Commercial
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July 16, 2024
Chancery OKs $42.5M Brookfield-GGP Settlement, $11.4M Fee
Shareholders of mall operator GGP Inc. who sued in 2018 to stop its $9.25 billion acquisition by Brookfield Property Partners LP got the Chancery Court's nod Tuesday to settle the litigation for $42.5 million, including an $11.4 million fee for the plaintiffs' counsel and incentive awards for three shareholder plaintiffs.
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July 16, 2024
Pa. Court Upholds $23M Value Of Vacant Hospital's Parking
A vacant hospital's parking area in Pennsylvania was properly valued at $23.2 million, the state Commonwealth Court ruled, finding that a trial court had the discretion to apply the sales comparison approach to the valuation.
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July 16, 2024
County Says Pittsburgh Schools Can't Force Reassessment
As one taxing body out of many in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the School District of Pittsburgh lacks standing in its lawsuit seeking to force a countywide reassessment of property values, the county said in its preliminary objections to the suit.
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July 16, 2024
Data Center Co. Nets $681M Loan, $7.9B Credit Facility
CyrusOne borrowed a $681.7 million loan for its Dallas, Texas, data center Monday, after lining up $7.9 billion in a warehouse credit facility deal.
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July 16, 2024
Manhattan Property Co. Seeks Ch. 11 Protection
A company tied to a four-story mixed-use building in Lower Manhattan's trendy NoHo neighborhood filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing as much as $50 million in liabilities and up to $500,000 in assets.
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July 16, 2024
Miami-Dade Tries To Nix Seaquarium Operator's Eviction Suit
Miami-Dade County has asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit from the operator of the Miami Seaquarium, which claimed the county is evicting it after its CEO responded to a "disrespectful" email from an official concerned about manatees held at the aging facility.
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July 16, 2024
Silicon Valley CRE Faces Rising Vacancies, Per Q2 Report
Silicon Valley's office market saw rising vacancies and negative net absorption in the second quarter, even though the region notched an annual increase in venture capital funding, Colliers said in a report.
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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 16, 2024
Latham-Led Warehouse Giant Launches Potential $3.6B IPO
Cold-storage warehouse giant Lineage Inc. on Tuesday set a price range on an estimated $3.6 billion initial public offering, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and underwriters counsel Goodwin Procter LLP, bolstering the near-term IPO pipeline.
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July 15, 2024
Conn. Mixed-Use Project Moves Ahead With $165M Financing
Four firms and one solo practitioner guided Barings and Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate's provision of a combined $165.3 million for the second phase of Baywater Properties' mixed-use development in Darien, Connecticut, according to a Monday statement from Barings.
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July 15, 2024
Ariz. Rancher Says Monument Order A 'Regulatory Regime'
A sixth-generation Arizona rancher is fighting a bid by the Biden administration to dismiss litigation challenging a presidential proclamation that designated an Indigenous site in the Grand Canyon region a national monument, arguing the order subjects him to a "regulatory regime" he must comply with to enhance his property.
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July 15, 2024
Pa. Property Owner's Tax Appeal Meritless, Court Says
A Philadelphia property owner properly had its appeal of a tax assessment dismissed by a trial court because its complaints were meritless, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed.
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July 15, 2024
KKR Buys Texas Industrial Logistics Park For $234M
Global investment firm KKR purchased a 1.8 million-square-foot, 12-building industrial logistics park in Houston from Artis Real Estate Investment Trust for $234 million, the companies announced Monday.
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July 15, 2024
Firms Fall Short On Occupancy Goals Amid Downsizing Trend
U.S. law firms have been working to reduce the amount of office space allocated per attorney. Despite these efforts, a recent report by the real estate services company Savills Inc. found that the average square footage per attorney still remains higher than the occupancy ratios most firms aim for.
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July 12, 2024
Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40
Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
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July 12, 2024
Property Plays: Brookfield, Bally's, Kushner Cos.
