News & Resources

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 […]

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 […]

Related Practices: Land Use, Zoning, and Development

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 […]

Related Practices: Land Use, Zoning, and Development

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 […]

Related Practices: Land Use, Zoning, and Development

1/30/2019 | Articles & Alerts, Zoning & Development

                Mark Twain was fond of saying that everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it. The same could be true of recessions, particularly in the real estate world. Since I make my living in the world of real estate transactions, litigation and land use, I try to keep informed about the economy generally and the commercial real estate industry specifically. That is, I like to stay ahead of the curve. We all know that recessions […]

Related Practices: Land Use, Zoning, and Development, Tax Assessment Appeals and Exemptions