Commercial
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November 12, 2024
SD AG Issues Explanation Of Property Tax Hike Limit Initiative
South Dakota's attorney general released a final explanation for an initiative that could appear on the state's 2026 general election ballot and would limit annual property tax assessment increases for nonagricultural property, according to a news release published Tuesday.
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November 12, 2024
Paul Hastings Commits To Texas With New Office Leases
More than 12 years after first hanging a shingle in Houston and months after opening a Dallas outpost, Paul Hastings announced Tuesday that it had ambitious plans to continue its recent expansion in Texas with the signing of two commercial leases to boost the firm's capabilities in the Lone Star State.
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November 12, 2024
Goodwin Lands 2 Willkie Real Estate Finance Partners In NY
Goodwin Procter LLP announced Tuesday that it has added two partners from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP to join Goodwin's growing global real estate industry practice in New York.
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November 12, 2024
Bradley Arant Adds Real Estate Pro In Dallas Office
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is growing its real estate team in its 6-year-old Dallas office by bringing in a commercial real estate expert who previously ran his own boutique firm as a partner.
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November 08, 2024
Cannabis Shops Sue DC To Halt Enforcement Actions
A coalition of Washington, D.C., recreational marijuana shops has launched a federal lawsuit against a slew of District entities, including the mayor, cannabis regulator and police department, seeking to halt the government's enforcement actions against their stores.
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November 08, 2024
Investors Say REITs Misled Them Into Delaying Liquidations
A group of retail-focused, non-traded real estate investment trusts misled shareholders into approving charter amendments that stopped shares liquidation and prevented them from making money off their investments, a proposed class claimed in New Jersey federal court.
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November 08, 2024
Exec Exodus At Hospitality Platform Sonder Includes CLO
Hospitality platform Sonder announced Friday its chief legal officer will be resigning from her role later this month as one of three executives who have announced their plans to leave the company by the end of 2024.
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November 08, 2024
Cohen & Steers Names General Mills' GC To Its Board
Investment management company Cohen & Steers Inc. announced Friday that it has appointed General Mills' general counsel Karen Wilson Thissen to its board of directors.
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November 08, 2024
Steptoe & Johnson Adds Veteran Corporate Atty In Dallas
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC announced that a veteran corporate attorney who previously served as the top attorney for a major auto repair company has joined the firm's Dallas office as of counsel, in a move the firm said will help strengthen its private credit practice.
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November 08, 2024
GSA Weighs 2 Sites For New Connecticut Federal Courthouse
Federal officials are weighing two possible sites for a new $355 million federal courthouse to replace an aging one in Hartford, Connecticut.
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November 07, 2024
Trump Election Complicates Growing Insurance Climate Crisis
Donald Trump's election to a second term as president is a huge setback for global efforts to curb climate change, and his disregard for the environment will likely complicate efforts to better understand climate risks facing insurers and consumers, experts say.
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November 07, 2024
7th Circ. Sends Refuge Power Line Fight Back To Wis. Judge
A Seventh Circuit panel scrapped stayed preliminary injunctions that temporarily blocked a power transmission line from crossing the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, directing a Wisconsin federal judge to determine if conservation groups' request for permanent relief is warranted or even possible with the line now built.
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November 07, 2024
Strip Mall, Insurer Agree To End Repair Payments Dispute
A Tennessee strip mall owner and its insurer agreed to bury the hatchet Thursday and resolve claims the insurance company withheld costs for building repairs via wrongful depreciation, Wisconsin federal court filings said.
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November 07, 2024
Ariz. OKs Property Tax Credits For Unattended Nuisances
Arizona property owners affected by public nuisances that local governments fail to address could qualify for tax refunds under Proposition 312, a ballot measure approved by state voters.
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November 07, 2024
JLL Adds $100M To Dry Powder Stock For Affiliate REIT
Commercial broker JLL said Nov. 7 that it put an additional $100 million into its own JLL Income Property Trust to support its investments at an "opportune" time in real estate market recovery.
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November 07, 2024
Ex-GE Affiliate Cleared In Bellwether Chemical Leak Verdict
A Louisiana jury has cleared General Electric Co. and former subsidiary Dresser LLC of liability in a bellwether suit over allegations that they improperly disposed of chemicals that contaminated the Rapides Parish area.
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November 07, 2024
Hotel REIT Lands $121.5M Refi Of Va. Marriott Hotel
Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. obtained a three-year, $121.5 million nonrecourse loan to refinance a mortgage loan connected to its 703-room Marriott hotel in Arlington, Virginia, the real estate investment trust announced Nov. 7.
