From the Ground Up
All Articles
Planning for Snowstorms in Commercial Leases
With Portland weathering one of its top-ten snowstorms of all time earlier this month, one question that landlords and prospective tenants alike are asking is how to plan for snow and ice storms in their leases.
The allocation of responsi...
Continue Reading >
IRS: "Shea It Ain't So!" The Ninth Circuit Opens The Door For Real Estate Developers to Defer Income Tax
In a coup for real estate developers, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. Tax Court's approval of a real estate developer's strategy to defer income in Shea Homes, Inc. v. Commissioner, 834 F.3d 1061 (9th Cir. 2016). The strategy appears fairly narro...
Continue Reading >
LUBA Decision Blocks Proposed Right 2 Dream Too Move to the Central Eastside
The City of Portland has been struggling for several years to find a permanent location for the Right 2 Dream Too ("R2DToo") tent camp, currently located at the corner of NW 4th and Burnside. An August 30, 2016, decision by the Oregon Land Use Board...
Continue Reading >
Portland's Construction Boom
Portland is quickly joining the ranks of American cities with the most significant construction projects.
According to a report Friday from the Seattle Times, Portland now ranks seventh in the nation in the number of construction cranes—just behind...
Continue Reading >
Lack of Evidence of Prior Use Not Fatal to Implied Easement Claim
On August 10, 2016, the Oregon Court of Appeals issued a decision on an implied easement claim, finding that the lack of evidence regarding the use of the easement before the initial conveyance of the benefited property was not fatal to the claim. Da...
Continue Reading >
Opening the Door to Owner and General Contractor Liability Under Oregon's Employer Liability Law
General contractors and other employers (even some owners) have greater exposure under Oregon's Employer Liability Law (the “ELL”) to injured workers based on the recent Oregon Supreme Court decision in Yeatts v. Polygon Northwest Co. The ELL imposes...
Continue Reading >