Commercial
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June 10, 2025
Power Co. Asks Justices To Settle Split In Tribal Tax Dispute
Arizona courts were wrong to rule that an energy company located on tribal land is subject to property taxes, the company told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, urging it to address an "intolerable" state-federal split.
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June 10, 2025
Tribes' Effort To Overturn Ore. Casino Land Decision Halted
A D.C. federal court judge hit pause on a bid by three tribes to vacate the U.S. Department of the Interior's final determination and environmental impact statement in a dispute over the agency's decision to take land into trust for Oregon's Coquille Indian Tribe for a proposed casino project.
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June 10, 2025
LA Real Estate Agent Admits Obstructing IRS
A Los Angeles commercial real estate broker pled guilty to obstructing the Internal Revenue Service's attempts to collect thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes by willfully hiding his income and assets from the agency, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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June 10, 2025
Insurer Seeks Exit From Missouri Tree-Cutting Dispute
An insurer that separately insured a farm and a man accused by the farm of trespassing on its property and cutting down "valuable trees" told a Missouri federal court it should owe no coverage to the man, pointing to an exclusion for damage to vegetation.
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June 10, 2025
Foreign Investor Greenlit On Civitas' Hawaii EB-5 Resort
Dallas-based investment manager Civitas Capital Group said Tuesday that federal officials have approved a Chinese-based investor's contribution to Silverwest Hotels LLC's planned 210-room Hilton hotel on Kauai, Hawaii.
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June 10, 2025
Crane Owner Seeks To Shift Blame In Fatal Fla. Collapse
A Florida judge on Tuesday allowed Maxim Crane Works to try to shift blame to a fellow contractor facing a lawsuit over a crane collapse in downtown Fort Lauderdale that killed a worker and injured at least two other people.
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June 10, 2025
Amazon Plans To Invest $20B In Pennsylvania Data Centers
Amazon will invest $20 billion to build data center campuses in Pennsylvania and create 1,250 jobs, the state's governor announced.
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June 10, 2025
Denholtz Hires GC From Related's Property Management Arm
Denholtz announced that it has hired a new general counsel who joins from Related Cos.' property management arm and will assist the firm's capital markets, property management and asset management teams.
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June 10, 2025
Davis Wright Guides Bluespring Deal Creating $1.4B Firm
Bluespring Wealth Partners, advised by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, announced Tuesday it will buy a Texas-based wealth management firm affiliated with Kestra Financial and then merge it into its existing wealth management platform, LifeBridge Financial Group, establishing an investment advisory firm with $1.4 billion in assets under management.
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June 10, 2025
Petersen Health Ch. 11 Liquidation OK'd After $6.7M CEO Deal
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday signed off on nursing facility operator Petersen Health Care's Chapter 11 liquidation after the debtor reached a $6.7 million settlement agreement with its founder and CEO, overruling an objection by the U.S. Trustee's Office that argued approval of the plan would be premature.
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June 10, 2025
Biopharma Co. Unit Hopes To Shed Empty Facilities In Ch. 11
A subsidiary of biopharmaceutical manufacturer National Resilience Holdco Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday in Delaware bankruptcy court with a reorganization plan involving shutting down offices, manufacturing sites and labs it described as "underutilized."
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June 10, 2025
REIT Sunstone Unloads New Orleans Hotel Needing Refresh
California real estate investment trust Sunstone Hotel Investors said Monday that it has sold its Hilton New Orleans St. Charles hotel for $47 million as the property is due for a renovation.
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June 09, 2025
Mexico Fights $47M Award, Claims Treaty Misinterpreted
Mexico has urged the D.C. Circuit to overturn a lower court order instructing it to pay a $47 million arbitral award issued to a Canadian lender after Mexican courts failed to halt a purportedly fraudulent scheme that caused the cancellation of loans for three real estate development projects.
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June 09, 2025
3rd Circ. Rejects Ralph Lauren's COVID-19 Coverage Appeal
The Third Circuit on Monday rejected a consolidated appeal from Ralph Lauren Corp. and luggage retailers Tumi Inc. and Samsonite LLC over property insurance coverage for COVID-19-related losses, finding a New Jersey Supreme Court decision from January 2024 wholly settled the matter.
