Commercial
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October 02, 2024
Even Before Helene, CRE Costs Rising In Tampa, Trepp Says
The cost of maintaining commercial real estate in the Tampa, Florida, area has been on the rise in recent years, in a factor that analyst Trepp said is a sign of the growing costs associated with severe storms such as Hurricane Helene.
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October 02, 2024
La. Ammonia Plant Will Need To Prove Exemptions At Trial
A Louisiana ammonia plant and its contractor will need to prove at trial that their purchases of certain property qualify for a manufacturing exemption from sales and use tax, the state's Board of Tax Appeals ruled.
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October 02, 2024
O'Melveny Advises Citibank On $5B REIT Credit Facility
O'Melveny & Myers LLP said it represented Citibank on a $5 billion unsecured senior revolving credit facility for real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
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October 02, 2024
Climate Risk Is Turning The Tide In Buyer, Investor Behavior
Climate risk isn't yet the kind of consideration that would make or break the average property deal. But as it becomes less of an abstract concept and more of a concrete part of due diligence, it's on the verge of causing major ripples throughout the real estate industry.
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October 02, 2024
US Seeks To Drop $1M Tax Suit Against Sleep Clinic Founder
The U.S. government seeks to drop its case against a sleep clinic founder and his wife, whom it had accused of hiding assets, after the couple agreed to pay their tax liabilities in full, according to a filing in California federal court Wednesday.
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October 02, 2024
NYC Mayor Adams May Face More Charges, Feds Say
Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday it was "possible" they would charge New York City Mayor Eric Adams with additional crimes in his corruption case, indicating they have evidence he told witnesses to lie to the FBI.
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October 02, 2024
Ohio Tax Board Boosts Parcels' Value To Purchase Price
Two Ohio parcels should be valued at their purchase price, a state tax board said, rejecting a local board's finding that their value should be lower because the buyer paid a premium and demolished several structures on the properties.
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October 01, 2024
NJ Hotels Beat Room Price-Fixing Suit For Good
Another algorithmic antitrust suit is off the table after a New Jersey federal judge said Monday that a room-rate proposed class action against Atlantic City casino-hotels has the same failings that doomed a case over room prices on the Las Vegas Strip.
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October 01, 2024
Investment Firm Raises $4.7B For Bonds, Real Estate Loans
Monarch Alternative Capital LP announced Monday that it raised $4.7 billion for the completion of its sixth closed-end fund, surpassing the opportunistic credit and real estate firm's goal and the amount raised for the previous fund.
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October 01, 2024
Crowne Plaza Gets Out Of Ohio Sex Trafficking Liability Suit
An Ohio federal magistrate judge released Crowne Plaza LLC from an anonymous plaintiff's lawsuit seeking to hold lodging entities liable for sex trafficking injuries, after the survivor said the hotel chain's presence in the case "adds nothing" to her chances of winning damages.
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October 01, 2024
Sacramento's Biggest Tower Sells Locally For $117M
Singapore-based real estate investment trust Manulife US said it has sold Sacramento's tallest building to a local firm for $117 million in a deal to pay off debt due next year.
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October 01, 2024
Treasury Plans Final Direct Pay Partnership Regs By Year-End
The U.S. Treasury Department is eyeing the end of the year to finalize regulations for development projects to elect out of their partnership tax status to qualify for a direct cash payment of their clean energy tax credits, an official said Tuesday.
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October 01, 2024
When The Client Is The Mayor, The Usual Rules Don't Apply
Representing a public official, whether the mayor of New York City, a state legislator or a city council member, poses unique challenges for even the most experienced lawyers, who often find themselves torn between fighting battles in the press and protecting their client in court.
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October 01, 2024
Adams Says Feds Sought To 'Tarnish' Him With Leaks
New York City Mayor Eric Adams asked a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday to sanction Southern District prosecutors for allegedly leaking the details of a criminal investigation for nearly a year leading up to his corruption indictment, saying negative press has hurt his standing with the public and undermined his right to a fair trial.
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October 01, 2024
Latham Reps CPP Investments In $15B Equinix Data Center JV
Latham & Watkins advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a joint venture with digital infrastructure developer Equinix Inc. and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC that could invest $15 billion to build data centers.
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September 30, 2024
Chubb Units Avoid Nearly All Claims In Water Damage Suit
A Connecticut federal court on Monday tossed nearly all coverage claims a commercial real estate company and its owner lodged against Chubb companies over plumbing issues at their headquarters, finding two of the defendant Chubb companies weren't parties to the policy at issue.
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September 30, 2024
Licensed DC Pot Shops Take Aim At Illicit Stores
A new lawsuit in D.C. federal court is taking aim at allegedly "unlicensed and illegal cannabis dispensaries" in the district, saying the unregulated market is squeezing out legal businesses.
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September 30, 2024
New Calif. Law Limits Warehouse Builds, Experts Say
With Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature Sunday, California has enacted broad restrictions on warehouse development that could pack new projects into commercial areas away from homes, schools and parks, frustrating both business and environmental groups.
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September 30, 2024
Retail REIT Sells 11 Properties For $610M To Bolster Spinoff
SITE Centers Corp. sold 11 retail properties for $610.1 million, a deal the retail-focused real estate investment trust will use to stock the balance sheet of its convenience assets-focused unit ahead of a spinoff, the REIT said Monday.
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September 30, 2024
Akerman Guides Developer's $165M Fla. Land Purchase
Akerman LLP advised developer GT USA on the company's $165 million purchase of over 2,300 acres of Lake County, Florida, land, the law firm announced on Monday.
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September 30, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Revisit Retroactive FARA Registration
The U.S. Department of Justice is pressing the D.C. Circuit to reconsider a ruling that barred the federal government from suing to compel former foreign agents to register their onetime foreign influence efforts, arguing that the precedent behind the ruling wrongly hamstrings the DOJ's ability to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
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September 30, 2024
4 Firms Guide Verizon's $3.3B Wireless Comms Towers Sale
Verizon has sold 6,339 wireless communications towers to a communications-focused real estate investment trust for $3.3 billion in a deal guided by Jones Day, Greenberg Traurig, Simpson Thacher and Mayer Brown, Verizon announced Monday.
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September 30, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
A boutique Manhattan real estate firm handled two of the four largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only four transactions north of $20 million become public.
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September 30, 2024
Adams Asks To Toss Bribery Charge, Citing Top Court Ruling
New York City Mayor Eric Adams moved swiftly to dismiss the bribery charge from his federal indictment on Monday, arguing that evidence of Turkish officials' gifts to curry favor with him fails to meet a high legal standard laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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September 27, 2024
New Orleans Inspector Indicted For Bribing Top City Official
A New Orleans resident and his home inspection company were indicted in Louisiana federal court Friday on charges that he operated a yearslong scheme of taking bribes to let unlicensed electricians work on hundreds of homes and bribing top city officials to look the other way.
Expert Analysis
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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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The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'
Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.
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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.
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Parsing Tax Implications Of NYC Office Leasing Transactions
Though New York City's tax laws generally do not require negotiated contractual risk allocation in the case of sublease and early lease termination transactions, it is still helpful for counsel to both landlords and tenants to understand the laws' nuances, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention
As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.
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NY's Take On Premises Insurance Policies: What's In A Name?
A New York appellate court's recent decision in Wesco Insurance v. Fulmont Mutual Insurance — requiring insurance coverage for a property owner not named on the policy — strengthens a state case law trend creating a practical exception in premises liability cases to normally strict requirements for coverage, says Craig Rokuson at Traub Lieberman.