Commercial
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January 31, 2025
9th Circ. Affirms Mormon Church's Win In Tithing Fraud Case
The Ninth Circuit on Friday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a wealthy and prominent former member who claimed the church fraudulently used members' tithes to fund commercial projects — with one judge arguing the case should have been tossed on church autonomy grounds only.
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January 31, 2025
LA Fire Claims Tracker Reports More Than $4.2B In Payments
More than $4.2 billion in claims has been paid in connection with the devastating Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires in Los Angeles County that erupted in early January, according to data from a California Department of Insurance tracker.
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January 31, 2025
US Chamber Backs Exxon Suit Over Seized Cuba Property
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court to accept Exxon Mobil Corp.'s challenge of a D.C. Circuit decision that made it harder for the energy giant to seek damages over property that Fidel Castro's government confiscated decades ago in Cuba.
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January 31, 2025
Latham Guides $50M Bitcoin Mining Data Center Investment
Cipher Mining Inc., a data center company that focuses on bitcoin mining, announced a $50 million investment from SoftBank Corp. for the development of high-performance computing data centers in a deal guided by Latham & Watkins LLP.
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January 31, 2025
Supreme Court Eyes Its 'Next Frontier' In FCC Delegation Case
A case about broadband subsidies will give the U.S. Supreme Court the chance to revive a long-dormant separation of powers principle that attorneys say could upend regulations in numerous industries and trigger a power shift that would make last term's shake-up of federal agency authority pale in comparison. And a majority of the court already appears to support its resurrection.
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January 31, 2025
Owners Appeal Docs Order In Yale's $435M Hospital Sale Fight
Three companies that own property occupied by bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. hospitals in Connecticut have appealed a state trial court judge's order to provide documents to Yale New Haven Health in a fight over a $435 million purchase agreement.
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January 31, 2025
Property Plays: Surfside, Citadel, El Tropicano
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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January 31, 2025
Weyerhaeuser Exec Says Tariffs Could Raise Lumber Prices
Hours before President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, Weyerhaeuser Co. CEO Devin Stockfish said such duties could push the cost of lumber imported from Canada higher.
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February 13, 2025
Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2025 Editorial Boards
Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2025 editorial advisory boards.
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January 31, 2025
NJ Event Venue Hits Ch. 11 After $11M Loan Foreclosure
A New Jersey event venue under construction called The Chariot has filed for Chapter 11 protection in New Jersey after its bank took foreclosure action on its $11 million loan, with the business' co-owner saying the debtor launched the insolvency proceedings to get some "breathing room" as it works toward opening the sprawling restaurant and catering space.
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January 31, 2025
NJ Firm Blasts Pier Investment Suit As 'Shameless Fiction'
Hankin Sandman Palladino Weintrob & Bell has urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a Garden State couple's legal malpractice lawsuit over their investment in an Atlantic City Boardwalk amusement park, arguing that their claims are barred by the state's entire controversy doctrine and are "premised on knowing falsities and fail on the merits."
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January 31, 2025
Data Centers Blur Lines At BigLaw Firms
The rise in complex, hybrid data center deals is increasingly calling for real estate, infrastructure and private equity attorneys to work together and, in some cases, to combine their practice groups.
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January 31, 2025
NY Nursing Home Sale Request Delayed By Union Dispute
A bankrupt 588-bed Long Island nursing home Friday postponed its request that a New York bankruptcy judge approve the sale of its facility while its union workers and its proposed buyer try to work out the terms of their future contract.
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January 30, 2025
Hotel Guests Get Backing For Algorithmic Pricing Suit
Hotel guests accusing a group of Atlantic City properties of using shared software to fix room rates are getting a helping hand in their Third Circuit fight to revive their suit from antimonopoly interest groups, who filed in separate amicus briefs in support of their effort this week.
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January 30, 2025
Industrial Services PE Firm Lands $425M For Debut Fund
An industrial services-focused private equity firm, guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, said Jan. 30 it wrapped its inaugural fund with $425 million in tow.
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January 30, 2025
Trump Tariffs Could Raise LA Fire Insurance Recovery Costs
Large new tariffs under the second Trump administration could increase the cost of recovery efforts in Los Angeles for a series of major fires that are already expected to come with record-setting expenses for the insurance industry, according to experts.
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January 30, 2025
Historic Soda Co. Says Ex-Officer's Lease Suit Is 'Revenge'
Foxon Park Beverages Inc., a century-old soft drink maker in Connecticut, has asked a state court judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it entered into an unfair lease agreement with another company owned by the same family, arguing that the entities' former president brought it for an improper purpose.
