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Smart-construction-vr-166065766-300x189“Smart Construction” is a loose term but generally refers to the development and use of processes and applications that improve construction planning and the management of projects (thereby potentially streamlining costs of construction).

The increased deployment of collaboration tools (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx) and other cloud-based technology solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic will invariably result in more efficient project management in construction going forward. These type of efficiencies are sorely needed, especially as the industry is trying to recover from supply chain issues, lockdown challenges and social distancing requirements resulting from the pandemic.

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Category 4 Hurricane Ida cut a destructive swath from Louisiana to New York, and Tropical Storm Nicholas bears down on the Gulf Coast. Those in the affected area should prepare for insurance recovery. As business and property owners begin to recover from the storms, they should also prepare for the aftermath of bringing these losses to their insurance companies. As they prepare to take stock of their losses, plan their response, and examine their insurance policies and their recovery options, they are going to face many questions. How are we going to pay to repair damaged property? What is the quickest way to resume our business? Can we recover any of the profits lost when our business was interrupted or our customers’ or suppliers’ businesses were interrupted? How do COVID-19 restrictions impact our losses and recovery? Are there any government funds, such as FEMA assistance, available to aid our recovery? Pillsbury colleagues Joseph D. Jean and Tamara D. Bruno provide insights to these questions in the recent alert, Hurricane Ida & Tropical Storm Nicholas: Insurance Implications.

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Texas and Louisiana are stepping up efforts to assume regulatory authority for an emerging wave of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects. Despite carbon sequestration being highly touted as a key tool to mitigate climate change, few commercial CCS projects have been permitted in the United States. Texas and Louisiana are moving towards regulating geological carbon sequestration by assuming “primacy” over wells built to sequester CO2. Louisiana’s primacy application is set for EPA review, while legislation in Texas recently simplified jurisdiction over carbon sequestration wells with an eye towards assuming regulatory control in the future. In State-Level Permitting Primacy May Boost Carbon Capture and Storage, colleague’s Anne Idsal Austin, Sheila McCafferty Harvey, Robert A. James, Jorge Medina, Alex Peyton explain.

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“With little to no revenue at many locations, retail debtors have found it difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic to comply with Bankruptcy Code Section 365(d)(3)’s requirement that a debtor timely perform post-petition lease obligations while it decides whether to assume or reject a lease. However, given the pandemic’s lasting impact, and related governmental orders that have affected operations, revenues, and the ability to pay rent, retail debtors have considered legal strategies for obtaining, over the objections of landlords, extensions of the initial 60-day rent suspension already afforded by Section 365(d)(3). While a few retail debtors have been successful, one was not in In re CEC Entertainment.”

To read the full article written by colleagues Patrick J. Potter, Patrick E. Fitzmaurice, Brian L. Beckerman, and Kwame O. Akuffo click here.

Source: Journal of Bankruptcy Law

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In “Uniwest And Virginia’s Anti-Indemnification Statute: The Trap For The Unwary Should Be Closed” in the pages of Virginia Lawyer, colleague Jamie Bobotek recently examined why it is time for Virginia’s General Assembly to correct the uncertainty created by its anti-indemnification statute’s ambiguous language.

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In the Spring 2021 issue of AFIRE Summit Journal, Pillsbury New York-based Real Estate partner Andrew Weiner discusses the Corporate Transparency Act and disclosure requirements for non-U.S. based investors. Summit Journal is the official publication of AFIRE, the national association for international real estate investors focused on commercial property in the U.S.

Read Andy’s full take here.

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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 unit of property’s existing maximum assessed value (“MAV”) was preserved in the hands of the new owner.  Tesoro Logistics Nw. Pipeline LLC v. Dep’t of Revenue, No. TC 5252, 2021 WL 6700471 (Or. Tax Ct., Reg. Div., Feb. 19, 2021).  As a result, the Oregon Department of Revenue was not entitled to redetermine the MAV on account of the acquisition. Continue reading on the SeeSALT blog.

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The control and beneficial ownership of real estate in the U.S. has been relatively easy to conceal. Christian A. Buerger, David L. Miller, and Andrew J. Weiner discuss how this disclosure regime is about the change dramatically in “What New Corporate Disclosures Mean For Real Estate.”

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Pillsbury partner Breann Robowski will present during ABA/IPT’s 2021 Advanced Property Tax Seminar on March 18. Breann will present on the topic, “Valuing the Fee Simple Interest for Tax Purposes in Situations Not Involving ‘Dark Stores.’” For more information and to register, please click here.

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As we say goodbye to 2020, we wanted to share our top five most-read articles of 2020 from Gravel2Gavel. The most-read blog posts covered real estate and construction industry trends ranging from proptech trends like blockchain tokenization to COVID-specific rent carveouts and management disclosures to trends and market updates. Our posts provided deep industry insight and summarized hot topics that addressed the legal implications and disruptions that affected the market.  Our 2020 roundup:

  1. Blockchain-Based Tokenization of Commercial Real Estate by Matt Olhausen. Matt discusses the increasing interest in technology applications for real estate assets, or “Proptech,” and tokenization’s potential.
  2. Real Estate Trends: Looking Ahead to 2021 by Adam Weaver. Adam discussed the pandemic’s influence and future trends for the real estate market.
  3. Management’s Duties and Responsibilities to Disclose COVID-19 Cases to Commercial and Residential Tenants While Also Protecting Privacy by Rebecca Carr Rizzo. Rebecca discussed how timely and accurate disclosures of positive COVID-19 results could reduce liability.
  4. Real Estate Market Update. Joel Simon discusses the current real estate market, the types of lenders active in the market, and popular transaction types that thrived in 2020.
  5. The Looming Housing Crisis and Limited Government Relief—An Examination of the CDC Eviction Moratorium Two Months In.  Zach discussed the federal eviction moratorium.