Commercial

  • August 06, 2024

    Judge OKs Foreclosure, Sale Of Midtown Manhattan Buildings

    A New York state judge awarded Wilmington Trust with more than $140 million while approving the foreclosure and sale of two midtown Manhattan properties at the center of the trustee's suit over a default $105 million loan.

  • August 06, 2024

    Conn. AG Says Utility Misconstrued Power Plant Cleanup Deal

    The Connecticut Attorney General's Office has told a state court that The United Illuminating Co., now part of Avangrid Inc., raised inapplicable defenses to an environmental cleanup lawsuit by misconstruing an earlier consent decree as a "contract" the government could breach as the utility remediated an abandoned New Haven power plant.

  • August 06, 2024

    Hotel's Ch. 11 Plan Nixes San Jose Tax Claim, Judge Says

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday ordered the city of San Jose, California, to dismiss a state court action seeking the payment of taxes and other obligations by the former operator of a luxury hotel, saying the Chapter 11 plan of SC SJ Holdings released the claims.

  • August 06, 2024

    Vornado Lines Up Deal To Lease 15-Floor NYC Office Building

    Vornado Realty Trust has reached a "handshake deal" with an undisclosed company to lease 1.1 million square feet of office space at 770 Broadway once Meta vacates the 15-floor building in Lower Manhattan, the real estate investment trust's CEO revealed Aug. 6.

  • August 06, 2024

    Big Brokers Predict Capital Markets Rebound In Late '24

    Commercial real estate's largest brokers, in announcing second-quarter earnings, said they are expecting capital markets activity to rebound in the second half of the year, in a turn Cushman & Wakefield's CEO called a "waterfall effect."

  • August 06, 2024

    Dentons Names Real Estate Atty As Vancouver Office Leader

    Dentons promoted Canadian real estate partner Scott Wilson to an office managing partner role in its Vancouver office, the firm announced.

  • August 06, 2024

    DC Circ. Rules Russia Is Immune From Suit Over Jewish Texts

    The D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday that the federal court never had jurisdiction over a Jewish group's decades-old allegations that Russia is illegally holding on to its long-lost sacred texts, finding that the country has sovereign immunity and voiding nearly $200 million in fines levied against Russia.

  • August 06, 2024

    Starwood Eyes Rate Cuts Amid Stormy Quarter

    Starwood Property Trust told investors on Aug. 6 that the real estate investment trust had foreclosed on three properties and downgraded ratings for several others, hinging hopes for the future on expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to cut interest rates soon.

  • August 06, 2024

    99 Cents Only Asks To Extend Ch. 11 Plan Filing Deadline

    Discount retail chain 99 Cents Only has urged a Delaware bankruptcy judge to give it more time to file a Chapter 11 plan and solicit votes from creditors, saying the company has made "significant progress" in the case and is working toward a plan the court can confirm.

  • August 07, 2024

    Simpson Thacher Pilots Stonepeak's $3B Opportunities Fund

    Private equity firm Stonepeak, advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, raised $3.15 billion for a fund dedicated to opportunistic investing in the infrastructure sector, beating the fund's target by over $600 million, according to an Aug. 6 announcement.

  • August 06, 2024

    Aztec Fund Files For Ch. 11 With $100M In Liabilities

    The Aztec Fund Holding Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 protection in Texas bankruptcy court, listing at least $100 million in liabilities.

  • August 05, 2024

    Simpson Thacher, Eversheds Sutherland Guide $83M Ga. Buy

    Cousins Properties and Town Lane have acquired Proscenium, a 526,000-square-foot office building in Atlanta, for $83 million, a notable discount from its prior 2017 sale, in a deal guided by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Eversheds Sutherland.

  • August 05, 2024

    Vornado Closes $350M Partial Sale Of 'Flagship' NYC Office

    Vornado Realty Trust sold off a portion of its "flagship" 666 Fifth Avenue office in Manhattan to Japanese fashion company Uniqlo for $350 million, the real estate investment trust announced Aug. 5.

  • August 05, 2024

    Marriott Says NYC Hotels' Housing Of Migrants Violated Deal

    Marriott International Inc. has accused a hotel company in Jamaica, Queens, of breaching a contract by repurposing two properties for migrant housing while refusing to "de-identify" itself with the global hotel brand.

  • August 05, 2024

    Rimon Brings On BakerHostetler, Wick Phillips Litigators

    Rimon PC is expanding its team with the addition of two new litigation partners and an investigations associate, who have worked at BakerHostetler, Wick Phillips Gould & Martin LLP and the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability, the firm has said.

  • August 05, 2024

    Dems Unearth Another Thomas Trip Paid For By Harlan Crow

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took a previously undisclosed trip between Hawaii and New Zealand on a billionaire Republican donor's private jet in 2010, lawmakers revealed in a letter Monday that offered the donor a "final opportunity" to explain how that trip and others don't constitute a tax fraud scheme.

