Commercial

  • April 25, 2025

    Texas High Court Keeps Alive REIT's 'Short And Distort' Suit

    The Texas Supreme Court found that a farmland-centered real estate investment trust's suit against a Dallas-based hedge fund could continue, but in a Friday opinion it also said a bid to dismiss the suit under the state's anti-SLAPP law could proceed on the merits.

  • April 25, 2025

    Migration Agency Faces $100M EB-5 Investor Fraud Suit

    A group of Chinese investors have filed a proposed class action accusing a Washington-based migration agency and a real estate investment group manager of fraudulently raising $100 million from overseas investors pursuing permanent U.S. residence via the EB-5 program with property that has now been auctioned off.

  • April 25, 2025

    Under The Radar: Bankruptcy News You May Have Missed

    Tupperware looked for permission to end healthcare reimbursements for roughly 230 employees; Heritage Coal's owners asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to allow the company to complete a permit transfer as part of a pre-Chapter 11 sale; and Film Finance Inc., behind productions including "Everything Everywhere All At Once," sought to have its Chapter 11 case dismissed. Here are some of the bankruptcy stories you may have missed last week.

  • April 25, 2025

    Fried Frank Guides $350M Starwood Refi On FiDi Tower

    Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP advised a $350 million refinancing provided by Starwood Property Trust for Manhattan's 125 Greenwich supertall luxury condo tower.

  • April 25, 2025

    $1.1M Hail Coverage Suit Against Travelers Is Time-Barred

    An Oklahoma property owner cannot get revised coverage from two Travelers units for more than $1.1 million in claimed hail damage repairs, an Oklahoma federal court ruled, finding that after Travelers paid roughly $100,000 in coverage, the property owner filed its coverage action too late. 

  • April 25, 2025

    Pa. Justices Clarify Property Use Statuses In Condemnations

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday reversed a lower court decision that determined that two separated land parcels shouldn't be considered and valued as a single parcel that's used for a single unified purpose.

  • April 25, 2025

    Prologis, Net Lease REIT Team Up For $78M Industrial Project

    Industrial-focused real estate investment trusts Prologis Inc. and Broadstone Net Lease Inc. are working together on a $78.2 million build-to-suit distribution warehouse project for a subsidiary of automaker giant Stellantis, Broadstone announced.

  • April 25, 2025

    Fox Rothschild Hires Condo, Co-Op, HOA Adviser In NY

    Fox Rothschild LLP announced Friday that it has added an attorney with experiencing advising condominium and cooperative boards, along with homeowners' associations, to its New York real estate department.

  • April 25, 2025

    NJ Towns Challenge State Affordable Housing Framework

    A coalition of nearly two dozen New Jersey municipalities has filed suit against state officials, arguing a provision of the state's affordable housing framework unfairly places all responsibility for building such housing on non-urban municipalities.

  • April 25, 2025

    Digital Realty Expects 'Modest' Cost Impact From Tariffs

    Digital Realty Trust will see a "very modest, less than 5% impact" on construction costs for data centers as a result of tariffs affecting its supply chain, though circumstances could be different for other developers in the digital infrastructure sector, the company's CEO said.

  • April 25, 2025

    Bradley Arant Moves Into New Office Space In Washington

    Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has moved its Washington, D.C., office to a new space in a 13-story Class A building, with JLL serving as the property manager and landlord, the law firm announced.

  • April 24, 2025

    Ex-Biscayne CEO Gets 10 Years For $130M Ponzi Scheme

    The co-founder and CEO of defunct investment advisory firm Biscayne Capital on Thursday was sentenced in New York federal court to 10 years in prison, over his admitted role in a $130 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded banks and investors in a purported luxury real estate fund.

  • April 24, 2025

    2 SPACs Join Recovering Market With $461M In New Capital

    Two special purpose acquisition companies raised $461 million combined through initial public offerings in the past two days in order to pursue mergers targeting several industries, represented by three law firms, extending an uptick in SPAC offerings despite broader market volatility.

  • April 24, 2025

    Ready Capital Sued Again Over Real Estate Loan Losses

    Ready Capital Corp. and two executives were hit with another derivatives suit alleging statements made in the back half of 2024 about the company's performance misled investors about the significance of several nonperforming commercial real estate loans.

