million in environmental remediation expenses incurred under policies issued between 1961 and 1970.
-
April 16, 2025
Luxury Boutique Offices Sprout Up Around Miami
Though there have been hints of a slowdown in the Miami office market, which has seemed impervious to the economic headwinds roiling the sector nationwide, one area moving at full speed is the development of high-end boutique projects in desirable enclaves outside the city's central business district.
-
April 16, 2025
Office Demand Steady Despite Trade Policy Turbulence
Commercial broker Cushman & Wakefield said shifting U.S. trade policy didn't have a noticeable effect on demand for office space in the first quarter as the sector showed continued signs of stabilization.
-
April 16, 2025
Dems Ask GSA To Explain Federal Asset Disposal Plans
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee urged the General Services Administration to explain its moves to list federal properties for disposal, expressing concern about how the agency has identified buildings for sale.
-
April 16, 2025
Prologis Says Logistics Renters Cautious Amid Tariff Tumult
Prologis executives said on Wednesday that logistics asset leasing activity dropped 20% over the past two weeks, with many companies waiting to see how things pan out after President Donald Trump temporarily paused higher tariffs on all countries except China.
-
April 16, 2025
Exxon Urges Justices To Resolve Seized Cuba Property Claim
Exxon Mobil Corp. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize a ruling frustrating its attempts to collect damages from Cuban property confiscated decades ago, arguing the Trump and Biden administrations' opposing stances on such lawsuits present a chance for the court to settle the political debate.
-
April 16, 2025
Exelon Buys DC Office Building From Brookfield For $175M
Utilities giant Exelon Corp. has bought a Washington, D.C. office building that serves as a headquarters for one of its electricity subsidiaries from Brookfield Properties for $175 million, according to deed records.
-
April 16, 2025
Meridian Capital Promotes Legal Head To General Counsel
Meridian Capital Group announced Tuesday that its head of legal has been promoted to general counsel in a move that comes about a year after the firm came under new leadership.
-
April 16, 2025
Pryor Cashman Adds New Real Estate Partner For NYC Office
Pryor Cashman LLP announced Wednesday that it had hired Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP attorney Paul J. Proulx for the firm's real estate and land use/zoning teams in its New York City office.
-
April 15, 2025
Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit
Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act.
-
April 15, 2025
Funding Cuts Cause Q1 Hurdles For Life Sciences Real Estate
The U.S. life sciences real estate market was hit with challenges in the first quarter of 2025 due to funding cuts for the National Institutes of Health that were announced earlier this year, according to a report from real estate company Savills.
-
April 15, 2025
Chinese Real Estate Developer Hit With Involuntary Ch. 11
Three creditors of Chinese real estate developer Xinyuan Real Estate Co. Ltd. filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the company late Monday, saying it is in default on $170 million in note debt.
-
April 15, 2025
Brooklyn Office Space Seeing Leasing Surge, CBRE Reports
New York City's borough of Brooklyn went through "a surge of leasing" for office space after a total of 509,000 square feet was leased in Q1 2025, according to a CBRE report published Tuesday.
-
April 15, 2025
Brookfield Lands $1.3B From Citibank For Hudson Yards Office
Brookfield Properties secured $1.25 billion in financing from Citibank on its 16-story Five Manhattan West building in a transaction advised by Dechert LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.
-
April 15, 2025
NY Developers Land $237M Refi For Major Mixed-Use Project
The developers behind a 70-acre mixed-use development in Sleepy Hollow, New York, secured a $237 million refinancing for the project from Hudson Bay Capital, per an announcement from Walker & Dunlop which arranged the financing.
-
April 15, 2025
Top Grossing Cos. Drift Further From Remote-First Work
The largest companies in the U.S. by revenue are moving away from allowing employees to work primarily at home, including among technology businesses, which were formerly much more permissive of telework, according to a recent report.
-
April 15, 2025
Mich. Tribunal Rejects Hotel's Challenge To $10M Valuation
A hotel owned by a Hilton franchisee was valued at $10 million by the Michigan Tax Tribunal, agreeing with a local assessor and reducing a previous valuation by $2.2 million but rejecting a further reduction sought by the owner.
-
April 15, 2025
NY Panel Finds 'Lockbox' Suit Differs From Hotel Foreclosure
A split New York state appeals court has found that U.S. Bank can pursue its litigation seeking to seize a "lockbox" of rent payments for a Manhattan hotel, with one justice arguing in a dissent that the instant lawsuit improperly duplicates a related but separate foreclosure action.
-
April 15, 2025
DC Maintains, Expands Tax Exemptions For NBA, NHL Arena
The District of Columbia maintained and expanded tax breaks for the property and airspace of Capital One Arena, home to the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals, as part of legislation that became law, according to a notice published in the district's register.
