Blogs

Construction

What will be the Impact of Amazon HQ2 to the Hotel Industry?

The second headquarters for Amazon in Arlington, VA is obviously a hot topic in local commercial real estate. Much of the focus so far has been on projected residential price increases and increased commercial leasing. But, let’s not forget about the hotel industry. The forecast for much higher hotel traffic in the area was the…

July 19, 2019

Construction

​​Five Things to Consider When Leasing to a Restaurant Tenant

As reported by the National Restaurant Association and other industry experts, there are over one million restaurants in the United States, but the failure rate is very high (a majority close within three to five years). With online shopping and delivery becoming more and more prevalent, landlords of all types have faced increasing vacancies for…

July 16, 2019

Construction

Landlord’s Liens in Commercial Leases – Part 2

Landlord Waiver Agreement in Favor of Tenant’s Lender As noted in part 1 of this article, the commercial tenant’s lenders will also want a security interest in the tenant’s personal property to secure the repayment of the tenant’s loan obligations, creating a conflict between the lien rights of the landlord and the lender. Because of…

June 19, 2019

Construction

Landlord’s Liens in Commercial Leases – Part 1

Banks that provide financing for commercial tenants and the real estate landlords for those same tenants both want additional security in the tenant’s personal property located at the premises. The interests of the landlord and the lender are in conflict. The landlord is looking to secure the tenant’s rental obligations by taking a lien against…

June 11, 2019

Construction

Guaranty of Leases: Landlords and Tenants – Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, the definition of guaranty, the relationship between the landlord and guarantor, and the means for landlords to enforce provisions of a guaranty were discussed. Recognizing that the guaranty is a condition to entering into a lease, and its leverage is limited, the guarantor would still like to limit its…

May 22, 2019

Construction

Guaranty of Leases: Landlords and Tenants – Part 1

As a condition to entering into a new lease, landlords often require a guaranty of lease from a personal or corporate guarantor in connection with those tenant entities that do not have either a high enough net worth or annual revenue, or for whatever other reasons do not meet the landlord’s financial criteria. A guaranty…

May 16, 2019

Construction

Arlington County Reviews Residential Parking Working Group Proposals

The Arlington County Board held a work session on July 11th to review and provide feedback on the Residential Parking Working Group’s recommendations for parking minimums in the Rosslyn-Ballston and Jefferson Davis Highway corridors. The group recommended establishing parking minimums in these corridors based on the residential project’s proximity to the Metro. The parking minimums…

July 12, 2017

Construction

Arlington County Board Passes New Zoning Ordinance Amendment on Size of Signs

On June 17th, the Arlington County Board approved an amendment to Arlington’s Zoning Ordinance allowing greater aggregate sign area for certain properties with retail. The adopted amendment—which applies to buildings with comprehensive sign plans in commercial/mixed-use zoning districts—would increase the allowed aggregate sign area for retailers facing publicly accessible plazas. It would also increase the…

June 30, 2017

Construction

Statewide Regulatory Updates Underway for Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Architects

The Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers, and Landscape Architects (“the Board”) is reopening its regulations for general review. The Board is only at the notice of intent stage of the process, so it is unclear at this time which regulations will be revised. The goal of the review is to…

April 3, 2017

Construction

Arlington County Board Approves 1.2mm SF of Mixed-Use Development in West Rosslyn

On February 25th, the Arlington County Board unanimously approved Penzance’s 1555 Wilson Boulevard 4.1 Site Plan project. The applicant, represented by Matt Roberts, proposed to rezone the properties and submitted a 4.1 Site Plan application to permit approximately 1.2 million square feet of mixed-use development in the West Rosslyn area. The project, approved at 10…

March 27, 2017