  • April 24, 2025

    CBRE Expects Choppy 2025 With Emerging Tariff Effects

    Commercial broker CBRE on Thursday said uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policy and tariffs dampened an otherwise strong start to the year, with executives telling investors they anticipate continued volatility.

  • April 24, 2025

    Md. To Allow Counties To Negotiate Payments With Broadband

    Maryland counties will be able to negotiate payments with broadband providers instead of imposing property tax on the providers' real and personal property under bills signed by the governor.

  • April 24, 2025

    NY Youth Welfare Org Can Sell 22-Acre Property For $9M

    St. Christopher's, a youth mental-health care provider based in New York, received a bankruptcy judge's approval Thursday to close a $9 million sale of its roughly 22-acre property in Orange County, New York.

  • April 24, 2025

    Cooley Inks 20-Year Lease For New DC Office

    Cooley LLP is planning to move its Washington, D.C., office after signing a 20-year, 126,000-square-foot lease for a property owned by real estate company BXP, the firm and the company announced Thursday.

  • April 24, 2025

    Philly Firm's Real Estate Chair Brings Expansion To Nashville

    Philadelphia-based boutique corporate firm Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC is launching a new Nashville, Tennessee, office, with the firm's real estate practice group leading the expansion.

  • April 24, 2025

    Mubadala, Fortress Team Up For $1B Strategic Partnership

    Sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company and private equity firm Fortress Investment Group on Thursday announced that they were furthering their partnership with a $1 billion investment focused on credit and special situations co-investment opportunities.

  • April 24, 2025

    Resort REIT Drops Out Of The Running For NY Casino License

    Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that it won't keep pursuing one of three casino licenses up for grabs in downstate New York ahead of a June deadline for license applications, citing concerns about competition from online betting.

  • April 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Minority Farmer COVID Debt Relief Suit

    The Federal Circuit declined to revive claims by socially disadvantaged farmers who said the government owes them millions of dollars after repealing a coronavirus pandemic-era debt relief program, ruling Tuesday the farmers failed to show the government had a mutual intent to enter a binding contract.

  • April 23, 2025

    Mich. Town Beats Casino's Suit Over Rejected Racetrack Plan

    A Michigan federal judge found the state's final horse-racing casino operator jumped the gun in spending $10 million on a suburban Detroit property only to see negotiations with local officials break down, stranding the company without a physical location.

  • April 23, 2025

    Judge Says Calif. Tribes Can't Intervene In $700M Casino Row

    A District of Columbia federal judge refused on Wednesday to allow three California tribes and a company to intervene in another California tribe's suit accusing the federal government of wrongfully rescinding gambling eligibility for the tribe's $700 million casino project.

  • April 23, 2025

    US Office Demand Falling, Usage Stagnating, Yardi Says

    The demand for office space is declining in the U.S., while office leases aren't being extended and utilization rate has slowed, according to an April report from commercial real estate research firm Yardi Matrix.

Expert Analysis

  • $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Calif. Ruling Shows Limits Of Exculpatory Lease Clauses

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    A California court's recent decision in Epochal Enterprises v. LF Encinitas Properties, finding a landlord liable for failing to disclose the presence of asbestos on the subject property, underscores the limits of exculpatory clauses' ability to safeguard landlords from liability where known hazards are present, say Fawaz Bham and Javier De Luna at Hunton.

  • Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling

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    A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.

  • A Legal Playbook For Stadium Construction Agreements

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    As a new wave of construction in the professional sports arena space gets underway, owners must carefully consider the unique considerations and risks associated with these large-scale projects and draft agreements accordingly, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face

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    Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.

  • How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations

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    Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule

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    Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.

  • New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks

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    Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • DC's Housing Tax Break Proposal: What's In It, What's Missing

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    Proposed Washington, D.C., rules implementing the Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement program — for commercial property owners who convert properties into residential housing — thoroughly explain the process for submitting an application, but do not provide sufficient detail regarding the actual dollar value of the abatements, says Daniel Miktus at Akerman.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: The Terms Matter

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine recent decisions from the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which offer reminders about the importance of including contract terms to address the unexpected circumstances that may interfere with performance.

  • Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE

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    As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.

  • New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures

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    A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.