Commercial
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August 30, 2024
Partnership Can't Save Premature Tax Court Appeal, Feds Say
The IRS is urging the Eleventh Circuit to throw out a Tax Court appeal that a partnership formed by two former Atlanta Braves players filed over a slashed $47.6 million conservation easement deduction, since the appeal was improperly filed before a final decision was entered.
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August 30, 2024
Property Plays: Sixth Street, Citadel, 49ers
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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August 30, 2024
Chapter 11 Check In: WeWork Trims $4B Debt Load
Coworking space provider WeWork exited bankruptcy in May after getting approval for a Chapter 11 plan that erases $4 billion in debt, overcoming opposition from landlords, unsecured creditors and its own founder. The company emerged as a leaner business with fewer office locations and lower rent payments.
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August 30, 2024
New York Code Council, Officials Duck Natural Gas Ban Suit
A New York federal court dropped the New York Department of State, the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council and several state officials from trade groups' challenge to the state's recent ban on natural gas in new construction.
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August 30, 2024
Judge Unsure Warehouse Antitrust Suit Belongs In Fed. Court
An Illinois federal judge appeared skeptical Friday that a warehouse developer could unravel a municipal contract with several real estate companies accused of violating antitrust laws, questioning if the plaintiff was truly harmed by the deal or a related judgment its rivals later won in state court.
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August 30, 2024
Healthcare REIT Pays $62M For Two Skilled Nursing Facilities
CareTrust REIT Inc. bought two skilled nursing facilities in two separate deals that cost $62.1 million in total in a "cash on hand" deal, the healthcare-focused real estate investment trust announced.
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August 30, 2024
DLA Piper, Morris Manning Guide Rentvine's $74M Fundraise
Property management software company Rentvine has raised $74 million in growth capital from growth equity firm Mainsail Partners, in a deal advised by DLA Piper and Morris Manning & Martin LLP.
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August 30, 2024
Mich. Appeals Court Backs Uncapping Of Property's Value
A Michigan property's valuation was properly uncapped because the transfer of ownership that followed the death of an owner nullified a state limit on valuation increases, a state appeals court said, affirming a tax tribunal decision.
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August 29, 2024
'No Hesitation' On $7M Atty Fees For $10B Verdict, Judge Says
A California judge held up a phone book-sized printout Thursday of the 20-year docket for a case that resulted in a $10 billion verdict for four brothers who claim their real estate empire was stolen by another brother, and said she has "no hesitation" granting the plaintiff $7 million in attorney fees.
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August 29, 2024
3 Companies Form $5B Data Center Joint Venture
Three companies have entered into a joint venture that can provide up to $5 billion worth of capital to fund the development of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data centers for cloud solutions provider CoreWeave Inc., the companies announced Thursday.
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August 29, 2024
Building Codes Key Part Of Mitigating Insurance Risks
Property and casualty insurers have highlighted resilient building as a way to address burgeoning property risk, but experts told Law360 the government alone cannot be expected to improve insurance outcomes without engagement from state and local jurisdictions and private organizations on issues like building codes and federal grants.
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August 29, 2024
Court Orders GSA To Explain Cost Analysis For Rental Deal
The U.S. General Services Administration must explain how it identified the lowest-priced bid for a 15-year contract for office space in Ohio, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ordered, after finding issues with the agency's calculations.
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August 29, 2024
Colo. Lawmakers OK Further Property Tax Rate Cuts
The Colorado Legislature approved a bill Thursday that would cut assessment rates and limit local property tax growth as part of an agreement to stop two ballot initiatives critics say would devastate funding for schools and other local services.
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August 29, 2024
Fried Frank Helps Steer Brooklyn Production Studio Project
A Brooklyn production studio is currently being developed by real estate investment firm Bungalow Projects, with guidance from Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, the law firm told Law360 on Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Insurer Blasts Ralph Lauren's Appeal For COVID-19 Coverage
Factory Mutual Insurance Co. urged the Third Circuit on Wednesday to reject Ralph Lauren Corp.'s bid to recoup up to $700 million in COVID-19 pandemic losses, blasting the fashion house's "conclusory allegations" that it was entitled to coverage.
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August 28, 2024
Colo. House OKs Additional Property Tax Rate Cuts
The Colorado House approved a legislative package Wednesday aimed at limiting property tax increases by lowering assessment rates and capping local revenue growth, sending the measures to the state Senate.
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August 28, 2024
Ohio Justices To Weigh School Board Tax Appeal Rights
The Ohio Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear a school board's claims that a law that limited the rights of school boards to appeal certain property valuation decisions to a state tax board offered them a path to appeal to county courts instead.
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August 28, 2024
Austin Light-Rail Plan Faces Fresh Suit Over Transit Tax Model
A purported class of Austin, Texas, residents moved to block the financing structure for a transit plan in their latest state court challenge to the city's Project Connect model approved in a 2020 voter referendum.