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January 30, 2025
Agency In NJ Town Loses Retrial Bid In $26M Land-Taking Fight
A New Jersey federal judge has denied a redevelopment agency's bid for a new trial in a land-taking battle after a jury determined it should pay $25.6 million for a 22-acre former Michelin Tire & Rubber Co. factory, ruling that it failed to meet the high bar set to overturn a verdict.
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January 30, 2025
Fla. Board OKs $450M Plan To Build Acute Care Hospital
A Florida hospital board gave the green light for a $450 million plan to build a six-story, "hurricane-hardened" acute care hospital in North Port, Florida, that's expected to start operating in fall 2028, the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System announced.
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January 30, 2025
Croatia Fends Off 2nd Claim Over Luxury Golf Resort
Croatia has prevailed in a second claim initiated by an Israeli investor in a proposed development of luxury villas, hotels and golf courses after an international tribunal ruled Wednesday that the case repeated previously rejected claims, the country's counsel said.
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January 30, 2025
Crypto Cos. Seek $6.3M From Travelers Over Building Fire
A pair of cryptocurrency mining companies accused two Travelers units of exacerbating their fire loss, telling a Michigan federal court that they negligently allowed individuals to steal their mining machines and hired a debris removal contractor that caused the property to collapse, seeking more than $6.3 million in damages.
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January 30, 2025
MoFo Guides Welltower's $900M Senior Living REIT Deal
Healthcare real estate investment trust Welltower Inc. plans to acquire NorthStar Healthcare Income Inc., a senior living facility REIT, in a $900 million deal led by Morrison Foerster LLP.
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January 30, 2025
Fla. Firm's $1M Loan Dispute Returns To NJ State Court
A New Jersey federal judge has remanded a suit accusing a Florida firm and a lender of fraudulently inducing an investor to make a down payment of more than $1 million on a loan that never materialized, according to a Thursday court order.
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January 30, 2025
Blackstone Bullish On Data Center Demand As AI Evolves
Trillion-dollar asset management firm Blackstone Inc. said it had one of the best quarters in the firm's history in a call with analysts on Thursday, and although real estate was not a bright spot, the firm touted its private credit business and data center demand despite competing Chinese artificial intelligence.
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January 30, 2025
Gov't Urges High Court To OK 2nd 'Buffalo Billion' Trial
The federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear the way for a second trial in a public corruption case tied to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" development initiative, saying prosecutors should be allowed to pursue charges under a different theory after the justices undid the original convictions.
Expert Analysis
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Appeals Court Revisits Leases' Tax Effects
With better facts and greater emphasis on the Kentucky Constitution, Walgreen Co. may succeed in its latest Kentucky Court of Appeals challenge to a tax assessor's method of valuing leaseholds on real property for purposes of determining ad valorem tax, say Mark Sommer and Elizabeth Ethington at Frost Brown Todd.
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Utilizing Liability Exemption When Calif. Cities Lease Property
With rising costs pushing California municipalities to lease real estate assets instead of purchasing them, municipalities should review the ample case law that supports certain exceptions to California Constitution Section 18(a) requirements, providing that certain long-term lease obligations are not considered to be liabilities, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.
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How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry
In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.
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A Checklist For Lenders Preparing For CRE Loan Defaults
Considering the recent interest rate environment, lenders should brush up on the proper steps that they should take when preparing to respond to a borrower's default on a commercial real estate loan, and borrowers should understand what lenders will be reviewing, says attorney Norma Williams.
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors
Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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The Often Overlooked NY Foreclosure Notice Requirements
As multifamily real estate defaults mount, New York foreclosing parties should be aware of pitfalls and perils that can await the litigant who is not prepared to ensure adherence with tenant notice requirements under the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Rosenberg & Estis.
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A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers
With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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Lower Courts May Finally Be Getting The Memo After Ciminelli
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court again limited prosecutors' overbroad theories of fraud in Ciminelli v. U.S., early returns suggest that the message has at least partially landed with the lower courts, spotlighting lessons for defense counsel moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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A Framework For Investigating Commercial Loan Fraud
As commercial loan transactions are increasingly subject to sophisticated fraud schemes, lenders must adopt dynamic strategies to detect, investigate and mitigate these schemes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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Yellow Corp. Lease Assumption Shows Landlord Protections
Yellow Corp.’s recent filing of a motion to assume unexpired leases is a helpful reminder to practitioners to maintain a long-term approach about what is most beneficial for an estate and to not let a debtor's short-term cash position dictate business decisions, says Kyle Arendsen at Squire Patton.
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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The Clock Is Ticking For Fla. Construction Defect Claims
Ahead of the fast-approaching July 1 deadline for filing construction defect claims in Florida, Sean Ravenel at Foran Glennon discusses how the state's new statute of repose has changed the timeline, and highlights several related issues that property owners should be aware of.