-
April 15, 2025
Moye White Says It Was Evicted To Make Way For Tech Co.
Defunct law firm Moye White LLP is fighting back in Colorado state court against its Denver landlord's nearly $4 million lawsuit, alleging in counterclaims that the landlord unlawfully evicted the firm and its subtenants from a downtown office building in order to make room for a technology business.
-
April 15, 2025
Giordano Halleran Nabs Real Estate Pro For NJ Expansion
Giordano Halleran & Ciesla PC announced that the firm has added a commercial real estate transaction pro as shareholder, who is spearheading the firm's opening of an office in northern New Jersey.
-
April 14, 2025
Expedia Defends Cuban Island Bookings In Helms-Burton Trial
The former manager of Expedia's Cuba group took the stand Monday to defend the travel company's actions offering reservations for resorts on an island off the coast of Cuba that a Cuban-American man says was stolen from his family by Fidel Castro's government, telling jurors the company worked to comply with constantly changing regulations related to travel to Cuba.
Expert Analysis
-
Paths Forward For RE Buyers In Turbulent Market Conditions
Real estate borrowers are facing significant challenges in financing new acquisitions or developments amid escalating interest rates, but opportunistic debt funds may be able to help bridge through the present environment, say Jon Gallant and Jared Hodges at Knowles Gallant.
-
DC Ruling Provides Support For Builders Risk Claim Recovery
To deny coverage for builders risk claims, insurers have been increasingly relying on two arguments, both of which have been invalidated in the recent U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia decision, South Capitol Bridgebuilders v. Lexington, say Greg Podolak and Cheryl Kozdrey at Saxe Doernberger.
-
What NJ's Green Remediation Guidance Means For Cleanups
Recent guidance from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection promoting greener approaches to restoring contaminated sites demonstrates the state's commitment to sustainability and environmental justice — but could also entail more complexity, higher costs and longer remediation timelines, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.
-
Inside Bank Regulators' Community Lending Law Overhaul
The federal banking agencies' recently finalized changes to the Community Reinvestment Act not only account for the gradual shift to an environment where lending and deposit-taking are primarily conducted online, but also implement other updates such as diversity initiatives and a new series of lending tests, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
-
Sellers Seeking Best Deal Should Focus On Terms And Price
Rising interest rates and a decline in the automotive mergers and acquisitions market mean that a failed deal carries greater stakes, and sellers therefore should pursue not only the optimum price but also the optimum terms to safeguard their agreement, says Joseph Aboyoun at Fox Rothschild.
-
Illinois Trump Tower Ruling Illuminates Insurance 'Occurrence'
In Continental Casualty v. 401 North Wabash Venture, an Illinois appellate court found that Trump Tower was not entitled to insurance coverage for operating its HVAC system without a permit, helping to further define a widely litigated general liability insurance issue — what constitutes an "occurrence," say Robert Tugander and Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.
-
A Bird's Eye View Of NYC's New Parapet Inspection Law
Building owners in New York City should be ready for the city's new parapet inspection requirements going into effect in January, which will likely necessitate additional construction work for countless buildings not previously subject to formal inspections, says Benjamin Fox Tracy at Braverman Greenspun.
-
How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners
A Florida bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Vital Pharmaceuticals — which rejected the Third Circuit’s Majestic Star decision that determined a bankrupt corporation’s flow-through status was not protected by the automatic stay — may significantly affect how equity owners can mitigate the impact of flow-through structures in bankruptcy, say Eric Behl-Remijan and Natasha Hwangpo at Ropes & Gray.
-
Calif. Ruling May Open Bankruptcy Trustees To Tort Liability
In Martin v. Gladstone, a recent California appellate court decision, the application of tort concepts to bankruptcy trustees could pose a new concern for trustees and federal receivers when controlling and maintaining commercial property, says Jarrett Osborne-Revis at Buchalter.
-
Considerations For Navigating Mixed-Use Developments
As mixed-use developments continue to rise in popularity, developers considering this approach to urban planning must be aware of key considerations ranging from title and zoning laws to proper engagement with stakeholders, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.
-
1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS
After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.
-
Compliance Primer: Foreign Investment In US Real Property
The rise in foreign investment in U.S. real property, especially agricultural land, has led to increased national security concerns, meaning it’s important to understand reporting requirements under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act and state-level statutes, and to monitor legislative proposals that could create more stringent reporting and review processes, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
-
How CRE Loans Would Shift Under New Bank Capital Rules
Attorneys at MoFo discuss how commercial real estate loans would fare under federal banking agencies' proposed changes to how large banks risk-weight loans, particularly how CRE loans are weighed based on the current standardized framework versus the proposed expanded approach.