Features

New Development Projects: The Reports of Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated
Numerous shopping center developers use a “layer-cake” of financing, including state and federal tax incentives to reduce the costs of debt and equity financing. The industry correctly saw that the market value of the credits would drop once the Jobs Act become effective. Such tax cut could undoubtedly impact the ability of developers to raise equity, certainly for new projects not yet placed in service.
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Cooperatives & Condominiums
Assignment of Right to Purchase Held Not Fraudulent
Features

Opportunity Zones and Commercial Real Estate
One of the many provisions of last year's tax overhaul was the creation of a little-noticed program called Opportunity Zones, which was designed to give investors tax breaks for investments in designated areas. Now, attention is starting to pick up as the program takes shape.
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Real Property Law
Temple Awarded Specific Performance of Agreement to Reconvey<br>Inadequacy of Sale Price Insufficient to Set Aside Foreclosure Sale<br>Questions of Fact About Purchaser's Ability to Perform<br>Knowledge of True Owner's Claim Does Not Defeat Adverse Possession Defense<br>Contract Vendee Entitled to Specific Performance<br>Land Seller Did Not Violate General Business Law Section 349<br>Statute of Limitations Bars Foreclosure Claim
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Landlord & Tenant
Subletting Rent Stabilized Apartment for Short Periods Is Not a Curable Defect<br>Tenant May Terminate When Landlord Failed to Cure Landmarks Violation<br>Breach and Fraudulent Inducement Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss<br>Late Fees Not Enforceable<br>Subtenants Not Entitled to 30 Day Notice
Features

Summary of Developments Under New York's Environmental Quality Act
The courts issued 41 decisions in 2017 under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, and changes were made to regulations themselves this year. This article summarizes the most important of these cases and regulation changes, and the patterns they represent.
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Case Notes
Tenant Improvement Does Not Shift Repair Responsibility Away from Landlord<br>Attorney Fees Not Court-Ordered Cannot Be Recouped by Withholding Rent
Features

<i>Altman</i>: Six Takeaways
On April 26, 2018, a unanimous Court of Appeals held that apartments vacated between 1997 and 2011 will be considered luxury deregulated where the legal regulated rent was $2,000 or more at the time the incoming tenant moved in. The court reversed the First Department, which had held that such apartments would not be deregulated unless the rent was $2,000 or more at the time the outgoing tenant vacated.
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Landlord & Tenant
Unique Circumstances Require Rent Recomputation<br>City Human Rights Law Requires Landlord to Convert Window Into Wheelchair Accessible Entrance<br>“As Is” Clause Does Not Bar Claim That Landlord Intentionally Caused Defective Conditions
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