Commercial

  • May 23, 2025

    Calif. Developer Duped Churchgoers In $46M Scam, Feds Say

    A Sonoma, California, real estate developer faces federal wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with claims he duped hundreds of would-be investors — some of whom are described in court filings as elderly members of his church congregation — into giving him over $46 million as purported investments in certain real estate limited partnerships that their funds were never actually invested in.

  • May 23, 2025

    X Corp. Hit With $8.2M Judgment Over Colo. Lease Breach

    A Colorado state judge on Friday found that X Corp. violated a lease and ordered the company to pay more than $8.2 million in unpaid rent and other costs, citing testimony from a former employee that the social media company stopped making rent payments on various leases as a "renegotiating tactic."

  • May 23, 2025

    Judge Skeptical Of Harm In Recall Of Tribe's Gambling Eligibility

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday signaled concerns with the Interior Department's decision to revoke a California tribe's gambling eligibility for a casino-resort project in the Bay Area, but said that the tribe faces an uphill battle in establishing the irreparable harm needed to secure a preliminary injunction.

  • May 23, 2025

    Fed Board Recommends Dumping 11 Buildings To Save $5.4B

    A federal board set up to help the U.S. General Services Administration find properties that are no longer needed has suggested the agency divest four federal buildings in Washington, D.C., and others in six cities, along with consolidating a lease, to save $5.4 billion in total.

  • May 23, 2025

    Jurisdiction Issue Revives Challenges To Conn. Foreclosures

    A Connecticut trial court must address three trusts' challenges to its jurisdiction over the tax foreclosures of their properties, a state appeals court ruled, saying the lower court failed to tackle the issue in ruling against the trusts.

  • May 23, 2025

    NC Biz Court Serves Up Wins In Real Estate Commission Fight

    North Carolina's business court gave a food service company and a real estate broker partial wins in their ongoing commission dispute, ruling that the broker is entitled to commissions on transactions it has not been paid for but cannot require the food firm to use it for future deals.

  • May 23, 2025

    Guggenheim-Backed Housing Proposal Upheld In SC

    A South Carolina federal judge upheld a 9,000-unit housing plan brought in part by heirs of the Guggenheim family on the Cainhoy Peninsula near Charleston, finding federal authorities properly considered environmental effects of the development.

  • May 23, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Troutman, A&O Shearman

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone acquires TXNM Energy, OpenAI buys io Products, Lumen Technologies sells its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states to AT&T, and AMD sells its data center infrastructure manufacturing business to Sanmina.

  • May 23, 2025

    Ohio Board Denies Tax Break For City's Rented Office Building

    An office building owned by an Ohio city's economic development entity isn't exempt from property taxes because the property is controlled by a nonprofit that leases space to for-profit businesses, the state Board of Tax Appeals ruled.

  • May 23, 2025

    NJ Assembly OKs Requiring State Buyback Of Unused Credits

    New Jersey's tax agency would be required to purchase certain unused tax credits for real estate development projects under a bill passed by the state Assembly.

  • May 22, 2025

    Student Housing Firm Lands $500M Wells Fargo Refi

    Student housing company Global Student Accommodation, or GSA, said on May 22 it had secured $500 million in refinancing from Wells Fargo Bank for a group of 23 properties in 14 states.

  • May 22, 2025

    Rehab Greenhouse Violated Zoning Rules, Conn. Justices Say

    A drug rehab center's attempt to operate a 2,100-square-foot plastic greenhouse as a therapy facility on a northwestern Connecticut farm was an impermissible expansion of a previous nonconforming land use, the state's highest court ruled Thursday, overturning the center's earlier appellate court victory in a zoning dispute.

  • May 22, 2025

    State Greenlights Fried Frank-Guided NYC Resi Conversion

    The Empire State Development Corp.'s board of directors voted Thursday to approve RXR and Apollo Global Management's massive office-to-residential conversion in New York's Times Square, a project advised by Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

  • May 22, 2025

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Fried Frank and Kramer Levin are among the law firms that scored work on the largest New York City real estate deals to hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only five matters above the $20 million mark become public.

  • May 22, 2025

    Coalition Backs Calif. Tribe's Fight Over $700M Casino Project

    A coalition of tribes weighed in on a dispute over the federal government's decision to rescind gambling eligibility for the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians' $700 million casino project, questioning the federal government's perceived acquiescence to pushback from other tribes.

  • May 22, 2025

    Trustee Alleges Developer Sold Gas Rights To Avoid Creditors

    A bankrupt developer sold its oil and gas rights to an affiliated company for only $100 per parcel in order to keep them from becoming part of the bankruptcy estate, the estate's trustee has claimed in an adversary complaint.

  • May 22, 2025

    NYC Landlord Pinnacle Files Ch. 11, Claiming $500M-Plus Debt

    A group of entities for New York landlord Pinnacle Group has filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court, claiming at least $500 million in assets and liabilities on a portfolio of 82 holding companies.

  • May 22, 2025

    Ore. Lawmakers OK Renewed Historic Preservation Credit

    An expired Oregon tax credit for historic preservation would be reauthorized and limited to commercial properties under legislation passed by the state Senate and headed to the governor.

  • May 21, 2025

    Developers' Lawyers Vying For NY Casino Licenses

    The contest to win a license for a full casino in New York City is heating up.

