Commercial
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February 07, 2025
Project Foes Face Suit Over Pittsburgh Gay Bar Historic Filing
A developer and the estate for the former owner of a landmark Pittsburgh gay bar have sued two residents of the city's Polish Hill neighborhood, claiming they moved to deem the property historic as a ploy to frustrate plans for a market-rate housing project at the site.
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February 07, 2025
Appellate Court OKs Trim Of Goldman Family Portfolio Battle
A New York state appellate court affirmed a trial court's toss of several claims brought against the late Sol Goldman's real estate empire by inheritors who allege his daughter squeezed them out of the family business and manipulated an appraisal when they sought to cash out on their stake.
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February 07, 2025
Property Plays: KKR, Freshfields, Sonesta
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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February 07, 2025
Industrial REIT Says Interest Rates Dampen 2025 Outlook
A Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. executive told investors that, while the real estate investment trust had "solid results" in the fourth quarter, high interest rates and other economic factors are poised to slow its growth in 2025.
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February 07, 2025
Judge Sides With Ga. Railroad In Eminent Domain Battle
A Georgia state court judge sided Thursday with a railroad company in an eminent domain fight with residents opposing the construction of a rail spur through their property, upholding a Georgia Public Service Commission ruling that gave the green light to the condemnation.
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February 07, 2025
Under The Radar: Bankruptcy News You May Have Missed
A onetime financial adviser to UpHealth is opposing the debtor's Chapter 11 plan, Hearthside Food Solutions' official committee of unsecured creditors has balked at the company's executive bonus proposal in bankruptcy, and one-time investors in defunct real estate investment firm RealtyShares willingly dismissed a suit against the firm's former directors, litigation that had outlived the firm's Chapter 7 by more than a year.
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February 07, 2025
Ballard Spahr Prepares Move To New Downtown Denver Office
Ballard Spahr LLP plans to move 60 of its attorneys and other employees to a new downtown Denver office in August, having signed an 11-year lease for 19,000 square feet of space, the law firm announced Friday.
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February 07, 2025
Katten Real Estate Partner Joins Greenberg Traurig In Chicago
Greenberg Traurig LLP has added former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP partner Daniel Elrod as a shareholder in its Chicago real estate practice, bringing experience advising debt funds, life insurance companies and institutional lenders on a variety of deals.
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February 07, 2025
Aztec Fund To Sell 3 Office Buildings To Settle Ch. 11 Dispute
Private equity investment group Aztec Fund told a Texas bankruptcy judge Friday it will sell three office buildings and aim to liquidate through Chapter 11 to resolve a dispute over the insolvency case with Bank of America.
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February 07, 2025
2 RE Execs, Brother Assaulted 60 Women, Feds Say
Three brothers from Florida, including two prominent real estate executives, denied sex-trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court Friday alleging they conspired to drug and rape women, as a prosecutor said the authorities have interviewed over 60 victims.
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February 06, 2025
Atlanta Can't Dodge Suit Over Foiled Starbucks Development
The City of Atlanta can't dodge allegations from a property owner that it illegally condemned a disused fast food joint, and in doing so foiled his plans to redevelop the land into a Starbucks coffee shop, a Georgia federal judge said Thursday.
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February 06, 2025
Policyholder Attys See Calif. Smoke Case As Boon For LA
Smoke-damaged businesses in Los Angeles could benefit from a California federal court decision in January that likened smoke to asbestos, while differentiating smoke from viruses for insurance coverage purposes, according to policyholder attorneys.
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February 06, 2025
SL Green, RXR To Appeal NYC Office Renovation Funds Fight
A joint venture between SL Green Realty Corp. and RXR Realty plans to appeal a New York state court finding that an affiliate of the mostly defunct New York REIT can do what it wants with a $90.7 million pot set aside for major renovations of the jointly owned Worldwide Plaza.
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February 06, 2025
Pot Co. Jushi Can't End Rival Shop's Antitrust Claims
Cannabis distributor Jushi Holdings could plausibly be shown to have taken advantage of a Massachusetts town's retail marijuana permitting process and conspired with the sellers of a shop it purchased in 2021 to block a competitor from opening nearby, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled.
