As pressure continues to mount on the Government to ensure the survival of the British construction industry, the Housing Secretary has announced new measures to boost building activity in the UK and to make it easier to comply with new safe working requirements introduced last month. The Business and Planning Bill (“B&P Bill”) tabled in … Continue Reading
By James Doerfler and Alison Wickizer Toepp on Posted in Real Estate (U.S.)
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) contracts, the most commonly used set of construction contract forms on commercial projects in the United States, recently released the second part of its once-in-a-decade updates to the 2017 versions of its primary forms. A Client Alert was issued summarizing the changes, which are described at length in a … Continue Reading
The construction industry is witness to some fascinating developments, particularly around trophy properties in prime US coastal cities. Within the US –and California particularly- we’re seeing a large number of reputable, experienced contractors banding together to pitch and win construction contracts on trophy properties. Companies that once ferociously competed have joined forces under Joint Venture … Continue Reading
Modern Slavery is broadly a term covering slavery, forced labour, servitude and human trafficking. It has been described as “the great human rights issue of our time” by Theresa May. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was introduced as part of an effort to tackle the issue by imposing a requirement on every large business carrying … Continue Reading
On January 1, 2015, the final Basel III rules regarding regulatory capital for banks with greater than $500 million in assets and all savings and loan holding companies took effect. Basel III imposes new rules for high volatility commercial real estate (HVCRE) which the regulations define as a credit facility that finances the acquisition, development … Continue Reading
On July 9, 2014, Governor Corbett signed Act 117 of 2014, amending Pennsylvania’s Mechanics’ Lien Law of 1963 (Act of August 24, 1963, P.L. 1175, No. 497, 49 P.S. §1101, et seq.). One of the principal purposes of the amendments appears to be the overruling of the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s decision in Commerce Bank/Harrisburg, N.A. … Continue Reading
Negotiation of the construction allowance is an important part of most commercial lease transactions and usually centers around the size of the allowance and the type of improvements to be constructed. However, the tax consequences flowing from the construction allowance are frequently subject to far less negotiation. If the tenant owns the improvements after construction, … Continue Reading
Despite the recent low interest rate environment, some projects just will not support market rate construction loans. What then is the developer to do? Over the last few years developers have begun to turn to the purchaser to finance construction of a project. This technique can be used for both residential and commercial development. Many … Continue Reading
