Commercial
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August 28, 2025
Google To Invest $9B In Va. Data Center Projects
Google plans to spend an additional $9 billion on building a Chesterfield County data center and expanding data centers in the counties of Loudoun and Prince William all through the end of 2026, the state's governor announced.
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August 28, 2025
Compliance Atty Who Duped Lender Wants New Trial
A compliance lawyer convicted of pilfering from a $20 million line of credit that a subsidiary of Emigrant Bank extended to his tax-lien business has asked a Manhattan federal judge to order a new trial, arguing that prosecutors' evidence is insufficient and that the charges were "multiplicitous," in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
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August 28, 2025
Texas House OKs Lower Voter-Approval Property Tax Rate
Texas would lower its maximum property tax rate permitted by law without voter approval for larger taxing jurisdictions under a bill passed by the state House of Representatives.
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August 27, 2025
Investor Wants $250K, SUV Returned In Cannabis Venture
A Los Angeles investor is suing a number of people and entities who convinced him to sink $325,000 into a real estate and cannabis dispensary holding company, only to end up with no shares in the business and to discover the company's success was exaggerated.
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August 27, 2025
Father, Son Seek 2-Year Sentences In $280M Sports Park Fraud
A father and son are both seeking two-year sentences from a New York federal court after pleading guilty to fraud related to the development of a Phoenix-area youth sports park with $280 million in investments, alleging prosecutors overstated their culpability for investor losses.
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August 27, 2025
Ukrainian Money Laundering Claim Against U.S. Is Paused
Claimants in a $24 million arbitration accusing the U.S. government of overstepping its authority by initiating forfeiture proceedings aimed at unraveling an alleged Ukrainian money laundering scheme have agreed to suspend the claim for now, according to a notice.
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August 27, 2025
Lending Platform Originates $79M Luxury Miami Hotel Loan
Institutional lending platform Madison Newbond announced Wednesday that it originated a $79.3 million loan for a 41-story, 357-room luxury downtown Miami hotel in a deal lined up by JLL Capital Markets.
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August 27, 2025
CoStar Says Copyright Claims Against CREXi Can't Wait
CoStar Group Inc. told a California federal court that Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. is continuing to use its copyrighted images and urged the court not to put its infringement claims on hold for the rival listing platform's "makeweight" antitrust counterclaims.
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August 27, 2025
Attys Navigate Tangle Of Transit-Oriented Zoning In Miami
The Miami City Commission's recent approval of a new category of transit-oriented zoning has added another layer to a rapidly changing, increasingly complex web of regulations and incentives that real estate attorneys must consider when guiding development projects in the city.
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August 27, 2025
CUNY Signs $40M Deal To Buy Manhattan College Campus
New York City public university system the City University of New York has agreed to pay $40 million for the Downtown Manhattan campus of the private Metropolitan College of New York, according to an official MCNY voluntary filing.
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August 27, 2025
Contractors Looking To AI To Navigate Construction Tariffs
Construction contractors are increasingly leveraging the power of artificial intelligence and technology to navigate the headwinds and uncertainty that have come with President Donald Trump's trade war, a technology executive recently told Law360 Real Estate Authority.
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August 27, 2025
Faegre Drinker Says Investor Can't Call Biz Loss Malpractice
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP told a New Jersey state court this week that a malpractice suit it faces from a real estate investor is nothing more than an attempt by the investor to shift responsibility for a failed investment.
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August 27, 2025
Jones Day Continues Real Estate Growth With McDermott Atty
Jones Day announced the latest addition to its real estate practice on Wednesday, welcoming a New York-based attorney from McDermott Will & Schulte LLP.
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August 27, 2025
Jailed Pastor Cites Adams Dismissal In Bid To Beat Charges
A clergyman serving a nine-year sentence for fraud cited his ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday in a bid to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the Trump administration's dismissal of the charges against Adams.
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August 27, 2025
Simpson Thacher Closes Co.'s Texas Logistics Properties Buy
Stonepeak acquired two Fort Worth, Texas, logistics assets that take up 748,000 square feet in a deal guided by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, the alternative investment firm announced.
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August 27, 2025
Atty Eyes Chilling Effect From Texas Foreign Ownership Law
In the latest effort by states to deter foreign control of real estate, Texas has introduced a sweeping prohibition, effective Sept. 1, against certain countries owning real property in the state. Polsinelli shareholder Weston B. Rockers explains how deals could be structured going forward — and how the law may scramble existing transactions.
