SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Bert Hummel Appointed Vice Chair of State Bar of Georgia Bench & Bar Committee

October 24, 2021 — Bert Hummel - Lewis Brisbois
Atlanta, Ga. (October 4, 2021) – Atlanta Partner Bert Hummel was recently named Vice Chair of the State Bar of Georgia's Bench & Bar Committee for the 2021-2022 year. The Bench & Bar Committee identifies and facilitates solutions to issues of mutual interest between State judges and Georgia lawyers for the benefit of the bench, the bar and the public. It also oversees the annual Justice Thomas O. Marshall Professionalism Award, which honors one lawyer and one judge who have demonstrated the highest professional conduct and paramount reputation for professionalism. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bert Hummel, Lewis Brisbois
Mr. Hummel may be contacted at Bert.Hummel@lewisbrisbois.com

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Amazon Urged to Review Emergency Plans in Wake of Deadly Tornado

June 20, 2022 — Spencer Soper - Bloomberg
Amazon.com Inc. should better prepare workers for extreme weather events, according to federal regulators who investigated a deadly tornado strike on a company warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois. The storm ripped through the facility in December, killing six workers and injuring several others, prompting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch a probe. At the time, Amazon said the facility complied with all construction regulations and that proper safety procedures were followed when the tornado struck. But several workers told Bloomberg that training for such events was minimal and mostly entailed pointing out emergency exits and assembly points. An OSHA report released on Tuesday echoed those concerns. The agency said a bullhorn that was supposed to be used to tell workers to take cover was locked up in a cage and inaccessible. In interviews with investigators, some employees couldn’t recall ever participating in emergency drills and said they mistakenly took shelter in a bathroom on the south side of the building rather than in designated restrooms on the north side. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Spencer Soper, Bloomberg

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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (7/31/24) – International Homebuying Shrinks Commercial Real Estate Focus on Sustainability, and U.S. Banks Boost Provisions for Credit Losses

September 09, 2024 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, mortgage rates drop to lowest levels since March, hotel construction activity highest since February 2023, Biden administration calls for legislation regarding property owners, and more!

• International buyers bought 54,300 existing homes from April 2023 to March 2024 – a 36% drop from the year before. (Diana Olick, CNBC)
• The Biden administration called on Congress to pass legislation penalizing property owners for rent increases above a certain level as part of its plan to lower housing costs through a series of administrative actions. (Mary Salmonsen, Multifamily Dive)
• U.S. banks have boosted their provisions for credit losses as deteriorating commercial real estate (CRE) loans and high interest rates fuel fears of defaults. (Manya Saini, Niket Nishant and Matt Tracy, Reuters)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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Green Construction Trends Contractors Can Expect in 2019

May 01, 2019 — Emily Folk - Construction Executive
The construction industry has come a long way since it was started building homes out of logs and sticks. Modern homes and buildings are marvels of engineering filled with wood, concrete and steel—much of which could be recycled if the building were ever torn down. Green construction is a growing field that will continue to expand in the coming year. What green construction trends can we expect to see in the coming year? Augmented and Virtual Reality Augmented reality (AR) is growing more popular every year for games and entertainment, but it also has some applications in green construction. AR and virtual reality (VR) programs, either through a headset or on a smartphone, can be used to improve collaboration between companies, allowing each company to see a virtual overlay of their stage of the project. For green and eco-friendly construction, it can be used to show how a finished product will look on undeveloped land, making it easier to judge the ecological impact of the project. The use of AR and VR in green construction is still in its infancy, though we will likely start to see more of it in 2019. Reprinted courtesy of Emily Folk, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Former NYC Condo Empire Executive Arrested for Larceny, Tax Fraud

March 11, 2024 — Ava Benny-Morrison - Bloomberg
A former New York executive facing lawsuits over the collapse of real estate empire HFZ Capital Group has been arrested in Miami, charged with grand larceny and tax fraud. Nir Meir, 48, was arrested Monday, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed. Meir was detained on an out-of-state warrant, suggesting his arrest may be the result of an investigation by law enforcement in New York. A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Meir’s attorney also didn’t immediately respond to an email. Meir, the former managing principal of HFZ Capital Group, has been battling multiple lawsuits in New York over his involvement in the once-prominent real estate firm. He’s denied wrongdoing. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ava Benny-Morrison, Bloomberg

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SunCal Buys Oak Knoll Development for the Second Time

May 19, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to the San Francisco Business Times, “Irvine-based SunCal has now bought the same site twice: once in 2005 for $100.5 million and again last week from the Lehman Brothers estate.” Suncal’s original plan to develop the 167-acre Oakland Hills, California project “fell apart after Lehman declared bankruptcy in 2008.” The San Francisco Business Times reported that the “former naval hospital site” has “the potential for more than 900 homes.” The former design included “960 homes, 82,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, and 50 acres of parks and open space.” Read the court decision
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Colorado House Bill 1279 Stalls over 120-day Unit Owner Election Period

April 20, 2017 — Luke Mecklenburg - Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
With the session more than halfway through, the Colorado Legislature’s 2017 attempts at meaningful construction defect reform may fail again. This year, the Legislature did not attempt a single-bill construction defect overhaul like those that have failed over the last half-decade. Rather, it has sought to enact reforms on a piecemeal basis, with several smaller bills addressing specific issues that have been affecting condominium construction along Colorado’s booming Front Range. This new approach appears to be headed towards much the same outcome as the failed efforts of the past. House Bill 1169 would have given developers a statutory right to repair before being sued by homeowners, and Senate Bill 156 would mandate arbitration or mediation. Both have been assigned to the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee (often viewed as the “bill-kill committee”), and have little chance of being resuscitated this session. This was also the fate of House Bill 1279, but bipartisan support had many believing that it still had a chance of passing—at least until last week. House Bill 1279 would require an executive board of a homeowners association to satisfy several prerequisites before suing a developer or builder, namely to (1) notify all unit owners and the developer or builder against whom the lawsuit is being considered; (2) call an association meeting where the builder or developer could present relevant facts and arguments; and (3) get approval from the majority of the unit owners after providing detailed disclosures about the lawsuit, including the potential costs and benefits thereof. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Luke Mecklenburg, Snell & Wilmer
Mr. Mecklenburg may be contacted at lmecklenburg@swlaw.com

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Project-Specific Commercial General Liability Insurance

May 13, 2019 — Jeremiah M. Welch - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Many markets which provide insurance for construction projects include an endorsement providing coverage for “repair work” as part of their standard policy. “Repair work” endorsements are largely misunderstood by policyholders and the insurance broker community. They are typically assumed to be coverage enhancements, but many provide no additional coverage and actually risk reduction of coverage otherwise provided as part of the products-completed operations (“PCO”) extensions also found in these project-specific policies. This article is designed to help the reader understand these endorsements so that better decisions can be made at the point of purchase. Intent The common feature of these endorsements is a grant of coverage for bodily injury and property damage resulting from “repair work” for a specified period of time. Most endorsements define “repair work” to mean the repair of completed work performed pursuant to a contract or warranty. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jeremiah M. Welch, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Welch may be contacted at jmw@sdvlaw.com

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