Commercial
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January 14, 2025
Expert Sees Land Use, Building Codes As Key To LA Rebuild
Kimiko Barrett, senior wildfire policy analyst at nonpartisan research organization Headwaters Economics, told Law360 Real Estate Authority that because California has been a leader in crafting wildfire policy, the state's decision-makers are now venturing into new territory to assess the successes and failures of those innovative measures.
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January 13, 2025
Judge Says California Tribe Can't Block Casino Land Decision
A California tribe can't block the Interior Department from taking 65 acres into trust for a fellow state tribe's proposed casino project, a federal district judge said, arguing that it has not satisfied the burden to prove an immediate threat of irreparable harm.
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January 13, 2025
Newsom Waives Permits, Enviro Rules To Rebuild LA Faster
California Gov. Gavin Newsom in an executive order Sunday suspended state environmental rules and permitting in coastal areas, a move intended to help rebuild from wildfires causing extensive destruction in Los Angeles.
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January 13, 2025
NY Dispensaries Say Pot Agencies Broke Proximity Rules
A group of four adult-use marijuana dispensaries are suing New York's cannabis regulators, aiming to vacate the issuance of licenses for four competing dispensaries that they say violate the state's 1,000-foot buffer between outlets.
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January 13, 2025
Ex-Cook County Assessor Officer Hit With Bribery Charges
A chief hearings officer for former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios' office accepted bribes, including from a law firm's tax consultant, when handling a property assessment appeal, a new lawsuit in Illinois federal court alleges.
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January 13, 2025
Interior Department Approves Ore. Tribal Casino Amid Lawsuit
The U.S. Department of the Interior gave its final approval to Oregon's first off-reservation casino amid litigation that looked to block the project, ending a 13-year application process for the Coquille Indian Tribe.
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January 13, 2025
REITs Warned To Eye Regulatory Response To LA Fires
Investment bank Piper Sandler Cos. is warning of regulatory fallout from the still-blazing Los Angeles fires that may harm real estate investment trusts, adding it expects to see REITs voluntarily take steps to ameliorate pressure on renters.
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January 13, 2025
Hotel Asset Manager Ashford Settles SEC Cyber Report Suit
Ashford Inc. has agreed to pay more than $115,000 to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's charges that the asset manager failed to properly disclose a cyberattack that led to the leak of hotel customers' personal information.
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January 13, 2025
SEC To Collect $63M In Latest Recordkeeping Sweep
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that subsidiaries of Blackstone Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. were among those swept up in the latest round of recordkeeping fines, promising to collect over $63 million from 12 firms whose employees are accused of discussing business through their personal devices.
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January 13, 2025
Ind. Senate Bill Seeks To Cap Local Property Tax Hikes
Indiana would not allow a political subdivision to increase its property tax levy if there is not an increase in the subdivision's assessed value under a bill introduced Monday in the state Senate.
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January 13, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Greenberg Traurig LLP and DLA Piper are among the law firms that handled the largest real estate deals to hit New York City public records last week, a period that saw a number of transactions that signed and closed near the year-end deadline become public.
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January 13, 2025
Ky. House Bill Seeks Referendum Toward Axing Property Tax
Kentucky would put forward a referendum asking voters to give lawmakers the power to eliminate the state's property tax by exempting all property classes from tax under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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January 13, 2025
Tax-Lien Biz Atty Accused Of Duping Bank Can't Touch Money
A Manhattan federal judge declined Monday to unfreeze assets on behalf of a former compliance lawyer accused of duping a bank into lending his tax-lien investment firm $20 million, complicating his plan to go to trial with private counsel.
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January 13, 2025
76ers Drop Controversial Plan For New Center City Arena
The Philadelphia 76ers are going to stay in South Philly rather than pursuing a plan to move into a new stadium by Chinatown, according to announcements Monday from the City of Brotherly Love's mayor and the 76ers' owner.
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January 13, 2025
Proskauer Faces Revived DQ Bid In NJ Hospital Antitrust Fight
CarePoint Health is once again pushing to have Proskauer Rose LLP disqualified as counsel for healthcare network RWJBarnabas Health Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, asserting that a magistrate judge erred in previously denying its request.
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January 13, 2025
Latham-Led StepStone Tops $1B For Infrastructure Fund
Private markets investment firm StepStone Group Inc., advised by Latham & Watkins LLP, on Monday announced it had clinched its inaugural infrastructure co-investment fund and related separate accounts after securing more than $1.4 billion in capital commitments.
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January 13, 2025
Kramer Levin Elevates Partner To Land-Use Co-chair
New York City law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP has promoted James P. Power to co-chair of its land use department. The leadership update comes at a time of dramatic changes to land use in New York City, and Power said he expects there to be a lot of development activity.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Farm's Bid To Retake Denver Airport Land
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Colorado farm company's petition arguing Denver can't hold onto land originally seized for the Denver International Airport now that the city plans to build a private commercial complex on the property.
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January 10, 2025
Under The Radar: Bankruptcy News You May Have Missed
Solar power company iSun asked to switch its bankruptcy proceedings to a Chapter 7, after finding that it couldn't afford its Chapter 11 plan. Nash Engineering Co.'s Chapter 7 trustee asked a bankruptcy judge to sign off on a $9 million settlement with two insurers that had bought back their policies in 2020. And the Second Circuit put out the call for would-be bankruptcy judges to submit their applications to sit on the bench in Manhattan.
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January 10, 2025
Receiver Sought For Pittsburgh Landmark In $143M Default
A group of lenders seeking to foreclose on part of Pittsburgh's Station Square development over a $143 million loan default wants a Pennsylvania state court to appoint a receiver to take over management and marketing of the properties, according to court filings.
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January 10, 2025
Property Plays: Palladius, Tishman Speyer, Stockdale
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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January 10, 2025
LA Fire Insured Damages Could Top $20B, JP Morgan Says
Insured losses from wildfires still blazing through Los Angeles could exceed $20 billion, J.P. Morgan analysts said in client notes, a steep increase from the more than $12 billion California insurers incurred from the next costliest spate of wildfires in 2018.
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January 10, 2025
Ferguson Braswell Adds 5-Atty Vogt Resnick Team In Calif.
Ferguson Braswell Fraser Kubasta PC has grown its presence in Orange County, California, with the addition of five Vogt Resnick & Sherak LLP attorneys and a new office space.
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January 10, 2025
Sullivan & Cromwell Advises NYC Tower's $2.9B CMBS Refi
Tishman Speyer landed a $2.85 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities loan refinancing the firm's New York City office tower known as The Spiral, in a deal guided by borrower counsel Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, per the borrower and Morningstar.
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January 10, 2025
Construction Exec Cops To Unlawfully Funding NYC Mayor
A Turkish-born construction executive with ties to Eric Adams told a Manhattan federal judge Friday that he funneled unlawful donations to the New York City mayor's campaign, as prosecutors secured a guilty plea in their high-profile political corruption investigation.
Expert Analysis
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How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors
The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Foreclosing Lenders Still Floating In Murky Legal Waters In NY
The New York foreclosure landscape remains in disarray after the state's highest court last month declined to weigh in on whether legal changes from 2022 that severely curtailed lenders' ability to bring successive foreclosure cases were retroactive, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.
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NYC Hotel Licensing Law's Costs May Outweigh Its Benefits
A hotel licensing bill recently approved by New York's City Council could lead to the loss of many nonunionized hotels that cannot afford to comply, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.
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Calif. Ruling Offers Hope For Mitigated Negative Declarations
In Upland Community First v. City of Upland, a California appeals court upheld a warehouse development's mitigated negative declaration over its greenhouse gas emissions thresholds — a rare victory against this type of challenge providing reassurance that such declarations can be upheld, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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There's No Crying In Property Valuation Baseball Arbitration
The World Series is the perfect time to consider how the form of arbitration used for settling MLB salary disputes — in which each side offers competing valuations to an arbitrator, who must select one — is often ideal for resolving property valuation disputes, say Sean O’Donnell at Herrick Feinstein and Mark Dunec at FTI Consulting.
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Webuild Ruling Complicates Arb. Award Enforcement In US
A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Sociedad Concesionaria Metropolitana de Salud v. Webuild, if read literally, could undercut the United States' image as a proarbitration jurisdiction by complicating creditors' efforts to enforce awards against property in this country, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.
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How To Avoid A Costly CPA Limitation Hidden In Most Leases
The lease audit rights clause is a seemingly innocuous provision in most commercial real estate leases that ends up costing tenants millions of dollars each year, as they have unwittingly agreed to retain only an accountant to investigate and settle financial issues, says Jason Aster at KBA Lease Services.
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Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.
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Smith's New Trump Indictment Is Case Study In Superseding
Special counsel Jack Smith’s recently revised Jan. 6 charges against former President Donald Trump provide lessons for prosecutors on how to effectively draft superseding indictments in order to buttress or streamline their case, as necessary, says Jessica Roth at Cardozo Law School.
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Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art
Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Climate Among Many Factors Driving Up RE Insurance Costs
A proactive approach to risk management may determine the viability of the U.S. commercial real estate sector as weather crises and other factors drive insurance costs higher, says Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation
James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.