News & Resources
Category: Zoning & Development
YOU SAY GOODBYE AND I SAY HELLO. WILL LOCAL ZONING GIVE WAY TO A FEDERAL REPLACEMENT?
10/15/2021 | Articles & Alerts, News & Resources, Zoning & Development
The economist, Milton Friedman, was a proponent of local government authority. He posited that if he was unsatisfied with his community, he could simply move to another community he found desirable. However, moving from a state or country is far more difficult. Local government power includes the adoption of zoning regulations. Pennsylvania has 2,561 municipalities, and most have their own zoning codes. Zoning can, at times, unfairly shape where people live and how they live. The federal government […]
A Current Worldwide View of Commercial Real Estate
7/20/2021 | Articles & Alerts, Real Estate Transactional, Zoning & Development
A few weeks ago, as a part of an international meeting of lawyers and accountants, I participated on an international panel discussing the future of commercial real estate law. The worldwide perspective was interesting and highly varied. Overwhelmingly, attorneys, accountants, and their clients continued to work from home. In parts of Europe, those trickling back to the office were informed that a new wave of shutdowns was likely and that they should return home. Aside from the obvious stresses of […]
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Land Use, Zoning, and Development
HOW TO LOSE A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT CASE IN TEN EASY STEPS
7/20/2021 | Articles & Alerts, Land Use, Zoning & Development
I have represented hundreds of taxpayers over my thirty year career and have had to clean up some messes caused by prior counsel. I thought it might be useful to unveil my shortlist of ten recondite dangers in the assessment appeals process. Assessment appeals require specialized counsel and experts. An inexperienced professional, unschooled in the nuances of the process, can kill a good case. Many assessment appeals are litigated in trial courts where the rules, written and unwritten, differ from […]
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Land Use, Zoning, and Development
PROGNOSTICATIONS FOR THE COMING YEAR IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
4/8/2021 | Articles & Alerts, News & Resources, Real Estate Transactional, Zoning & Development
Forecasters, political or weather (think Punxsutawney Phil) seldom admit prior failures. Casey Stengel astutely observed that one should “never make predictions, especially about the future.” With due respect to Casey, I have agreed to engage in the fruitless endeavor of forecasting the immediate future of commercial real estate and those lawyers who practice in that arena. Pessimism is not in the DNA of the CRE industry. However, 2021 will present challenges for CRE. Residential real estate will continue to benefit […]
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Land Use, Zoning, and Development
The Infrastructure Gold Rush – Opportunities for Minority Businesses
7/30/2018 | Articles & Alerts, General, Land Use, Zoning & Development
Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “Report Card for America’s Infrastructure” depicts the condition of our nation’s infrastructure in the familiar form of a school report card. Letter grades are assigned based on the physical condition and needed investments for improvement. Sadly, for 2017, the grade is a D+. A similar report by Pennsylvania civil engineers has found that Pennsylvania faces immense challenges in maintaining and modernizing its infrastructure. Repairs are desperately needed to roads, bridges, […]
Related Practices:
Land Use, Zoning, and Development
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