  • August 05, 2024

    Healthcare REIT Provides $303M For Nursing Properties Buy

    CareTrust REIT Inc. extended a $260 million senior mortgage loan and $43 million preferred equity investment for the acquisition of a portfolio of skilled-nursing and senior housing properties, the healthcare real estate investment trust has announced.

  • August 05, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Breuer Herskowitz and Morici & Morici were among the law firms that handled the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, with all of the week's deals north of $20 million happening in Manhattan.

  • August 05, 2024

    Andrews Myers Construction Atty Joins Cozen O'Connor

    Cozen O'Connor has hired a construction litigator in California who has more than 14 years of experience representing clients in matters involving infrastructure, industrial and other construction projects, the firm announced Monday.

  • August 05, 2024

    Data Center Co. Secures $3B In Green Financing

    Stack Infrastructure obtained $3 billion in financing for four of its environmentally friendly U.S. data center campus projects, adding to the total of $15 billion in financing for all its projects, the data center developer and operator announced Monday.

  • August 05, 2024

    Latham Helps Woodside Buy Clean Ammonia Biz For $2.4B

    Australian oil and gas giant Woodside Energy will buy OCI NV's low-carbon ammonia facility in Texas for $2.35 billion in cash to help with its transition to cleaner forms of energy, the companies said Monday.

  • August 02, 2024

    NYC Landlord Hits Firm, Atty With $3M Legal Malpractice Suit

    A New York City landlord that rented to online grocery delivery company FreshDirect has filed a $3 million legal malpractice suit against Horing Welikson Rosen & Digrugilliers PC and one of its partners in state court, saying their alleged negligence resulted in a dismissed case against the grocer. 

  • August 02, 2024

    HFZ Capital Cops To $86M Fraud Charges, Blames Ex-Chief

    Defunct real estate firm HFZ Capital Group pled guilty in an $86 million criminal case Friday, admitting that its former top executive Nir Meir evaded New York City property taxes and stole funds from commercial and residential building projects.

  • August 02, 2024

    Colo. Appeals Panel Rejects Lower Tax Rate For Hospital

    A Colorado rehabilitation hospital should be classified as a commercial property for tax purposes because it was predominantly designed for its services and not for residency, a state appeals court said, reversing a state assessment board.

  • August 02, 2024

    Insurers Seek Quick Win In $2M Injury Coverage Suit

    An AmTrust Financial unit and a Hartford unit each told a New York federal court that the other must solely cover a Manhattan property owner in a construction worker's $2 million injury action, disagreeing over whether the owner is an additional insured under the Hartford unit's policy covering a lessee.

Expert Analysis

  • Best Practices For Lenders To Limit Recourse Liability

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    As projects face loan maturities in a higher interest rate environment, lenders should diligently observe even seemingly innocuous formalities following an event of default in order to minimize potential recourse liability, especially when borrowers have certain covenants, say Ryan Goins and Matthias Kleinsasser at Winstead.

  • The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Michael Lehet at Ogletree Deakins discusses the role of knowledge management attorneys at law firms, the common tasks they perform and practical tips for lawyers who may be considering becoming one.

  • Rising Interest Rates Bring Risk For Construction Contractors

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    With rising interest rates causing many construction projects to be slowed or halted, it's important for general contractors to implement safeguard measures against the risk of significant financial losses caused by owner-driven schedule modifications, says Kevin Riexinger at Gfeller Laurie.

  • Keys To Navigating The Post-Pandemic CRE Market

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As the commercial real estate market continues to face repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers should use office occupancy and leasing volume numbers to anticipate future trends and help guide clients through an uncertain landscape, says Joseph Calvanico at J2C Valuations.

  • To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation

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    Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.

  • How Rate Exportation Is Shifting Amid Regulatory Trends

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    All banks and their partners, including fintechs, that wish to lend to borrowers in multiple states and charge uniform interest rates should heed regulatory developments across the country and determine how best to mitigate risks in their efforts to offer credit to consumers on a nationwide basis, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks

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    The continuing underperformance of the U.S. commercial real estate market has significant implications for the financial performance and disclosure requirements for various banks, especially regional ones with large debt exposures, say Atanu Saha and Yong Xu at StoneTurn.

  • Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts

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    As material price escalation clauses have remained popular in construction contracts despite an easing of recent supply chain issues, attorneys representing owners should understand key considerations for negotiating such clauses, and strategies to mitigate potential exploitation by contractors, says H. Arthur Black II at Brooks Pierce.

  • Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11

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    After years of financial trouble and the recent announcement that it has substantial doubt that it would be able to continue as a going concern, WeWork may have a bankruptcy filing in its future that would have a significant impact on landlords and other stakeholders who are owed money by the company, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

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    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing

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    While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.

  • Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals

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    The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.