Commercial
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May 24, 2024
Lender Says Ch. 11 Triggers Payment Obligation for NYC Lofts
A lender filed suit against Rudy Gabsi, CEO of Israeli investment firm Leny Group, alleging Gabsi is on the hook for $82 million after a borrower tied to the firm thwarted a foreclosure sale involving New York City properties by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections.
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May 24, 2024
NY AG Sues Over Illegal Long Island Wetland Construction
New York prosecutors on Friday sued to force a contractor to pay nearly $600,000 and restore a Long Island wetland area the company has been using as a storage site after illegally clearing vegetation and building a parking lot more than a decade ago.
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May 24, 2024
Cell Tower Operator's Trade Secret Suit Tossed For Now
A Pennsylvania federal judge has thrown out a cell tower operator's allegations that a rival used its confidential information on pricing from landlords and made misleading statements to buy out tower leases.
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May 24, 2024
DC Circ. Says Bainbridge Can't Have Argentina's Building
The D.C. Circuit on Friday denied an appeal from Bainbridge Fund Ltd. in a property dispute with Argentina, saying the company can't take possession of the property in an effort to satisfy a $95 million judgment over defaulted bonds.
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May 24, 2024
NYC Apartment Hotel May Qualify For Tax Break, Dept. Says
A planned 150-unit apartment hotel building in New York City catering to a nearby hospital's patients and staff and to university students could be eligible for an industrial and commercial abatement program, the city Department of Finance said in a letter ruling.
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May 23, 2024
Entrepreneur Ordered To Pay $15M For Unlicensed Pot Stores
A New York state court hit a cannabis seller with a $15 million judgment Thursday after he was found to be selling marijuana without a license at seven locations inside the state, according to an announcement by the state's attorney general.
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May 23, 2024
Fla. Broker Can't Collect Fees For $54M Real Estate Deal
A real estate broker isn't owed a 1% commission on a $53.65 million deal despite introducing the eventual buyer, as the broker was not involved in the final sale, a Florida appeals court ruled.
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May 23, 2024
Ill. Justices OK $28M Tax Value Appeal Without Payment
A power company's property in Illinois was not required to pay disputed property taxes before appealing a valuation, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed Thursday, upholding a reduction in the assessment of about $28 million.
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May 23, 2024
JV Inks $48.5M Ft. Lauderdale Shopping Center Buy
BH Group, PEBB Enterprises and Related Group have snapped up a mixed-use waterfront shopping center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Harbordale neighborhood for $48.5 million through a joint venture, with plans to further develop the property.
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May 23, 2024
MoFo Guides $100M Refi At Manhattan Office Property
Morgan Stanley Bank NA and German American Capital Corp. refinanced a $100 million mortgage of the Feil Organization's Look Building, a New York City office building, in a deal guided by Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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May 23, 2024
Oakland Coliseum Sold To Black-Led Biz Group For $105M
The City of Oakland has agreed to sell its share of the Oakland Coliseum to a group of Black community, business and investment leaders for a minimum of $105 million in a deal that the city said will pave the way for affordable housing units, outdoor space and future developments.
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May 22, 2024
CBRE Calls Exec's Noncompete Right Fit In A Small World
A Texas appellate court wondered Wednesday whether a temporary injunction that seemingly bars a former CBRE executive from working in his trade anywhere in the world goes too far, and questioned the validity of the underlying noncompete agreement at the center of the legal battle.
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May 22, 2024
Ill. Justices Weigh Zurich's Right To Recover $3M Flood Loss
The Illinois Supreme Court weighed Wednesday whether Zurich American Insurance Co. can recoup $3 million from a subcontractor for water damage repair costs the insurer paid to a general contractor despite Zurich filing suit on behalf of a different insured.
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May 22, 2024
FDIC Eyes 'Weak' Office, Mall Assets In Risk Assessment
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deemed office and retail mall asset classes 2023's "weak" points among the otherwise resilient commercial real estate property types, in a Wednesday report summarizing risks facing FDIC-insured institutions.
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May 22, 2024
Real Estate Firm Buys Manhattan Retail Property For $180M
TZ Capital scooped up a luxury retail property on Madison Ave. for $180 million — nearly $100 million less than what the building last traded for, per a source familiar with the deal Wednesday — in a move that comes as midtown Manhattan's retail market sees growing deal and leasing activity.
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May 22, 2024
Chancery Keeps RedBird-Brookfield Dispute Stay In Place
A Delaware vice chancellor declined Wednesday to rule from the bench on a preliminary injunction sought by Redbird Capital Partners in a dispute over a Brookfield Infrastructure Partners claim for a $150 million escrow included in its $5.7 billion purchase of RedBird data center projects last year.