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August 28, 2024
Landlord Says Twitter Changed Tune On Lease After Musk
A Colorado landlord claims it was on the same page with Twitter about the terms of a lease and tenant improvement project until Elon Musk bought the company, when the social media platform suddenly "discover[ed] its new interpretation" of the lease and stopped paying rent.
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August 28, 2024
NJ Health System Repeats Call For Proskauer DQ
New Jersey health network CarePoint Health Management Associates LLC has redoubled its call for a New Jersey federal judge to disqualify Proskauer Rose LLP from representing competitor RWJBarnabas Health Inc. amid antitrust claims brought by CarePoint, arguing CarePoint's prior representation by Proskauer is substantially related to the case.
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August 28, 2024
Office Snapshot: Snell & Wilmer's New Home In Las Vegas
In a continuation of a recent trend by law firms to move their offices to locations near dining and entertainment hubs with a wide range of internal amenities, Snell & Wilmer LLP has announced earlier this month it relocated its Las Vegas office to a newly constructed building in the neighborhood of downtown Summerlin.
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August 28, 2024
San Francisco NFL Team To Put $200M Into Stadium Upgrade
The San Francisco 49ers plan to spend $200 million to upgrade their Santa Clara, California, stadium with features such as higher-speed Wi-Fi, new concession stands, remodeled luxury suites and upgrades for 13,000 square feet of the stadium's LED screens, the team announced.
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August 28, 2024
Treasury To Require Reports On All-Cash Real Estate Deals
Anyone who transfers real estate to a legal entity in an all-cash transaction, including attorneys, will be required starting Dec. 1, 2025, to inform the U.S. Treasury Department about that entity's beneficial owners and their identification numbers under a final rule issued Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Healthcare REIT Adds $118M Of Properties To KKR Venture
Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. provided $118 million in properties to its joint venture with KKR & Co. Inc., netting the real estate investment trust about $94 million of proceeds and increasing the value of the partnership to nearly $500 million.
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August 28, 2024
Hopkins Carley Life Sciences Expert Seeing Smaller SF Deals
New lease deals for life sciences space in the San Francisco Bay Area are now often for smaller footprints and shorter terms than they were several years ago as companies seek greater flexibility, a Hopkins & Carley real estate leader recently told Law360 Real Estate Authority.
![The Chrysler Building in New York is pictured. The co-founders of the building's owner, RFR Holding, are facing a number of lawsuits claiming they are liable for unpaid commercial real estate loans. (iStock.com/venemama)](https://assets.law360news.com/1873000/1873019/07d2d01869a3169899d9f87f25d4a1d470fd727b-istock-479591202-chrysler-building.jpg)
CRE Reset Heats Up As Lenders Take Fight To Guarantors
Remote work and high interest rates have dented commercial real estate values, but much of the fallout is yet to come. While the market waits for values to reset, some lenders are now turning to a strategy that indicates they are reaching their limit: pursuing guarantors.
![The supertall tower is just phase one of development of more than four acres of land acquired by Griffin, with plans for neighboring plots on Brickell Ave. and Brickell Bay Drive. (Concept art via Citadel and Miami-Dade County)](https://assets.law360news.com/1873000/1873614/d1d2536dd3fd18f76fbf10659df3ba4d466b3a09-1201-brickell-supertall-tower.jpg)
Citadel's Griffin Unveils Plans For Bayfront HQ Tower In Miami
Billionaire Ken Griffin has revealed his highly anticipated plans to develop a waterfront supertall tower in Miami's Brickell Financial District to house the future headquarters of his hedge fund Citadel LLC, which he moved to the city in 2022.
![(iStock.com/dmitriymoroz)](https://assets.law360news.com/1873000/1873358/8db3eb0ecfe9b30b27f58f2051cba8bcf05bfc3c-istock-992085054.jpg)
US Office Vacancies Up 20% In Q2, Colliers Says
The office vacancy rate in the top 15 U.S. markets increased by 19.9% in the second quarter this year, but the office vacancy rate in four U.S. markets also decreased compared to the prior quarter, according to a Colliers report.
Expert Analysis
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Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority
Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.
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Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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Proposed Law Would Harm NYC Hospitality Industry
A recently proposed New York City Law that would update hotel licensing and staff coverage requirements could give the city commissioner and unions undue control over the city's hospitality industry, and harm smaller hotels that cannot afford full-time employees, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.
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Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus
Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win
After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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Shipping Containers As Building Elements Require Diligence
With the shipping container market projected to double between 2020 and 2028, repurposing containers as storage units, office spaces and housing may become more common, but developers must make sure they comply with requirements that can vary by intended use and location, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.
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NY Tax Talk: Triggers For Tax On Software-As-A-Service
Recent decisions by New York’s Tax Appeals Tribunal and Division of Tax Appeals, finding that services bundled with prewritten software were tangible property, provide insight into the features and customer interactions that render such products subject to New York sales tax, say Elizabeth Cha and Madison Ball at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.