Commercial
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April 15, 2025
Mich. Tribunal Rejects Hotel's Challenge To $10M Valuation
A hotel owned by a Hilton franchisee was valued at $10 million by the Michigan Tax Tribunal, agreeing with a local assessor and reducing a previous valuation by $2.2 million but rejecting a further reduction sought by the owner.
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April 15, 2025
NY Panel Finds 'Lockbox' Suit Differs From Hotel Foreclosure
A split New York state appeals court has found that U.S. Bank can pursue its litigation seeking to seize a "lockbox" of rent payments for a Manhattan hotel, with one justice arguing in a dissent that the instant lawsuit improperly duplicates a related but separate foreclosure action.
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April 15, 2025
DC Maintains, Expands Tax Exemptions For NBA, NHL Arena
The District of Columbia maintained and expanded tax breaks for the property and airspace of Capital One Arena, home to the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals, as part of legislation that became law, according to a notice published in the district's register.
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April 15, 2025
Moye White Says It Was Evicted To Make Way For Tech Co.
Defunct law firm Moye White LLP is fighting back in Colorado state court against its Denver landlord's nearly $4 million lawsuit, alleging in counterclaims that the landlord unlawfully evicted the firm and its subtenants from a downtown office building in order to make room for a technology business.
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April 15, 2025
Giordano Halleran Nabs Real Estate Pro For NJ Expansion
Giordano Halleran & Ciesla PC announced that the firm has added a commercial real estate transaction pro as shareholder, who is spearheading the firm's opening of an office in northern New Jersey.
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April 14, 2025
Expedia Defends Cuban Island Bookings In Helms-Burton Trial
The former manager of Expedia's Cuba group took the stand Monday to defend the travel company's actions offering reservations for resorts on an island off the coast of Cuba that a Cuban-American man says was stolen from his family by Fidel Castro's government, telling jurors the company worked to comply with constantly changing regulations related to travel to Cuba.
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April 14, 2025
6th Circ. Upends Oil Co.'s Injunction Against Ohio Landowner
The Sixth Circuit on Monday reversed a district court's preliminary injunction that gave EOG Resources Inc. access to the surface of an Ohio deer hunting site for drilling operations, saying the injunction didn't prevent injury to EOG but actually caused the owner of the property irreparable harm.
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April 14, 2025
4th Circ. Partly Backs $3.8M Award In 'Dickensian' Lease Row
The Fourth Circuit on Monday partly affirmed and partly vacated a $3.8 million costs and fees award stemming from a soured lease agreement for a commercial building in Baltimore, potentially concluding more than 14 years of what the panel described as "Dickensian litigation."
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April 14, 2025
Allianz Unit Challenges Augusta Golf Club's $2.4M Award
Allianz SE subsidiary Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. on Friday asked a federal judge to strike down a $2.4 million storm damage appraisal in favor of an Augusta, Georgia, golf club that the insurer said goes far beyond what it agreed to cover.
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April 14, 2025
Northwind Lends $90M To Fund 32-Story NYC Office Deal
Northwind Group, a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm, has provided a $90 million senior first-mortgage loan for a joint venture's acquisition and pre-development of a 32-story, Class A New York City office building that is planned to be converted into apartments, according to a statement.
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April 14, 2025
Developer Buys 1.2M Square Feet Of Texas Industrial Space
Hillwood Investment Properties announced that the industrial real estate company has recently acquired four buildings spanning about 1.2 million square feet across the greater Dallas-Forth Worth metropolitan area.
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April 14, 2025
NJ Casino To Wrap Up Hotel Refresh With $50M In Upgrades
Ocean Casino Resort on Monday said it is planning more than $50 million in improvements to its Atlantic City, New Jersey, property this year that will add 500 new hotel rooms.
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April 14, 2025
Real Estate-Focused SPAC Prepares For $200M IPO
Special purpose acquisition company Timber Road Acquisition Corp. filed documents on Monday that outlined its plans for a $200 million initial public offering in search of merger targets in real estate and consumer industries, with Reed Smith LLP representing the company and Loeb & Loeb LLP as counsel for an underwriter.
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April 14, 2025
Pierson Ferdinand Adds Real Estate Litigator To Philly Office
Pierson Ferdinand LLP continued to grow its Philadelphia roster with the recent addition of a real estate attorney, the firm's second lateral hire in the city in less than a week.
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April 14, 2025
Jacksonville Office Market On The Rebound, CBRE Says
The office market in Jacksonville, Florida, is rebounding because of a major jump in transactions in Q1 2025, CBRE said in a recent report.
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April 14, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Simpson Thacher and Seyfarth Shaw are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate transactions that hit public records last week, a period that saw sizable transactions across three boroughs.
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April 14, 2025
Ala. High Court Says Condo Incorrectly Classified
An Alabama condominium unit owned by a limited liability company was put in the wrong property class by a trial court, the state's Supreme Court said, because it was not exclusively used as a dwelling by the LLC.
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April 14, 2025
Broward Industrial Demand Steady Even As New Projects Stall
A 15-year streak of positive net absorption in Broward County, Florida's industrial market continued in the first quarter in a sign of resilience, even as development activity tailed off, with no new groundbreakings to start 2025, according to CBRE.