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May 22, 2024
Texas Billionaires Building $7B City After Finding Aquifer
The wealthy Walker family will put down $1.6 billion in cash over the next 30 years to build their own self-sufficient city after discovering access to an underground aquifer can provide more than enough water for the project, sitting 20 miles north of Laredo, Texas.
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May 22, 2024
Croke Fairchild Hires 2 Real Estate Attys For Chicago Office
Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC hired Penelope Campbell and Ari Krigel as partners for its real estate practice in Chicago, the firm announced.
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May 22, 2024
Sullivan & Cromwell Atty Urges Cos. To Tend To Climate Data
Public companies should not expect stakeholder concerns over climate risk to go away, even though litigation has cast a fog of uncertainty over certain disclosure rules, a Sullivan & Cromwell lawyer said Wednesday at a panel on the topic.
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May 22, 2024
Realty Firm Seeks Early Win In Law Firm's Suit Over Lease
Real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. has urged a Texas state court to grant it an early win against law firm Polunsky Beitel & Green LLP in a suit alleging that Polunsky Beitel is wrongfully going to lose its sublease for a Houston commercial office building that will now be converted into a residential building.
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May 22, 2024
Wells Fargo Wants Receivership For Hotels After $52M Default
Wells Fargo has sued American Hotel Income Properties REIT Inc. in New York federal court, claiming that the real estate investment trust's hotels should be placed into a court-ordered receivership after the REIT's affiliates defaulted on a $52.4 million loan.
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May 22, 2024
DC Empty Building Not Eligible For Tax Exemption, Court Says
The owner of a vacant building in Washington, D.C., can't claim an exemption from the district's vacant building property tax rate because the owner claimed the exemption outside the allowed two-year period, the district's highest court ruled.
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May 22, 2024
NJ Atty Faces Fla. Suspension Over Sale Of $1.6M Painting
An attorney suspended for one year in New Jersey last year for smuggling a $1.6 million painting out of his house to avoid an asset sale has agreed to a guilty plea accepting another yearlong suspension in Florida related to the scheme.
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May 22, 2024
Prologis Legal Chief To Step Down At The End Of 2024
Prologis Inc.'s chief legal officer will retire and transition to a senior adviser role starting in January, the logistics-focused real estate investment trust said Wednesday, and another member of its legal team has been tapped to fill the position.
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May 22, 2024
SC Expands Abandoned Building Credit, Adds Railroad Credit
South Carolina expanded its tax credit for the revitalization of abandoned buildings and provided an income tax credit for railroad reconstruction under a bill signed by the governor.
Healthcare REIT Nabs $800M Despite Tenant Turbulence
Medical Properties Trust Inc. announced Friday that the real estate investment trust has secured a £631 million ($804 million) financing from a group of investors led by real estate investment firm Song Capital, in a deal led by Goodwin Procter LLP and Slaughter and May.
Soured Partnership Tanks Dallas Tower Weakened By COVID
In the fourth story in a series on distressed office properties in various U.S. markets, Law360 Real Estate Authority examines how a solid office building in an otherwise strong market — Dallas' Uptown — started showing cracks from COVID-19 and controversy.
Simpson Thacher Leads Blackstone In $705M Biltmore Sale
Blackstone said Monday it has closed the sale of the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix to private equity real estate firm Henderson Park for $705 million, confirming January reports that the transaction was under contract and revealing Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Jones Day as counsel behind the deal.
Expert Analysis
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How Real Estate Cos. Can Protect Their IP In The Metaverse
The rise of virtual and augmented reality creates new intellectual property challenges and opportunities for real estate owners, but certain steps, including conducting a diligence investigation to develop an understanding of current obligations, can help companies mitigate IP issues in the metaverse, says George Pavlik at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
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Ga. Law Creates Challenges For Foreign Ownership Of Land
Under Georgia's new law limiting certain foreign possessory interests in agricultural land and land near military properties, affected foreign persons and entities will need to do significantly more work in order to ensure that their ownership remains legal, say Nellie Sullivan and Lindsey Grubbs at Holland & Knight.
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Questions Remain After Mass. Adverse Possession Case
A recent Massachusetts Land Court decision, concerning an adverse possession claim on a family company-owned property, leaves open questions about potential applicability to closely held corporations and other ownership types going forward, says Brad Hickey at DarrowEverett.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict
In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.
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Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits
In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.