Commercial

  • May 12, 2025

    Will Justices Finally Rein In Universal Injunctions?

    The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to address for the first time Thursday the propriety of universal injunctions, a tool federal judges have increasingly used to broadly halt presidential orders and policy initiatives, and whose validity has haunted the high court's merits and emergency dockets for more than a decade.

  • May 12, 2025

    Akin Adds Ex-Mayer Brown Real Estate Funds, M&A Partners

    Former Mayer Brown LLP partners Wendy Dodson Gallegos and Jason Wagenmaker have moved to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to advise the firm's real estate fund formation and mergers and acquisitions practices, according to a Monday announcement. 

  • May 12, 2025

    Bradley Arant Faces DQ Bid In Georgia Mall Rent Dispute

    A mall has urged a Georgia federal judge to disqualify Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP from representing a tenant in an unpaid rent dispute, arguing that the law firm has a conflict of interest because it has represented the mall's sister corporation in similar litigation.

  • May 12, 2025

    Blackstone, King Street-Backed Firm Close $925M Debt Fund

    Colovore, an artificial intelligence data center operator backed by investment firm King Street Capital Management, said Monday that it has raised $925 million in financing from Blackstone funds for new development projects.

  • May 12, 2025

    Blackstone Gets More Time For Warehouse REIT Offer

    Britain's mergers and acquisitions watchdog has handed the U.S. private equity shop Blackstone more time to make a firm offer for Warehouse REIT, the U.K. company said Monday, after Blackstone reduced its £489 million ($646 million) price tag for the real estate investor.

  • May 09, 2025

    NY Developer Denied More Time To Pay SEC $229M Settlement

    A New York federal judge denied a motion by a real estate developer and his wife to extend the deadline for a $229.6 million payment required under a consent judgment with the SEC to settle claims they had schemed to raise money from hundreds of Chinese investors using false statements.

  • May 09, 2025

    New Orleans Wants Out Of Airbnb's Short-Term Rentals Suit

    New Orleans urged a Louisiana federal court on Friday to toss a suit brought by Airbnb Inc. and multiple property owners challenging several of the city's short-term rental ordinances.

  • May 09, 2025

    Vanbarton Plans Resi Conversion Of NYC Catholic Office

    Real estate firm Vanbarton Group has submitted plans for a residential conversion of the Archdiocese of New York's former Midtown East headquarters building, according to documents filed this week.

  • May 09, 2025

    Invcesco REIT Closes First CRE-CLO Fund With $1.2B

    An Invesco real estate investment trust said Friday that it closed its first commercial real estate collateralized loan obligation at $1.2 billion, secured by a mix of multifamily and industrial loans.

  • May 09, 2025

    Seritage Shareholder Sues Over $325M Portfolio Value Loss

    The current and former leadership of Seritage Growth Properties was hit with a derivative shareholder suit in New York federal court, alleging the real estate company's executives caused Seritage's stock value to drop by failing to fix deficient financial reporting and devaluing its portfolio by $325 million.

  • May 09, 2025

    NY Developer Cops To Stealing $13M From Investors

    A real estate developer pled guilty in New York federal court Friday to using sham projects to solicit $13 million from investors to make up for a downturn in legitimate business.

  • May 09, 2025

    Lucosky Brookman Faces Malpractice Suit Over NYC Site Sale

    Lucosky Brookman LLP, a boutique corporate finance and securities firm, was hit with a malpractice suit in New Jersey state court by a former client alleging the firm failed to warn it about a decades-old agreement that would restrict its ability to build on a New York City site.

  • May 09, 2025

    Shutts & Bowen Eyes Sanctions Over Country Club Sale Suit

    Florida firm Shutts & Bowen LLP is continuing its pushback against a real estate corporation's malpractice lawsuit alleging it sank the sale of a country club, this time serving a motion for sanctions in the state court.

  • May 09, 2025

    Condo Counsel Disqualified In Suit Against Miami Hotel Owner

    A Miami judge disqualified a law firm from representing a condo association in claims against a hotel owned by Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega due to the firm's work for the hotel on an unrelated case.

  • May 09, 2025

    Minn. Court Increases Prior Valuation Of Parking Lot By $900K

    The Minnesota Tax Court increased the market valuation of a parking lot by $900,000 after reopening the record and adjusting the reversion rate to reflect the record, resulting in a slightly higher valuation. 

