Commercial

  • April 16, 2025

    Trump Ends Clinton, Carter Policies On Fed Facility Sites

    President Donald Trump rolled back two decades-old orders directing the federal government to prioritize urban areas and historic districts when choosing locations for federal facilities.

  • April 16, 2025

    IBM Sues Insurers Over $900M In Environmental Expenses

    IBM has taken several of its excess commercial general liability insurers to New York federal court, arguing that following IBM's coverage settlements with underlying insurers, they are now on the hook for over $900 million in environmental remediation expenses incurred under policies issued between 1961 and 1970.

  • April 16, 2025

    Luxury Boutique Offices Sprout Up Around Miami

    Though there have been hints of a slowdown in the Miami office market, which has seemed impervious to the economic headwinds roiling the sector nationwide, one area moving at full speed is the development of high-end boutique projects in desirable enclaves outside the city's central business district.

  • April 16, 2025

    Office Demand Steady Despite Trade Policy Turbulence

    Commercial broker Cushman & Wakefield said shifting U.S. trade policy didn't have a noticeable effect on demand for office space in the first quarter as the sector showed continued signs of stabilization.

  • April 16, 2025

    Dems Ask GSA To Explain Federal Asset Disposal Plans

    Democrats on the House Oversight Committee urged the General Services Administration to explain its moves to list federal properties for disposal, expressing concern about how the agency has identified buildings for sale.

  • April 16, 2025

    Prologis Says Logistics Renters Cautious Amid Tariff Tumult

    Prologis executives said on Wednesday that logistics asset leasing activity dropped 20% over the past two weeks, with many companies waiting to see how things pan out after President Donald Trump temporarily paused higher tariffs on all countries except China.

  • April 16, 2025

    Exxon Urges Justices To Resolve Seized Cuba Property Claim

    Exxon Mobil Corp. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize a ruling frustrating its attempts to collect damages from Cuban property confiscated decades ago, arguing the Trump and Biden administrations' opposing stances on such lawsuits present a chance for the court to settle the political debate.

  • April 16, 2025

    Exelon Buys DC Office Building From Brookfield For $175M

    Utilities giant Exelon Corp. has bought a Washington, D.C. office building that serves as a headquarters for one of its electricity subsidiaries from Brookfield Properties for $175 million, according to deed records.

  • April 16, 2025

    Meridian Capital Promotes Legal Head To General Counsel

    Meridian Capital Group announced Tuesday that its head of legal has been promoted to general counsel in a move that comes about a year after the firm came under new leadership.

  • April 16, 2025

    Pryor Cashman Adds New Real Estate Partner For NYC Office

    Pryor Cashman LLP announced Wednesday that it had hired Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP attorney Paul J. Proulx for the firm's real estate and land use/zoning teams in its New York City office.

  • April 15, 2025

    Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit

    Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act. 

  • April 15, 2025

    Funding Cuts Cause Q1 Hurdles For Life Sciences Real Estate

    The U.S. life sciences real estate market was hit with challenges in the first quarter of 2025 due to funding cuts for the National Institutes of Health that were announced earlier this year, according to a report from real estate company Savills.

  • April 15, 2025

    Chinese Real Estate Developer Hit With Involuntary Ch. 11

    Three creditors of Chinese real estate developer Xinyuan Real Estate Co. Ltd. filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the company late Monday, saying it is in default on $170 million in note debt.

  • April 15, 2025

    Brooklyn Office Space Seeing Leasing Surge, CBRE Reports

    New York City's borough of Brooklyn went through "a surge of leasing" for office space after a total of 509,000 square feet was leased in Q1 2025, according to a CBRE report published Tuesday.

  • April 15, 2025

    Brookfield Lands $1.3B From Citibank For Hudson Yards Office

    Brookfield Properties secured $1.25 billion in financing from Citibank on its 16-story Five Manhattan West building in a transaction advised by Dechert LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

  • April 15, 2025

    NY Developers Land $237M Refi For Major Mixed-Use Project

    The developers behind a 70-acre mixed-use development in Sleepy Hollow, New York, secured a $237 million refinancing for the project from Hudson Bay Capital, per an announcement from Walker & Dunlop which arranged the financing.

  • April 15, 2025

    Top Grossing Cos. Drift Further From Remote-First Work

    The largest companies in the U.S. by revenue are moving away from allowing employees to work primarily at home, including among technology businesses, which were formerly much more permissive of telework, according to a recent report.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

Expert Analysis

  • Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art

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    Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • Climate Among Many Factors Driving Up RE Insurance Costs

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    A proactive approach to risk management may determine the viability of the U.S. commercial real estate sector as weather crises and other factors drive insurance costs higher, says Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation

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    ​James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.

  • A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY

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    A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.

  • Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage

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    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

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    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

  • Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight

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    Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.

  • Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords

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    Large retail tenants often require co-tenancy provisions in their leases, entitling them to remedies if a shopping center's occupancy drops in certain ways, but landlords must draft these provisions carefully to avoid giving tenants too much control, says Gary Glick at Cox Castle.

  • Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools

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    A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

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    Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Keys To Successful Commercial Property Insurance Claims

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    While insurance needs for commercial leasing arrangements are driven by the characteristics of the premises and the nature of the tenants' intended operations, there are several universal best practices landlords and their counsel can follow when making claims after loss or damage.

  • Tips For Handling Single Asset Real Estate Bankruptcy Cases

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Bankruptcy counsel should consider several strategies when representing either a debtor or lender in single asset real estate debtor Chapter 11 cases, which generally arise when a debtor is forced to file for relief to stop an impending foreclosure sale.