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June 09, 2025
Tax Court Backs Penalties In $24M Georgia Easement Feud
An Internal Revenue Service agent properly followed the procedure to secure timely supervisory approval to impose penalties against a partnership for incorrectly claiming a $24 million charitable tax deduction on its Georgia conservation easement donation, the U.S. Tax Court said Monday.
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June 09, 2025
NYC To Build Marine Terminal At Site Of Former Jail Barge
New York City officials announced plans Monday to build a marine terminal at the site of a decommissioned jail barge that's been sitting empty in Hunts Point since 2023 as part of an ongoing effort to encourage the transportation of goods via city waterways.
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June 09, 2025
Industrial Pipeline Shrinks, With Biggest Markets Hit Hardest
The construction pipeline for industrial properties shrank dramatically during the past four quarters, with the steepest changes to new supply seen in the country's largest industrial markets, per a report from Colliers.
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June 09, 2025
Liquidation Trustee Sues BofA, Others In Ch. 11 Ponzi Fallout
The liquidation trustee for the bankrupt National Realty Investment Advisors LLC accused Bank of America and other parties in New Jersey bankruptcy court of aiding or participating in the developer's $664 million Ponzi scheme.
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June 09, 2025
Charter School Funding Firm Hits Ch. 11 With Up to $50M Debt
Charter School Capital Inc., a company that provides funding for charter schools across the country, filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court with up to $50 million in debt, saying it plans to sell the business through the case.
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June 09, 2025
Insurers Must Pay For $7.3M Hail Loss, Property Owner Says
A dispute among insurers over when a Texas shopping center was damaged in a hailstorm has left the center short of full coverage for a $7.3 million loss, and the owner wants a federal court to ensure that the carriers found responsible will cover what they owe.
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June 09, 2025
Feds Argue Koi Nation's Historic Ties Justify Calif. Land Trust
The Interior Department is looking to dismiss a challenge to its decision to take 70 acres into trust for a proposed tribal hotel and casino project in Sonoma County, California, telling a federal court that the Koi Nation has a significant historical connection to the site.
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June 09, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Hunton Andrews and Keusch Law are among the firms that guided the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with a nine-figure Manhattan matter leading the way.
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June 09, 2025
3 Firms Guide Blackstone Stake, Refi At Trophy NYC Tower
Blackstone has acquired a $1.4 billion, 46% stake in Fisher Brothers' 1345 Avenue of the Americas tower in a transaction advised by Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Paul Hastings LLP and Dechert LLP.
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June 09, 2025
Iowa Expands Property, Sales Tax Breaks For Data Centers
Iowa expanded property tax and sales and use tax breaks for data centers to include leased facilities under legislation signed by the governor.
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June 06, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Obama Center Site Selection Complaints
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to consider claims that federal agencies failed to complete a full environmental review of plans to construct the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park neighborhood.
Expert Analysis
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Ga. Law Creates Challenges For Foreign Ownership Of Land
Under Georgia's new law limiting certain foreign possessory interests in agricultural land and land near military properties, affected foreign persons and entities will need to do significantly more work in order to ensure that their ownership remains legal, say Nellie Sullivan and Lindsey Grubbs at Holland & Knight.
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Questions Remain After Mass. Adverse Possession Case
A recent Massachusetts Land Court decision, concerning an adverse possession claim on a family company-owned property, leaves open questions about potential applicability to closely held corporations and other ownership types going forward, says Brad Hickey at DarrowEverett.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict
In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits
In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation
A New York federal court’s recent ruling in In re: Cortlandt provides guidance on how to calculate a landlord's damages claim when a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, changing from an approach that considers the remaining rent due under the lease to one that considers the remaining time, say Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten at Loeb & Loeb.
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What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers
A California appellate court's recent decision in Homeward Opportunities v. Taptelis found that a defaulting borrower could not delay foreclosure with an improperly served notice of pendency of action, but leaves open a possibility for borrowers to delay eviction proceedings merely by filing lawsuits, say Anne Beehler and Krystal Anderson at Holland & Knight.