By Michael L. Mineau Following up on recent PSH Land Use Client Alerts on June 26, 2023 and August 22, 2023, an important collection of bills were passed through both houses of the Rhode Island state legislature in June and signed into law. These new laws, which will mostly become effective January 1, 2024, significantly...
By Loren F. Sutton and Jay R. Peabody “Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business.” — Mark Sanborn. This past July, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, following the lead of several other major cities around the...
In the December 5, 2022 opinion (Cummings Properties, LLC v. Darryl C. Hines, No. 21-P-1153), the Massachusetts Appeals Court considered whether a commercial landlord can collect accelerated rent upon a tenant default, specifically when the landlord is also collecting rent from a new tenant for the same premises. Surprising many commercial real estate professionals, the...
Previously set to expire August 18, 2020, Governor Baker has extended Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2020, An Act Providing for a Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures During the COVID-19 Emergency (the “Act”), by 60 days through October 17, 2020. The provisions as they relate to small businesses remain in effect and unchanged, as such: A...
On March 31, 2020, Gov. Baker revised the list of “essential” services in Massachusetts. The revised list (“Exhibit A”) can be found at: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-essential-services. The criteria for establishing “essential” has, indeed, been drastically narrowed from the Exhibit A published on March 23, 2020. Residential construction and certain public works are still, however, considered “essential” if they...
Many people in the construction industry believe the force majeure clause waives the requirement for making a claim for an extension of time. This belief, however, is incorrect at least under the A201. If your project is delayed by the coronavirus, you should review your contract to determine your obligations for perfecting force majeure claims....
By Russell J. Stein On Thursday, December 19th, the U.S. Department of Treasury released the long-awaited final Opportunity Zone Treasury Regulations (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations and explanatory materials that span 544 pages, are quite extensive and give some needed clarity into how the Opportunity Zone tax rules work. This client alert is intended...
PS&H partner Drew Colby, who co-chairs the firm’s Construction Group, was quoted by Law360 in an article discussing what construction attorneys need to know about the use of drones on construction projects, in light of the fact that regulations haven’t yet caught up with how the technology is being used. Invasion of privacy continues to...
Across the country states have enacted laws protecting tenant rights under residential leases. Unfortunately, commercial tenants generally do not enjoy the same protections and rights as residential tenants. Unless specifically negotiated in a commercial lease, standard residential tenant protections such as the implied warranty of habitability and a landlord’s duty to re-let are not commonly...
A prime source of capital for real estate developers since the Great Recession has been EB-5 money. The EB-5 program provides a method for foreign nationals investing money in the United States to obtain a green card by investing $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (defined as an area of high unemployment or a rural...
