One year into the pandemic, courts have almost uniformly found that COVID-19 does not permit commercial tenants to avoid their rent payment obligations. In this case, the court continued that trend, ruling that the pandemic was not a “casualty” that permits a tenant to abate its rent payments or cancel…
Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Oregon Tax Court Rejects Department’s Attempt to Ignore Measure 50 Limitation
Zachary T. Atkins on Tesoro Logistics Northwest Pipeline LLC v. Department of Revenue, the Oregon Tax Court, Regular Division, held that although a unit of property acquired by one centrally assessed company from another qualified as “new property” for purposes of Or. Const. Art. XI, § 11 (“Measure 50”), the…
The Court-Side Seat: FERC Reviews, Panda Power Plaints and Sovereign Immunity
This is a brief report on new environmental law decisions, regulations and legislation. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce On March 22, 2021, the Supreme Court rejected a petition to review a Presidential decision to invoke the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate as…
A Court-Side Seat: Clean Air, Clean Water, Endangered Species and Deliberative Process Privilege
The federal courts have issued some significant environmental law rulings in the past few days. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, Inc. On March 4, 2021, the court held that the deliberative process privilege of the Freedom of Information Act shields from disclosure in-house…
$1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package Passed by Congress
President Biden has now signed the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion investment and stimulus package designed to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, into law. Matthew Oresman, Elizabeth Vella Moeller, Craig J. Saperstein, Brian E. Finch, Aimee P. Ghosh, Rose Fowler Lapp discuss the relief bill which includes a new round of stimulus…
Eligibility for Shuttered Venue Operator Grants Extended, Congress Appropriates New Funds
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 permits Shuttered Venue Operators to apply for both Paycheck Protection Program loans and Shuttered Venue Operator Grants. The American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law on March 11, 2021 and summarized here, includes a brief but important section that will permit the recipients of Paycheck…
Eligibility and Application Guidance for Shuttered Venue Grants
On March 5, 2021, the SBA published an overview of eligibility requirements and a preliminary application checklist for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (Grant) Program. The overview of eligibility requirements clarifies ownership restrictions, prohibited activities, and business, operational and facility requirements for each type of business potentially qualifying for Grants. Colleague David L.…
The Future of Office in San Francisco: How Will the Office Market Recover?
Join Pillsbury’s Noa Clark as she moderates Bisnow’s “The Future of Office in San Francisco: How Will the Office Market Recover?” webinar on March 25. What You’ll Learn: How office spaces are evolving to accommodate for changing workforce needs, such as changing layouts, offices in residential buildings, hybrids, etc. Tenants’ perspective…
Federal Judge Strikes Down CDC’s COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium
A federal judge in Texas has declared the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium unconstitutional, holding that Article I’s power to regulate interstate commerce and enact laws necessary and proper for such regulation does not include the power to suspend residential evictions on a nationwide basis. While…
A Court-Side Seat: A Poultry Defense, a Houston Highway and a CERCLA Consent Decree that Won’t Budge
February saw the usual array of significant environmental decisions and federal regulatory notices. THE FEDERAL COURTS U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Luminant Generation v. EPA The court will be grappling with a difficult venue case governed by the Clean Air Act (42 USC Section 7607(b)). In…