Insights

Since the original alert was published last week, we have learned that the initiatives discussed will receive updated numbering when they appear on the November ballot: the Fix Our Damn Roads Initiative will become Proposition 109 on the ballot, and the Let’s Go Colorado Initiative 153 will appear as Proposition 110.

When a medical or dental professional is ready to buy a practice, there are numerous legal and business considerations that must be evaluated. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the most pivotal issues that inevitably will arise during the acquisition process doesn’t have much to do with the amiability of the seller or the strength of the practice. Rather, it is whether to take over the seller’s lease of the office space or enter into a new lease with the landlord.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Creation Act of 2017 made several significant changes in the laws affecting the estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes.

On May 24, 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law No: 115-174) (the “Act”) took effect. Among other things, the Act eases banking rules pertaining to so-called “high volatility commercial real estate” (“HVCRE”) loans. Since January 1, 2015, lenders have been required to maintain significantly greater capital reserves for loans classified as HVCRE to hedge the increased threat to their capital adequacy posed by loans that finance real estate projects regulators consider riskier. Lenders, in turn, often seek to recoup some of the cost of maintaining greater reserves by increasing their interest rates on HVCRE loans. That makes their pricing less competitive. To avoid this situation, lenders and borrowers wish to classify a loan as non-HVCRE. That was difficult to do with construction or development loans before the Act. The definition of HVCRE loan was expansive. And excluding a loan from HVCRE classification almost always meant subjecting borrowers to stringent loan terms that, prior to the HVCRE rules being enacted, would have likely been unacceptable. This article summarizes the key ways in which the Act amended the HVCRE rules to provide lenders and borrowers clarity and relief.

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed a tax reform bill known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”). The TCJA is the most sweeping tax reform package passed in the last thirty (30) years. Most provision of the bill took effect on January 1, 2018, amongst much uncertainty as to what the full effects of the new provisions would be.

A proposed statewide initiative would impose a strict 1% residential growth limit on ten Front Range counties—Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld—beginning in 2019. Industry experts predict that if Initiative 66 passes, the resulting decrease in housing supply would be disastrous to Colorado’s economy and exacerbate the area’s housing shortage and affordability crises.

Virtually anyone engaged in land development will at some point encounter the holdout—the landowner from whom the developer needs a right-of-way or easement, and who names an extraordinary price or just won’t sell. For private assemblers in particular, this type of encounter often proves problematic. Unlike government entities that enjoy condemnation authority, those private parties cannot compel land transfers.

Denver, Colorado – Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti PC (Otten Johnson) is pleased to announce that Brian J. Connolly has been elected shareholder and director of the firm. Brian’s new role was effective January 1, 2018.

Measurement and allocation of square footage are critically important in the context of commercial office leasing, as many financial concepts, such as base rent, additional rent and tenant improvement allowances, are directly linked to the number of square feet in the applicable premises. The most common measurement system for office space is the one promulgated by the Building Owners and Managers Association (“BOMA”), which has been the American National Standards Institute Secretariat for the office standard of floor measurement since 1915.