There is a lot of activity in the halls today and people seemed very deal focused. Appointment schedules are booked up and people I was hoping just to say a quick hi to are too busy working deals. I am glad to see that of course. Since I am a newbie it is hard for me to say how attendance is but it sure looks okay to me.Although I do not agree with him on some issues, Robert Reich gave a pretty good, entertaining and witty presentation this morning regarding his thoughts on the economy. You can read my Twitter feed for the details. Now, he is a policy wonk, so comparing...
ICSC RECon Day One - Thoughts and Impressions
Posted by
alex
Posted on
7:49 PM
Just got back to our house (rather than stay on the Strip, we decided to rent a private home) from the first day of the ICSC RECon in Las Vegas. Keeping in mind that I am a first timer, here are some initial impressions.Thank goodness for the cool weather. That made walking miles and miles easier.The morning breakout sessions were even better than I thought they would be. The panel on workouts gave good, practical advice for dealing with lenders in a variety of distressed situations. I learned some things I will use and I will also probably study up more and blog about what...
California land use and climate change
Posted by
alex
Posted on
10:09 AM
Just when you thought land use regulation in California could not get any trickier, along comes this.By way of reference, I started my career in California working with the California Environmental Quality Act, better known as CEQA. I haven't stayed current with CEQA, but I can tell you that complying with it can be a veritable minefield for a developer. Groups and people, whether well-intentioned or not, can hold up a project for years or even stop it entirely for more reasons than I can count.Now you can add another mine to the field: curbing greenhouse gases. Municipal planning organizations...
My ICSC Agenda
Posted by
alex
Posted on
6:12 AM
Yes, I am a first-timer at this year's ICSC conference. I'd been planning to go for years now, but family commitments always stood in the way. So this year, I'm taking them with me! If you want to meet or talk about dirt or anything else during the conference, please feel free to email me at dstejkowski (at) stejlaw dot com, or via at Twitter at DirtLawyer. (Sorry, I want to try to do something to avoid you know what.) I will be attending the Dealmakers Magazine Tweetup on Monday at Booth S283 Q Street. I will also be at a LoopNet function on Sunday to see what they...
It's best and final time
Posted by
alex
Posted on
6:57 AM
I remember the first time I heard the term "best and final" as a lawyer. My client was trying to lease space to the federal government and the contracting officer asked for best and final offers. It was as if all the previous negotiating was just a game. And maybe it was.And maybe it is with the GGP saga. Simon has said its latest $20 offer is best and final and that it would walk if a bankruptcy hearing goes forward today as scheduled. (Is that true? Your guess is as good as mine.) They also upped the recap offer by a dollar. We should know more about a postponement...
Anti-climax of the day: Simon wants it all
Posted by
alex
Posted on
8:12 AM
So, Simon is now apparently at a bid of $18.25 for all of GGP. We are right back where we started from, just at a higher price. Did anyone seriously think anything else was going to happen? While I obviously don't know the story (I am not a reporter, just a blogger), I do know this: If I were representing a buyer, I would have suggested a partial buy in to GGP as a potential means of getting the assets I want. After all, who wants your competition breathing down your neck?But if that does not work -- and it won't -- go back to the jugular.And gee, guess what? Simon is willing to divest...
Here we go with carried interest again
Posted by
alex
Posted on
8:02 AM
Originally we thought it was over. Wrong. It looks like the whole carried interest debate is back. Like a cheap pair of sunglasses, it just won't go away. They are even trying to plug ways around it now; call me silly but I would rather spend time doing deals than working out complicated tax law solutions. I wrote about this topic almost three years ago, and I have done so on other occasions. You can look here and here for some other thoughts. It is not something I like seeing just as signs of life are showing in the market and hopefully in development to boo...