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February 06, 2025
Nixon Peabody Adds Greenberg Glusker Cannabis Co-Chair
Nixon Peabody LLP is boosting its West Coast litigation team, bringing in a former federal prosecutor, who was most recently the founder and co-chair of the cannabis practice at Greenberg Glusker LLP, as a partner in its Los Angeles office.
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February 06, 2025
PFAS Landscape Likely To Change Again In 2025, Atty Says
Property developers were thrown into a new regulatory landscape in 2024 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated two PFAS as hazardous substances, but there appears to be even more upheaval on the horizon.
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February 06, 2025
Fried Frank Advises Carr Properties On Freshfields' DC Move
New York law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP agreed to take three floors as it moves to a new office in Washington, D.C., with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP advising landlord Carr Properties on the deal.
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February 05, 2025
Loeb & Loeb Real Estate Leaders Eye Tariff Mitigation
In the first in a series of Q&As on the Trump administration’s tariffs and their impact on the U.S. construction industry, Law360 Real Estate Authority chatted with two experts at Loeb & Loeb LLP.
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February 05, 2025
Seattle Garage Not Covered For Deadly Shooting, Insurer Says
An insurer said Wednesday that it does not owe the owners of Seattle's "sinking ship" public garage coverage in an underlying wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a man fatally shot while parking his car at the downtown facility.
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February 05, 2025
Judge Won't Pause Crowdfunding Case After Fraud Indictment
A target of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first crowdfunding enforcement action can't pause that three-year-old case to defend himself against unrelated charges that he ran a pump-and-dump scheme with a hallucinogenic mushroom company, a Michigan judge ruled Wednesday.
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February 05, 2025
Nixon Peabody Taps Ex-Faegre Drinker Environmental Atty
Nixon Peabody LLP hired a former Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP environmental attorney for the firm's New York City office.
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February 05, 2025
Alaska Sues In DC Over Tribe's Anchorage Gaming Hall
The state of Alaska is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior and an Alaska Native tribe in D.C. federal court, seeking to wipe out a series of agency decisions the state says upended jurisdictional authority over Alaska lands and authorized the tribe to operate a gaming hall in Anchorage.
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February 05, 2025
Insurers Sued Over $8M In Water Damage At Wash. Condos
Farmers and Western National have allegedly breached their property insurance policies by refusing to cover nearly $8 million in hidden water damage at two Seattle-area condominium complexes, according to separate complaints filed by the condo owners associations.
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February 05, 2025
Real Estate Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP advised on deals including Signature Bank's loan sale, two mega multifamily portfolio sales and the rise of an ultra-luxury tower in New York City in 2024, placing the firm among the 2024 Law360 Real Estate Groups of the Year.
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February 05, 2025
Construction Group Of The Year: Orrick
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP guided New York City's Department of Design and Construction as lead counsel on the development of the agency's design-build program, which includes a $13 billion project to replace Rikers Island with community-based jails by using a novel project delivery method for the city, earning the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Construction Groups of the Year.
Expert Analysis
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Webuild Ruling Complicates Arb. Award Enforcement In US
A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Sociedad Concesionaria Metropolitana de Salud v. Webuild, if read literally, could undercut the United States' image as a proarbitration jurisdiction by complicating creditors' efforts to enforce awards against property in this country, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.
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How To Avoid A Costly CPA Limitation Hidden In Most Leases
The lease audit rights clause is a seemingly innocuous provision in most commercial real estate leases that ends up costing tenants millions of dollars each year, as they have unwittingly agreed to retain only an accountant to investigate and settle financial issues, says Jason Aster at KBA Lease Services.
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Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.
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Smith's New Trump Indictment Is Case Study In Superseding
Special counsel Jack Smith’s recently revised Jan. 6 charges against former President Donald Trump provide lessons for prosecutors on how to effectively draft superseding indictments in order to buttress or streamline their case, as necessary, says Jessica Roth at Cardozo Law School.
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Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art
Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Climate Among Many Factors Driving Up RE Insurance Costs
A proactive approach to risk management may determine the viability of the U.S. commercial real estate sector as weather crises and other factors drive insurance costs higher, says Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation
James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.
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A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY
A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.
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Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives
As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.
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Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords
Large retail tenants often require co-tenancy provisions in their leases, entitling them to remedies if a shopping center's occupancy drops in certain ways, but landlords must draft these provisions carefully to avoid giving tenants too much control, says Gary Glick at Cox Castle.