  • May 09, 2025

    CoStar To Buy Australian PropTech Co. In $1.9B Deal

    Commercial real estate analytics provider CoStar Group announced its plans to buy Australian proptech company Domain Holdings Australia Ltd., wrapping up a deal guided by Gilbert + Tobin that values the company at nearly 3 billion Australian dollars ($1.9 billion) in total.

  • May 08, 2025

    Ex-Brookfield Leader Says He Was Fired For Whistleblowing

    A former managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management lobbed wrongful termination and defamation claims at his former employer Thursday, claiming that he was fired for refusing to accept a bribe and for filing a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • May 08, 2025

    CEO Stole Funds To Fuel 'Gambling Habit', Investor Says

    An investor in a cybersecurity company has claimed in a new suit that the company's CEO defrauded the investor out of more than $2.8 million through falsified budgets and other means, all to support a "lavish" lifestyle and "severe gambling habit."

  • May 08, 2025

    Pa. Diner Can't Get Tax Sale Axed Over Price Hike, Panel Says

    A diner in a resort in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains can't duck a tax sale over the final sale price of the diner property being higher than originally advertised, a state appellate panel said in a precedential ruling Thursday.

  • May 08, 2025

    Bain, Oliver Street Pick Up $208M Industrial Portfolio

    A joint venture between Bain Capital Real Estate and Oliver Street Capital completed a $208 million "private, off-market" deal to acquire a portfolio of Northern New Jersey industrial properties, according to a May 8 announcement.

  • May 08, 2025

    Miami Atty Joins Arbitration Place After US Expansion

    A Miami attorney has joined the roster of decision-makers at Arbitration Place tasked with helping settle international legal disputes out of court following the company's recent expansion to the U.S.

  • May 08, 2025

    Coverage Uncertain For LA Fire Soil Remediation, Pros Say 

    Dangerous toxins are being detected in the soil around homes affected by the Los Angeles fires, but experts say that insurance coverage for soil remediation would likely be limited, even if certain policies or provisions could offer some compensation.

  • May 08, 2025

    NC Ophthalmologist Owes Ex-Partner Office Building Cash

    The North Carolina Business Court has ruled that an ophthalmologist who agreed to buy out his former business partner's share of their practice must pay the former partner 36% of the value of their office building under the terms of their confidential settlement agreement.

  • May 08, 2025

    11th Circ. Judge Frowns On New Arguments In Easement Case

    An Eleventh Circuit judge disapproved of a Georgia partnership raising new arguments on appeal as it pursues a tax deduction for a conservation easement donation, saying Thursday that perhaps "we wouldn't be here" if the partnership had argued the points before the lower court.

  • May 08, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Developer's I-20 Truck Stop Suit Out Of Gas

    The Eleventh Circuit has backed a district court's dismissal of a property owner's suit challenging a metro Atlanta county ordinance that for years blocked him from developing his land into a QuikTrip gas station, ruling the county had a "rational basis" for its effective ban on new truck stops.

Expert Analysis

  • When Investment Banks Can Sell Real Estate In Calif.

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    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.

  • Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market

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    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.

  • Parsing FTC's Intercontinental-Black Knight Merger Challenge

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    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.

  • Effectual Relief Questions Linger After Section 363 Ruling

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    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.

  • 3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations

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    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.

  • Ga. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

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    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.

  • Sackett Ruling, 'Waters' Rule Fix Won't Dry Up Wetlands Suits

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    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.

  • Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

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    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.

  • NY, NJ Regs Give Clarity To Cannabis Investors, Ancillaries

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    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.

  • What To Expect From High Court's Whistleblower Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Murray v. UBS Securities will likely have widespread implications for the future of anti-retaliation whistleblower litigation, and could make it more difficult for would-be whistleblower-employees to succeed on anti-retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, say Ann-Elizabeth Ostrager and Diane McGimsey at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • RICO Ruling Makes US More Attractive Foreign Creditor Forum

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin, allowing a foreign plaintiff to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to enforce a foreign arbitral award, will make judgment creditors more likely to seek out U.S. courts to remedy efforts to frustrate the enforcement of international arbitration awards, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • 5 Strategies For Restructuring Underperforming CRE Loans

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    With commercial real estate industry conditions expected to deteriorate further in the coming months, market participants should consider a number of strategies to help resolve challenged investments, ranging from financial restructurings to project phasing, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • Post-Ciminelli Predictions On Right-To-Control Convictions

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    The recent Second Circuit filings in Binday suggest that the government will fight to preserve its right-to-control convictions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Ciminelli decision, and offer clues about key issues that will drive post-Ciminelli litigation, say attorneys at Debevoise.