Doing Business in Florida Blog

Considerations When Buying Contaminated Property

October 15, 2018
Jeffrey R. Margolis  |  Environmental, Real Estate

The availability of large tracts of land on which to build new projects in advantageous locations is shrinking. As a result, there is a growing trend of buyers considering the purchase of properties with unresolved environmental issues that they never would have considered in the past due to, among other things, potential liability, internal risk

Environmental Insurance Coverage: Now you have it – now you don’t

June 14, 2018
Dawn M. Meyers and Gina Clausen Lozier  |  Environmental, Insurance

In the transactional world, it has long been standard operating procedure to conduct due diligence and, should environmental conditions be found, contract around them through the use of indemnifications.  With a booming economy, though, sellers in a seller’s market have grown less willing to offer indemnification, pushing buyers into the realm of

The Rise of Transit Oriented Development

February 16, 2017
Jeffrey R. Margolis  |  Commercial Real Estate, Condominiums, Construction & Design, Environmental, Hospitality & Leisure, Land Use & Zoning, Real Estate, Real Estate Development, Urban Redevelopment

Millennials have now overtaken baby boomers as America’s largest generation, and developers must cater to this segment’s desire for convenience, connectivity and access to the urban core. As density of downtowns grow, mixed use development will emerge in suburban neighborhoods that may be farther out from the city center, but still enjoy the proximity to

Judge Strikes Down Proposed "Public Notice of Pollution" Rule

January 8, 2017
Daniel H. Thompson  |  Environmental, Government and Regulatory, Pollution

On December 30, 2016, an Administrative Law Judge with Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearing, Judge Bram D. E. Canter, issued a Final Order striking down a proposed rule of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection entitled “Public Notice of Pollution”   As explained in my July 29, 2016, blog, the proposed rule was intended to replace a FDEP-issued emergency rule that by Florida law was effective for only 90 days. As with the emergency rule, the proposed rule would have significantly increased pollution notification requirements.