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April 11, 2025
GAO Backs Feds' Setback, Co-Location Terms In Lease Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the General Services Administration reasonably set colocation and setback requirements in a request for lease proposals to house several agencies in one Wilmington, North Carolina, building, denying a protest that challenged the terms as unnecessary and overly restrictive.
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April 11, 2025
Investor Properly Obtained Tax Liens, Conn. Justices Rule
An investor specializing in tax liens properly obtained assignments from a Connecticut city before seeking to force a social club's property into a foreclosure sale, the state's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, criticizing how the case unfolded and clarifying a lower ruling that muddied the burden of proof.
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April 11, 2025
Seattle Port Says Housing Project 'Poor Fit' In Industrial Core
The Port of Seattle has gone to court to block a rezoning ordinance that allows nearly 1,000 new residential units near the city's sports stadiums, a project the port said threatens to snarl the nearby movement of cargo from a seaport that is a key driver of the region's economy.
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April 11, 2025
Ga. Law Firm Says Lender's Malpractice Suit Is Doomed
An Atlanta real estate law firm has urged a federal judge to toss a lender's legal malpractice suit alleging the firm bungled the paperwork of a $2 million closing, arguing the lawsuit fails to meet the most basic standard for such a claim — an existing attorney-client relationship.
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April 11, 2025
Greenspoon Marder Promotes 4 Attys To Partner
Full-service law firm Greenspoon Marder LLP promoted four attorneys in different offices to partner roles, the firm announced.
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April 11, 2025
Attorney Owners Of Pot Co. Accused Of $46M RICO Scheme
A Florida-based real estate lender is suing two attorneys with civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy in New York federal court, alleging they engaged in racketeering in connection with more than $46 million in loans intended to fund cannabis facilities they own in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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April 11, 2025
Philly Dispensary's $24.5M Award Upheld In Fraud Suit
A Philadelphia state court judge stood by her decision to award $24.5 million to the co-owner of a medical marijuana company who alleged her partners defrauded her by convincing her to reduce her ownership stake in the company without telling her it was up for sale, noting the trial court wasn't empowered to modify a money calculation it didn't make.
Expert Analysis
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A Smoother Process For CRE Receiverships In Conn.
A newly effective Connecticut law concerning distressed commercial real estate provides a number of opportunities and strategic considerations for creditors, and should be watched even by counsel in other states as adoption of the law could become more widespread, say John Loughnane and Steven Coury at White and Williams.
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What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief
Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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CRE Guidance Helps Lenders Work With Struggling Borrowers
In recognition of growing troubles with commercial real estate loans, four federal regulators' recently updated loan accommodations guidance provides a helpful framework for approaching loan workouts without the punitive results of adverse classifications, say Jaclyn Grodin and Muryum Khalid at Goulston & Storrs.
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NYC Cannabis Landlord Accountability Law Has Limitations
A recently passed bill in New York City, aiming to crack down on the illegal cannabis market by levying fines against landlords who knowingly lease to unlicensed sellers, contains loopholes that may potentially limit the bill’s impact and lead to unintended consequences, say attorneys at Falcon Rappaport.
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When Investment Banks Can Sell Real Estate In Calif.
When investment banks sell businesses that own property in California, they may run into trouble if they are not licensed real estate brokers, unless the property is merely incidental to the deal at hand, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market
Variable rate loans, which were an advantageous borrowing method prior to the recent Federal Reserve rate hikes and subsequent volatility, are now the difference between borrowers remaining current on their obligations and defaulting due to the sharply increasing debt service requirements of their loans, say attorneys at Cassin & Cassin.
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Parsing FTC's Intercontinental-Black Knight Merger Challenge
The Federal Trade Commission's recent Article III case challenging a merger between Intercontinental Exchange and Black Knight suggests the agency is using a structuralist approach to evaluate the merger's potential anti-competitive harm, says David Evans at Kelley Drye.
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Effectual Relief Questions Linger After Section 363 Ruling
In the months since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in MOAC Mall Holdings, courts and practitioners must grapple with the issue of what effectual relief courts may grant upon an appeal of an unstayed sale order, says Monique Jewett-Brewster at Hopkins Carley.
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3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations
With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Ga. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
Legislation signed into law in the second quarter of the year in Georgia tackled a broad range of issues that will affect financial institutions, from money laundering and consumer protection to commercial financing disclosures and a lengthy cleanup of the banking and finance code, says Elizabeth Garner at Parker Hudson.
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Sackett Ruling, 'Waters' Rule Fix Won't Dry Up Wetlands Suits
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency narrowing the scope of Clean Water Act protections, the Biden administration is amending its rule defining "waters of the United States" — but the revised rule will inevitably face further court challenges, continuing the WOTUS legal saga indefinitely, say attorneys at Milbank.
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Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.
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NY, NJ Regs Give Clarity To Cannabis Investors, Ancillaries
Proposed laws and regulations in New York and New Jersey would clarify some previously murky legal waters, thus expanding the ability of investors, lenders and ancillary service providers to work with marijuana business in these states, say David Waxman and Heidi Urness at McGlinchey Stafford.