Commercial
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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.
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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.
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August 06, 2024
Starwood Eyes Rate Cuts Amid Stormy Quarter
Starwood Property Trust told investors on Tuesday 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.
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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.
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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 a Tuesday announcement.
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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.
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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.
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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 Monday.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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August 02, 2024
Ex-Loeb Tax Atty Latest Addition To Kilpatrick's NY Team
A former Loeb & Loeb LLP attorney is bringing his experience in U.S. federal tax matters and real estate transactions to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, the firm announced Thursday.
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August 02, 2024
Land Sale Deals Allowed In Colo. Eminent Domain Dispute
A Colorado appeals court ruled against the city of Westminster in its eminent domain action, ruling that three comparable sales contracts and an adjacent land parcel's $51.5 million purchase and sale contract can be admitted as evidence in a valuation trial.
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August 02, 2024
Property Plays: VICI, Host Hotels, Tampa Bay Rays
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 02, 2024
Home REIT Sells 226 Properties For £26.5M
Struggling real estate investment trust Home REIT PLC said Friday that it has sold approximately 9% of its portfolio of properties for gross proceeds of £26.5 million ($34 million) to reduce its debts and provide capital for its operations.
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August 02, 2024
Shartsis Friese Adds Real Estate Litigator In San Francisco
Shartsis Friese LLP has expanded its real estate team, announcing that it has brought in a litigator and bankruptcy expert from SSL Law Firm LLP as a partner in San Francisco.
Expert Analysis
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Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling
A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.
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Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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A Legal Playbook For Stadium Construction Agreements
As a new wave of construction in the professional sports arena space gets underway, owners must carefully consider the unique considerations and risks associated with these large-scale projects and draft agreements accordingly, say attorneys at Akerman.
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Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
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Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations
Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule
Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.
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New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks
Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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DC's Housing Tax Break Proposal: What's In It, What's Missing
Proposed Washington, D.C., rules implementing the Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement program — for commercial property owners who convert properties into residential housing — thoroughly explain the process for submitting an application, but do not provide sufficient detail regarding the actual dollar value of the abatements, says Daniel Miktus at Akerman.
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Contract Disputes Recap: The Terms Matter
Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine recent decisions from the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which offer reminders about the importance of including contract terms to address the unexpected circumstances that may interfere with performance.
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Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE
As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.