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August 26, 2025
Expedia Says 11th Circ. Ruling Dooms Helms-Burton Verdict
Expedia, Orbitz and Hotels.com tried to undo a $29.85 million verdict over Helms-Burton Act violations Tuesday, telling a Florida federal judge the plaintiff, who claims his family owned a Cuban barrier island before its seizure by Fidel Castro's government, does not meet the Eleventh Circuit's recently set standard.
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August 26, 2025
Kirkland Guides REIT's $285M Seattle Office Tower Refi
Hudson Pacific Properties Inc., guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, obtained a five-year, interest-only $285 million loan in a Wells Fargo-led deal to refinance a loan secured by the real estate investment trust's 668,000-square-foot office tower in Seattle's Denny Triangle neighborhood.
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August 26, 2025
White & Case Guides Hotel REIT's $480M Company Sale
Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc., guided by White & Case LLP, wants to sell itself for at least $480 million, the luxury hotels- and resorts-focused real estate investment trust announced Tuesday.
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August 26, 2025
Feds Look To Dismiss Calif. Tribe's $700M Casino Dispute
The U.S. Department of the Interior, with the backing of two tribes and the California Gaming Association, is looking to dismiss a lawsuit over its decision to temporarily nix eligibility for a proposed $700 million casino and hotel project, arguing it doesn't constitute a final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act.
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August 26, 2025
Ohio House Bills Seek To End Or Limit Property Taxes
Three bills introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives would eliminate property taxes by 2030, allow voters to introduce ballot initiatives to lower property taxes and increase the approval threshold for passage of certain property taxes.
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August 26, 2025
Tax Credit Dispute Sparks $1.3M Lawsuit Against Jersey City
A prominent Garden State developer filed a lawsuit against New Jersey's second-largest city, claiming the city improperly reversed its position on a longstanding tax agreement — demanding nearly $1.3 million in back payments that the developer says it does not owe.
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August 26, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Fried Frank, Davis Polk and Seyfarth guided a Manhattan real estate deal north of $1 billion, the first 10-figure New York City deed that's hit records this year and one of three large trades that became public last week.
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August 26, 2025
Calif. Senate OKs New Tax Default Property Sales Rules
California county boards of supervisors would be required to take new steps before approving the sale of a tax-defaulted property under a bill passed by the state Senate.Â
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August 26, 2025
Medical Cannabis REIT Seeks Escape From Shareholders' Suit
A cannabis-focused real estate investment trust and its executives told a Maryland federal court to permanently dismiss a proposed securities class action, arguing that most of the "core" accusations about them misleading shareholders "are speculative or factually unsupported."
Expert Analysis
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How Retail Tenants Can Avoid Paying Rent Prematurely
When negotiating leases for spaces in shopping centers, retail tenants should ensure that the language specifies they only need to begin paying rent when the center is substantially occupied as a whole, as it can be difficult to modify leases that are executed without co-tenancy requirements or termination rights, say Joshua Bernstein and Benjamin Joelson at Akerman.
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Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues
Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Climate Disclosure Mandates Demand A Big-Picture Approach
As carbon emissions disclosure requirements from the European Union, California and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission take effect, the best practice for companies is not targeted compliance with a given reporting regime, but rather a comprehensive approach to systems assessment and management, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
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$175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed
The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.
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Calif. Ruling Shows Limits Of Exculpatory Lease Clauses
A California court's recent decision in Epochal Enterprises v. LF Encinitas Properties, finding a landlord liable for failing to disclose the presence of asbestos on the subject property, underscores the limits of exculpatory clauses' ability to safeguard landlords from liability where known hazards are present, say Fawaz Bham and Javier De Luna at Hunton.
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Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling
A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.
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A Legal Playbook For Stadium Construction Agreements
As a new wave of construction in the professional sports arena space gets underway, owners must carefully consider the unique considerations and risks associated with these large-scale projects and draft agreements accordingly, say attorneys at Akerman.
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The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
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How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations
Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule
Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.
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New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks
Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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DC's Housing Tax Break Proposal: What's In It, What's Missing
Proposed Washington, D.C., rules implementing the Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement program — for commercial property owners who convert properties into residential housing — thoroughly explain the process for submitting an application, but do not provide sufficient detail regarding the actual dollar value of the abatements, says Daniel Miktus at Akerman.