Joshua Stein Contributor

Most major automakers have followed Tesla’s lead into the world of electric vehicles, probably with more to come. California has banned internal combustion engines, effective in 2035. Assuming these trends continue, they will ripple into how developers build commercial real estate projects and how owners will manage and operate them if they want to stay

No real estate is perfect. That statement becomes especially clear when a seller wants to sell. Buyers will seize upon every imperfection, issue, and little piece of hair on the asset as the basis for a price reduction. Looking ahead to that process, a seller can choose from a few possible strategies. As one strategy,

Family businesses large and small, whether involving real estate or anything else, often use a limited liability company as the ownership vehicle for the business. The founder of the business will often maintain a controlling position in the LLC, while other family members receive only an “economic interest”—the right to receive money and enough information

An entrepreneur wants to create a small business. So they set up a corporation or a limited liability company online, because they know that’s how you’re supposed to do it. That way, your personal assets aren’t supposed to be at risk if the business fails. It’s a good insurance policy. A recent New York case

Whenever any real estate changes hands or gets refinanced, the closing typically happens through some form of third-party escrow. The seller signs the transfer or mortgage documents and gives them to a trusted third party, the “escrowee.” The buyer or new lender gives the escrowee some money. The escrowee then makes sure the closing conditions

When lawyers work on commercial real estate or other transactions, they typically charge for their time by the hour. If the transaction doesn’t close, the bill is the same as if it did close. Clients who face those bills don’t like them. These bills cause maximum pain if the transaction nearly closed and the lawyer

Every modern commercial real estate transaction, or other business transaction, takes place largely through email. If it’s a major or complicated transaction, it will involve dozens of email recipients and senders – business people, lawyers, brokers, title companies, other service providers, and so on. Each email will beget a stream of additional emails as each

Commercial leases often require tenants to deliver letters of credit instead of cash security deposits. This practice reflects the belief that an L/C gives the owner better security than a cash deposit if the tenant goes bankrupt. Until very recently, many of those L/Cs came from Signature Bank or—especially for start-up or high-tech companies—Silicon Valley

Nonrecourse carveout guaranties are part of the landscape for commercial real estate loans, much as landmines are part of the landscape for recent war zones. These nonrecourse carveout landmines have often exploded dramatically in the faces of carveout guarantors. Guaranties triggered full recourse for the loan if the borrower violated one of several dozen single

The owner of a building in the New York suburbs (let’s call it the Julex Tower) opened negotiations with a possible buyer. As is customary, the owner and possible seller asked the possible buyer to sign a confidentiality agreement, agreeing not to share information about Julex Tower or the possible sale. Like most other confidentiality