  • May 21, 2025

    Intel Investors Say They Fixed Suit Over Chipmaking Woes

    Intel Corp. investors say a California federal judge should reject the company's bid to dismiss a suit claiming it concealed problems in its domestic computer chipmaking business, arguing they have fixed all potential deficiencies in the suit that previously led to its dismissal.

  • May 21, 2025

    Pullman & Comley Hospitality Leader On Travel, Taxes, Tariffs

    Hotel owners are cautiously awaiting more clarity on what tariffs will look like going forward, and in the meantime, companies are reluctant to commit to new projects or renovations, Pullman & Comley's hospitality leader recently told Law360.

  • May 21, 2025

    Industry Group-Backed Bill Would Override NY Scaffold Law

    A bill introduced Wednesday would seek to supersede New York's Scaffold Law on federal projects, in a move to limit the scope of the longstanding rule that makes contractors and project owners strictly liable for the fall-related deaths of construction workers.

  • May 21, 2025

    Montana Reduces Taxes On Residential, Commercial Property

    Montana will lower taxes on residential and commercial property, provide property tax rebates to homeowners and implement other changes to the state's property tax regime under legislation signed by the governor.

  • May 21, 2025

    What The 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Proposes For Opportunity Zones

    As Congress moves forward with the budget reconciliation bill, one program that has been popular with investors and was meant to spur development in low-income neighborhoods could receive a makeover if the One Big Beautiful Bill Act becomes law.

  • May 21, 2025

    2025 Law Firm Leasing Begins Strong, Report Shows

    U.S. law firms are on pace to surpass 2024's record-setting leasing activity, ending the first quarter of 2025 with 3.4 million square feet of new or renewed leases throughout the country, according to newly released data.

Expert Analysis

  • NY CRE Lenders Need Clarity On Foreclosure Standing

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    Recent contradictory New York case law regarding issues of standing in commercial real estate litigation creates confusion for borrowers and lenders alike, and should be addressed by courts in advance of the anticipated onslaught of commercial mortgage-backed securities foreclosures, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Rosenberg & Estis.

  • Adjusting Deals To Reflect Shifts In The CRE Market

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    As the commercial real estate market strengthens and moves out from a challenging time, industry participants should consider any concessions made due to recent trends and update transaction documents accordingly before entering into new deals, says Alexander Davis at Mayer Brown.

  • 4 International Arbitration Trends To Monitor In 2024

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    Global growth slowed substantially in 2023, and may continue into 2024 due to geopolitical instability, which could fuel four key trends in international arbitration in the coming year, including investor-state and commercial arbitration, an increase in arbitration out of China, and more, say Gregory Litt and Sharmistha Chakrabarti at Skadden.

  • How DOI Aims To Modernize Resource Damage Assessments

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    The U.S. Department of the Interior's recent proposal to redesign its Type A rule for conducting natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities could lead to a more streamlined, flexible assessment process that would benefit both natural resource trustees and potentially responsible parties, says Brian Ferrasci-O'Malley at Nossaman.

  • Key Issues When Navigating A Tenant's Bankruptcy

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    In light of recent Chapter 11 filings by Rite Aid and WeWork — companies with thousands of commercial leases — practitioners should review issues that can arise when bankruptcy is used to exit a lease, including the consequences of lease rejection and the statutory cap on landlord damage claims for a rejected lease, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security

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    In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Sale-Leasebacks May Provide A Safe Financing Alternative

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    Amid rising interest rates and unpredictable market conditions, sale-leasebacks can be a useful investment option for both buyers and sellers, though their potential drawbacks demand careful consideration, says Chanel Di Blasi at Crosbie Gliner.

  • 5 Recent Developments Family Offices Are Watching In 2024

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    Although family offices have long been exempt from many of the more onerous regulations and reporting requirements governing U.S. investment advisers and asset managers, recent amendments to federal rules will have an impact on how family offices invest and operate in 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • A Challenging CRE Environment Holds Opportunities In 2024

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    As the commercial real estate market faces reduced occupancy levels and rising financing costs, the new landscape will be favorable to those who can leverage capital, strategic vision and expertise to meet challenges like taking on distressed properties and converting office space to residential use, say Nesa Amamoo and Vered Rabia at Skadden.

  • What The 2023 Bank Failures Taught Us, And What's To Come

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    As 2023 draws to a close, it's apparent that the bank failures this past spring sparked a seismic shift in the regulatory and supervisory landscape for banking organizations, and the consequences are still continuing to be felt throughout the financial sector as we head into 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • A Difficult Year For CRE, But Future May Be Brighter

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    2023 was a challenging year for the commercial real estate industry, marked by significant uncertainty, but market pressure and signs of rising interest rates provide some reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the year ahead as pandemic headwinds and gridlock fade away, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • 3 Developments That Will Affect Hospitality Companies In 2024

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    As the hospitality industry continues its post-pandemic recovery, it faces both challenges and opportunities to thrive in 2024, including navigating new labor rules, developing branded residential living spaces and cautiously embracing artificial intelligence, says Lauren Stewart at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What WeWork's Ch. 11 Filing Means For Landlords

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    WeWork’s recent Chapter 11 filing in New Jersey has the potential to be one of the most consequential cases in the real estate industry in many years, and presents a number of issues for landlords, including unexpired leases, assumption, assignment and more, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.