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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July 12, 2024
Goodwin Reps Gaming Co. On Bally's Chicago Casino Deal
Goodwin Procter LLP represented Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. in a Friday deal with Bally's to finance construction of a $940 million Chicago casino and hotel in a sale-leaseback deal giving the Pennsylvania real estate investment trust ownership of Bally casinos in Kansas City and Shreveport, Louisiana.
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July 12, 2024
DC To Offer 15-Year Tax Freeze For Office Conversion Projects
Washington, D.C., plans to offer a 15-year property tax freeze for projects that aim to reposition an office building for a different commercial use, building on the city's larger effort to enliven its downtown, according to an announcement by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
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July 12, 2024
Pa. Drive-In Dinged For Sleepovers In No-Campground Zone
A Pennsylvania drive-in movie theater's "overnight passes" for guests to stay after a late-night showing or for multiple days of a movie marathon effectively made the theater into a campground and ran afoul of township zoning ordinances, a state appellate court ruled Friday.
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July 12, 2024
Wayfair Says Contractor On 1st Megastore Stiffed Vendors
Online retailer Wayfair LLC says the company it hired to oversee the build-out of its first "large-format" brick and mortar location failed to pay multiple subcontractors on the project, forcing Wayfair to pay the subcontractors directly to ensure that the store opened on time, according to a complaint filed Friday.
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July 12, 2024
Saul Ewing Adds Entertainment, Real Estate Litigator In LA
Saul Ewing LLP has added as a partner in its Los Angeles office a trial attorney with a nearly 30-year track record of representing public and private companies, along with executives and investors in entertainment and real estate disputes.
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July 12, 2024
Ohio Warehouse Sale Too Old To Boost Value, Tax Panel Says
A county board in Ohio was wrong to rely on the $27 million sale price of a warehouse property to raise its tax valuation because that sale occurred more than two years before the applicable tax lien date, the state Board of Tax Appeals ruled.
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July 11, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Disbarred Atty's Prison Term For Fraud Plea
A disbarred California attorney can't reverse a Manhattan federal court's 5½-year prison sentence and $5.5 million restitution order that followed his guilty plea to wire fraud for a real estate and venture fraud scheme, the Second Circuit ruled Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
All Grand Jury Witnesses Get Civil Immunity, Colo. Panel Says
A Colorado state appeals court held for the first time Thursday that all types of grand jury witnesses have absolute immunity for their testimony, though they don't have sweeping protection for statements made before the proceedings start.
Expert Analysis
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5 Strategies For Restructuring Underperforming CRE Loans
With commercial real estate industry conditions expected to deteriorate further in the coming months, market participants should consider a number of strategies to help resolve challenged investments, ranging from financial restructurings to project phasing, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback
Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.
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Post-Ciminelli Predictions On Right-To-Control Convictions
The recent Second Circuit filings in Binday suggest that the government will fight to preserve its right-to-control convictions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Ciminelli decision, and offer clues about key issues that will drive post-Ciminelli litigation, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Steps To Success For Senior Associates
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities
At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.
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Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice
The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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A Clearer Path To Speedy Guaranty Litigation In NY Courts
Recent cases indicate that New York's Appellate Division, First Department, is shifting its stance regarding when agreements with both monetary and nonmonetary obligations qualify for expedited litigation, and highlight best practices for drafting guarantees and notes, say Joshua Kopelowitz and Bansari Sheth at Fox Rothschild.
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LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped
Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.
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High Court Ruling Provides New Avenue For Foreign Plaintiffs
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin offers a new path for foreign plaintiffs attempting to enforce arbitral awards in the U.S., but it also leaves the standard for such attempts under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act unsettled, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Justices' Corruption Ruling May Shift DOJ Bank Fraud Tactics
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month in Ciminelli v. U.S., curtailing a government theory of wire fraud liability, prosecutors may need to reconsider their approach to the bank fraud statute, particularly when it comes to foreign bank enforcement, says Brian Kearney at Ballard Spahr.
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Avoiding Negative Tax Consequences In Loan Modifications
Borrowers who may be caught in the dramatic uptick in nonperforming commercial real estate loans should consider strategies to avoid income and capital gains tax that may be triggered by loan modifications, says Aman Badyal at Glaser Weil.
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How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks
Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.