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November 06, 2024
Demand, Not Distress, Defines South Florida Office Market
A scarcity of new, high-quality office space in South Florida and a continued flow of companies and people moving to the region has experts expecting demand to outweigh the distress that has beset the wider office market into the foreseeable future.
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November 06, 2024
What Trump's Victory Portends For Commercial Real Estate
President-elect Donald Trump's victory could clear up uncertainty for investors who had been waiting out the election, but the commercial real estate industry may see challenges ahead from some of his proposed "protectionist" policies, attorneys and experts said Wednesday.
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November 06, 2024
JV Nabs $110M Refinancing For NYC Multifamily Portfolio
A joint venture between Davean Holdings and Meadow Partners landed a $110 million refinancing of a New York City multifamily portfolio from Hudson Bay Capital, according to Walker & Dunlop, which facilitated the refinancing.
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November 06, 2024
Realty Income Readies New Private Capital Fund
Realty Income is creating a new private capital investment platform that the real estate investment trust's chief executive told investors will allow the REIT to work with "a deep pool of institutional capital from investors who may otherwise lack the mandate or ability to invest in real estate securities."
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November 06, 2024
Capital Markets Bounce Back For Big Four Brokers In Q3
After predicting a return of capital markets activity in the second half of 2024, commercial real estate's big four brokers reported that buyers and sellers are finally returning to the market in announcing third quarter results recently.
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November 06, 2024
Browns Won't Stop Ohio From Joining Stadium Dispute
The Cleveland Browns told an Ohio federal court that it has no problem with the state joining the City of Cleveland in facing down the NFL team's suit, which claims that a state law unconstitutionally impedes the team's plan to move to a new stadium.
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November 06, 2024
FINRA Fines Firm Over Lax Real Estate Investment Diligence
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered broker-dealer XP to pay $800,000 in restitution and penalties to settle claims that, among other things, it recommended investments in a series of real estate-focused private placements without conducting proper due diligence on them, leading to investor losses when the offerings flopped.
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November 06, 2024
Simpson, Clifford Chance Build $4B Blackstone Deal For REIT
Blackstone announced Wednesday it will pay $4 billion to acquire grocery store-focused real estate investment trust Retail Opportunities Investment Corp., in a deal built by respective legal advisers Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Clifford Chance US LLP.
Expert Analysis
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How Rate Exportation Is Shifting Amid Regulatory Trends
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.
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How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks
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.
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Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts
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.
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Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11
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.
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Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing
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.
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Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals
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.
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Pickleball Makes Waves In Fla. Real Estate, With Risks In Play
Pickleball's burgeoning popularity in Florida is catalyzing a transformation in the state's commercial real estate market, but investors must take steps to navigate legal challenges related to noise, insurance and community dynamics, says Emmanuelle Litvinov at DarrowEverett.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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What Calif. Pot Permit Ruling Means For Enviro Compliance
While a California appeals court's recent decision in Lucas v. City of Pomona affirms the city's use of a statutory exemption for its commercial cannabis overlay permit program, the ruling does not mean that all applicants seeking similar approvals are exempted from state environmental compliance obligations, say Whitney Hodges and Barbara Machado at Sheppard Mullin.
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Rare Reg A+ Fines Reflect New Era Of SEC Enforcement
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement of civil penalties against 10 microcap companies for violations of Regulation A+ shows that as the SEC continues to expand its enforcement efforts, its focus remains on protecting investors of all sizes — including those investing in the historically less-scrutinized Reg A+ issuers, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Factors To Consider When Structuring Data Center Contracts
Data center leases and service agreements grant very similar rights and impose similar obligations, but they also hold notable differences and a range of factors that are important to consider when selecting which form of agreement to use, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling
The Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned three decades of premises liability jurisprudence by ruling that the open and obvious danger defense is no longer part of a traditional duty analysis, posing the question of whether landowners will ever again win on a motion for summary dismissal, say John Stiglich and Meriam Choulagh at Wilson Elser.
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Subchapter V Eligibility Ruling Raises Uncertainty For Tenants
A Virginia bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Macedon Consulting — that all remaining rent under a lease should be factored into a lessee's Subchapter V eligibility — raises the question, but does not address, how a court should calculate the amount of debt owed under a lease, creating significant risk for potential tenant debtors, says Sam Ashuraey at Ashuraey Law.