Publications

Ground Leases

35 Articles and Other Items Found

Click Here for Some of Joshua Stein's Completed Matters (Ground Leases)

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Common Misconceptions About Ground Leases [2024]mail

Some ideas about how ground leases work are outdated, misconstrued, or just plain wrong.
How Ground Leases Create New Opportunities For Long-Term Real Estate Owners [2024]mail

Even ground lease owners who will never sell should plan ahead for a future sale. They should make their ground lease as palatable as possible to future buyers.
Ground Lease Armageddon [2022]mail

In any ground leased development project, the land owner wants a creditworthy completion guarantor. But what happens when the lender takes over the project?
The Story Of A Property Owner Who Successfully Terminated A Ground Lease [2022]mail

It’s not easy for an owner to terminate a long term ground lease, but it can be done. Here’s an unusual example.
Can a Landlord's Bankruptcy Destroy a Lease? A Third Look at the Qualitech Case [2021]mail

The 2003 Qualitech decision caused alarm among leasehold mortgagees. Was the fear justified? Not at first, but then mission creep took hold.
How Two Words In A Ground Lease Destroyed Millions of Dollars Of Value [2021]mail

When a ground rent adjustment formula referred to the wrong starting point, this created financial Armageddon for the tenant.
Model Ground Lease Criteria for CMBS and Other Lenders [2021]mail

CMBS and other lenders want ground leases to contain certain provisions. Joshua Stein's Model Ground Lease Criteria summarize the expectations of the secondary market in simple and succinct language.
Model Term Sheet for Ground Lease (Forms) [2021]mail

Ground lease negotiations cover a lot of ground. To avoid the landmines, start from a good term sheet. Joshua Stein just published a template in the Practical Real Estate Lawyer. Don't expect to use all or even most of these items, but consider them a useful checklist.
The Difference Between Waivers And Consents In A Ground Lease [2021]mail

It takes a small change in the choice of words to make a big difference in a ground lease tenant's ability to make its own decisions.
Can A Lender Use A Routine Closing Document To Change A Ground Lease? [2020]mail

Estoppel certificates show up all the time in real estate transactions. But what happens when a lender tries to use an estoppel certificate to change the terms of a ground lease?
How Ground Leases 2.0 Create Value And Avoid Disaster [2020]mail

Modern ground leases create long-term interests in real estate that make sense for two very different types of investors.
Who Can Hold A Mortgage On A Ground Lease? [2020]mail

Ground lease negotiators should revisit the definitions and standards for an "institution," as real estate funds and other non-banks originate more leasehold mortgages.
Document Bloatation and a Response [2019]mail

Document templates tend to grow over time, but there's a way to keep contents a reasonable size, while saving optional provisions to use again in other documents. A ground lease is used as an example.
Ground Leases Revisited [2019]mail

A wealth of knowledge and experience gleaned over the last 15 years is being incorporated into Joshua Stein's completely reworked treatise on ground leases. This article is a preview of what's to come.
Solving the Ground Rent Problem [2019]mail

Ground rent reset clauses have recently produced disasters for tenants. In response, how are tenants protecting themselves in lease negotiations?
Fee Mortgages in Ground Lease Transactions (With Model Lease Language) [2018]mail

In addition to negotiating the terms for rent, leasehold protection for mortgagees and creating a financeable leasehold, the parties to a long-term ground lease need to address another essential issue: a limited set of fee mortgagee protections.
How Long A Ground Lease? [2018]mail

What factors should the parties take into account when setting the term of a ground lease? Are there advantages to making the period less than 99 years? Should tax avoidance or other strategies be considered? This article explains what really matters when negotiating a ground lease.
The Explosion of Developments Under Ground-Lease Structures [2018]mail

Ground leases can be complicated, and have risks and benefits for owners, developers and lenders. When might it be worthwhile for the parties involved to utilize this this increasingly popular structure?
It Could Happen [2017]mail

300 commercial real estate attorneys in New York City were consulted about six common provisions in long-term ground leases that address things that could happen. But do they ever really happen?
Moody's Clamps Down on Two Ground Lease Issues [2016]mail

Among the panoply of "financeability" issues in any ground lease, two provisions require special care to satisfy the rating agencies. This article examines these two rather technical concerns.
Comforting the Condemned [2015]mail

Condemnation of ground leases may not happen much, but when it does happen how should the parties involved share in the condemnation payment? This article describes the possibilities.
How New York City and State Transfer Taxes Apply To Ground Leases [2015]mail

Ground leases in New York incur lower transfer taxes than an outright sale at a similar valuation, but there's far more complexity involved. This article reviews the issues and results of applying the transfer tax at City and State levels.
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Rights of First Offer and First Refusal [2014]mail

Rights of first refusal and rights of first offer (ROFO and ROFR) seem like a great idea, until you actually have to live with one of them. This article explores many ways they can go wrong.
Leasehold Financing and the Mortgage Priority Conundrum [2014]mail

Which mortgage has priority in a ground lease? The landlord's or the tenant's? Or neither? Joshua Stein explains why it's essential to understand from both perspectives the issues in obtaining mortgage financing in order to resolve them correctly. Otherwise, landlord, tenant, or even both parties, may have a difficult time securing financing.
Model Right of First Offer [2014]mail

In this model ROFO clause, the author tried to learn from the litigated cases and the author's own experiences and produce a ROFO clause that might work better than most. It's certainly longer than most.
The Most Important Issue In Every Ground Lease [2014]mail

A brief look at the most crucial issue for every landlord under a ground lease: how to adjust the ground rent over many years, to protect the landlord from inflation.
Why Rights of First Offer and Rights of First Refusal Don't Work [2013]mail

Right of first offer and right of first refusal clauses (ROFO and ROFR) may seem like a good idea, but do they actually work?
Did the Sky Fall on Leasehold Mortgagees? Ground Lease Financing After Qualitech [2009]mail

In 2003, the Qualitech decision struck fear into the hearts of leasehold mortgagees from coast to coast. Later cases confirm Joshua Stein's opinion at the time that the fear of Qualitech was overstated.
It Was Part of the Deal -- Ground Rent Resets in Battery Park City [2009]mail

The April 20, 2009 Crain's New York Business published an article expressing concern about how adjustments in ground rent would affect condominium owners in Battery Park City. The following week, Crain's published Joshua Stein's response, explaining how and why ground leases work.
Are Ground Lease Rent Reset Clauses Formulas for Disaster? [2007]mail

Long-term ground leases usually contain appraisal-based rent adjustments -- perhaps the single largest source of ground lease litigation. This article explains where the problems lie and how to prevent them.
Techniques for a Developer to Structure "For Sale" Apartments in a Leasehold Project [2007]mail

Condominium developers typically sell units outright to end-users. But what happens if the developer holds only a long-term lease on the building? This article explores possible techniques to sell apartments built on a leasehold.
Ground Leases from the Ground Up [2004]mail

Ground leases can offer an excellent opportunity for developers looking to build when the owning party doesn't want to sell, though all sides must consider the potential traps.
How Much Protection Does a Leasehold Mortgagee Need? [2003]mail

A reasonable set of "leasehold mortgagee" protections. Written in (relatively) Plain English and without saying too much or too little.
Alternatives to Site Acquisition - Ground Leases: An Overview [2000]mail

Because a ground lease can meet the needs of all the parties, it can bring about a development project that otherwise might never have occurred. But developer, landlord and lender need to know their liabilities, benefits, risks, and responsibilities, and how they may change over time.

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Joshua Stein PLLC
Please Note Our New Address:

110 West 57th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10019 (212) 688-3300

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