Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

You’ve Been Suspended – Were You Ready?

April 20, 2020 — Curtis W. Martin, Patrick J. Greene, Jr. & Levi W. Barrett - Peckar & Abramson
“Effective tomorrow … the City is suspending all regular activity at construction sites in Boston.” This was just one of the surprises that greeted contractors last week. Contractors and owners with projects across the country are scrambling to comply with mandated governmental suspensions. Project participants should begin contingency planning for possible project shutdowns. Reacting to Suspension Your legal rights and remedies will be largely determined by your contract and the laws applicable to it. But some basic principles will be applicable depending on the source of the suspension. Suspension by the Owner: An owner work suspension suggests review of the contract’s suspension of work clause. Federal contractors would look to the FAR Suspension of Work clause, FAR 52.242-14, but that is applicable if the suspension is by the Contracting Officer; the US would argue that a systemic suspension was a sovereign act and outside the FAR clause. Contractors for private work and state or municipal work may have contractual suspension of work clauses. At least some suspension clauses provide relief for time and money. Reprinted courtesy of Peckar & Abramson attorneys Curtis W. Martin, Patrick J. Greene and Levi W. Barrett Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@pecklaw.com Mr. Greene may be contacted at pgreene@pecklaw.com Mr. Barrett may be contacted at lbarrett@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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Defining Catastrophic Injury Claims

December 16, 2019 — Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
How do we define circumstances and injuries that go beyond a typical claim and severely impact a person’s life? How do we characterize the types of claims where an individual’s enjoyment of life is affected in an extraordinary manner? Typically, attorneys refer to these types of cases as “catastrophic injury” claims. These are the type of personal injury claims where the health of an individual has been so seriously impacted that their life has been irreparably altered. Defining these claims legally is somewhat murky and case law has done little to provide attorneys with a specific definition of the term. However, a recent Workers Compensation Appeals Board ruling attempted to list factors in order to establish a catastrophic injury claim. These include:

An intensity and seriousness of treatment received for an injury;
The ultimate outcome when a person’s physical injury is permanent and stationary;
Whether the severity of the physical injury impacts the person’s ability to perform daily activities;
Whether the physical injury is closely analogous to one of the injuries specified in various statutes, including loss of a limb, paralysis, severe burns, or a severe head injury; and
If the physical injury is incurable or progressive. Wilson v. State of California CAL Fire (5/10/19) 2019 Cal.Wrk.Comp. LEXIS 29.

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Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Lightstone Committing $2 Billion to Hotel Projects

February 26, 2015 — Nadja Brandt – Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- David Lichtenstein, whose real estate company owned Extended Stay Hotels when the chain went bankrupt, is committing $2 billion to developing and investing in lodging properties. Lightstone Group is choosing “top-branded” select-service properties, those with limited amenities, in proven U.S. markets for its projects, Lichtenstein said in an interview. As part of the strategy, Lightstone has teamed up with Marriott International Inc. to build five Moxy hotels in New York -- four in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. The “micro” lodgings, with high-tech features and smaller-than-average rooms, are geared toward younger travelers. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nadja Brandt, Bloomberg
Ms. Brandt may be contacted at nbrandt@bloomberg.net

Can a Receiver Prime and Strip Liens Against Real Property?

September 20, 2021 — Ben Reeves - Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
Courts overseeing receivers generally enjoy broad discretion in directing and approving a receiver’s proposed actions. But does that authority extend to a receiver not only granting a super-priority lien ahead of existing liens, but also selling the real property free and clear of all liens? In County of Sonoma v. Quail, 56 Cal.App.5th 657 (Ct. App. 2020), the California Court of Appeals answered that question in the affirmative. Quail involved a 47,480 square-foot lot with two houses, a few garages, several outbuildings, and numerous trailers surrounded by a veritable junk yard. Despite many of these structures being uninhabitable, unsanitary, and dangerous, multiple families resided on the lot. Although Sonoma County (the “County”) ordered the owner to remediate the property several times, he failed and refused to do so. After several years of these violations going unabated, the County ultimately sought and obtained the appointment of a receiver over the real property. To obtain funds necessary to repair the property, the receiver asked the court for permission to borrow money through the issuance of a receivership certificate to be secured by a super-priority lien—i.e., a lien ahead of all other liens—against the real property. Although the trial court initially declined to prime existing liens, when the receiver could find no one to lend money (since the land lacked equity), the trial court relented and approved a super-priority lien despite the senior secured lender’s objection (the “lender”). Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ben Reeves, Snell & Wilmer
Mr. Reeves may be contacted at breeves@swlaw.com

Mendocino Hospital Nearing Completion

December 04, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital is well underway on its plans to move to a larger facility. The new building in Willits, California, will be more than twice the size of the old building at 74,000 square feet. Construction has reached the halfway point after just over three months of construction. Despite that, plans are to put the facility into use in January 2015. The general contractor for the project is HBE Corporation. Rick Bockmann, HBE’s chief executive officer, said that the hospital was “on schedule and on budget.” Read the court decision
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With Historic Removal of Four Dams, Klamath River Flows Again Unhindered

October 21, 2024 — Tim Newcomb - Engineering News-Record
In a period of 16 months, four dams built between 1903 and 1962 came down as part of a monumental effort to clear 35 miles of the Klamath River spanning Oregon and California. The project owner, the Klamath River Renewal Corp., describes it as the largest dam removal effort in U.S.—and possibly world—history. Reprinted courtesy of Tim Newcomb, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Lack of Flood Insurance for New York’s Poorest Residents

September 10, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Property Casualty 360 reported that for residents of the flood-prone area of Queens, New York, even “the slightest downpour could mean evacuating their homes for a night or even weeks at a time.” The problem is that “[m]uch of Southeast Queens, an area that includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans and Hollis, and parts of the Rockaways, sits on a massive aquifer that swells with groundwater and spills over into streets and eventually into basements and homes after heavy rains.” However, according to Property Casualty 360, Southeast Queens residents “have been battling insurance agencies for over a decade.” “I would say more than 90% of the homeowners I speak to out here, they’re looking for insurance and they’re not getting it,” Councilman Donovan Richards, who represents Roseland and Far Rockaway, told Property Casualty 360. “Insurance companies obviously don’t want to take the risk.” Read the court decision
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Mortgage Interest Rates Increase on Newly Built Homes

April 30, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Eye on Housing, while the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) reported a decrease in mortgage interest rates for existing homes, there was an increase in mortgage rates on newly built homes: “The average contract interest rate on conventional mortgages used to purchase newly built homes actually increased in March, from 3.91 to 4.21 percent, reversing an anomalous drop to under 4 percent that occurred in February.” “The average price and loan size on conventional mortgages used to purchase newly built homes also reversed previous month declines in March,” reported Eye on Housing. “The average price increased 5.4 percent to $427,200—the second highest number on record.” Read the court decision
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SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES