Client: Owners of a Major League Baseball Team
Location: Northeastern United States
Issue: The client required assistance in determining the value for
an iconic baseball stadium and negotiating with the municipality to arrive at a fair real property assessment.
Project requirement: WREA performed a study of rents paid by major league baseball teams for both privately and publicly owned stadiums throughout the United States. WREA quantified the categories of revenues, isolated those revenues attributable to the real property and applied the appropriate ratios to the baseball stadium at issue.
Result: The client was able to negotiate a fair and equitable real property assessment and avoided protracted litigation.
Client: Major development company and legal counsel
Location: Mid-Atlantic region of the United States
Issue: Owners of two adjoining parcels leased land to a development company for construction of a large mixed-use project comprised of high-end retail, luxury condominiums and a hotel. The landlords breached the ground lease by refusing to grant estoppel certificates and contesting the building permits.
Project requirement: WREA professionals conducted a market study of the supply and demand for retail and residential space as well as hotel rooms during the relevant time periods, prepared an analysis of the value of the development if it had proceeded as anticipated as well as an analysis of the profits lost as a result
of the breach.
Result: A jury awarded the client lost profits of $36M plus attorneys fees. The landlord appealed but the decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals.
Client: Development company and legal counsel
Location: Mid-Atlantic region of the United States
Issue: Developers hired a national construction company to build a 664-bed student housing facility on the perimeter of a large university. The construction contract required substantial completion well in advance of commencement of the Fall term. The construction company failed to comply with the schedule, resulting in a monetary loss of rental income until the Spring term. In addition, there were substantial construction defects that compromised the integrity of the exterior and interior of the building. The developer sued the construction company for damages.
Project requirement: WREA professionals conducted an analysis of the supply and demand for good quality student housing during the relevant time periods, prepared an analysis of the value of the development if it had proceeded on schedule and if it had been constructed in compliance with the contractual agreement as well as an analysis of the revenue lost as a result of the construction delay and defects.
Result: The case was heard by a mediator, who awarded damages to the development company based on the contractual agreement, monetary losses due to project delay and the cost to repair all construction defects.
Client: Major development company and legal counsel
Location: Southeastern United States
Issue: Developer had obtained financing from a lender to construct a mixed-use project comprised of retail, office and residential condominiums overlooking the Harbor. The project was on time, was under budget and in compliance with the required number of sale commitments. The FDIC took over the lender and refused to honor the loan commitment, which ended the project. The developer sued the FDIC for damages.
Project requirement: WREA professionals conducted an analysis of the supply, demand and achievable price for retail, office and residential space in the market during the relevant time periods, prepared an analysis of the value of the development if it had proceeded as anticipated as well as an analysis of the monetary losses caused by the FDIC's actions.
Result: The case was settled prior to trial.
Client: Consortium of major corporations and legal counsel
Location: Northeastern United States
Issue: The owners of a Superfund site had declared bankruptcy and the corporations that had done business with the owners were held liable for remediating the site as well as paying for
off-site damages caused by the migration of hazardous substances. The consortium and legal counsel required professional assistance in determining the monetary damages to surrounding land owners.
Project requirement: WREA professionals analyzed the impact of environmental contamination on the affected properties including the lack of marketability and the short and long term diminution in value. We worked with environmental engineers to quantify the clean up costs and time line for remediation.
Result: The consortium was able to comply with Federal mandates to fund the clean up as well as negotiate with the affected property owners.
Client: REIT and legal counsel
Location: Western United States
Issue: REIT had acquired a portfolio of net leased properties from an investment group based on reported financial performance and the risk profile of the tenants. The investment group had assembled the portfolio over a one year period through sale/leaseback transactions. Subsequent to acquisition by the REIT, most of the tenants defaulted on the leases and vacated the properties. The REIT filed suit claiming that the financial reporting was fraudulent and that the leases were never sustainable.
Project requirement: WREA was retained by the REIT to provide expert testimony on the commercial reasonableness of the financial projections and the sustainability of the individual leases.
Result: The case was settled prior to trial.
Client: Investors in a publicly traded REIT and legal counsel
Location: Mid-Atlantic region of the United States
Issue: Investors were suing the managers of a publicly traded REIT claiming that the management costs were excessive and that the managers had failed to correctly assess fair value and report impairments to the SEC over a three year period.
Project requirement: WREA was retained by the investors to review financial and other documents during the relevant time period and provide expert testimony related to the management costs of competitive REITS, the value of the assets in the portfolio over the relevant time period and the impairments that should have been reported to the SEC.
Result: The case was settled prior to trial.
Client: Investors in TIC national portfolio
Location: 150 existing and development properties in locations throughout the United States
Issue: Investors were suing the managers of a national portfolio of TIC assets who had filed bankruptcy to avoid liquidation of non-performing assets.
Project requirement: WREA reviewed the portfolio to determine which assets should be liquidated and which assets had upside potential with prudent management and development expertise.
Result: WREA was able to help the clients limit risk and maximize value.
Client: Development company and legal counsel
Location: Southeastern United States
Issue: Development company was unable to sell completed condominium units prior to the economic downturn because the law firm responsible for drafting the condominium documents had not complied with state regulations. As a result, unit closings were delayed and the development company sustained monetary losses.
Project requirement: WREA was retained by legal counsel to quantify the damages resulting from the delayed unit sales as well as the impact of the economic downturn on potential revenue.
Result: The case is ongoing.
Client: Utility company
Location: California
Issue: A major west coast city was attempting to acquire all of the transmission and distribution assets within the jurisdictional boundaries by eminent domain in order to municipalize the operating network.
Project requirement: WREA was retained by the general counsel of the utility company to quantify the damages resulting from the eminent domain acquisition of the T&D assets as well as the operating network.
Result: The city withdrew the legal action.
Client: Insurance company and legal counsel
Location: West Coast
Issue: The insurance company had financed the development of a regional shopping center and the developer had declared bankruptcy midway through construction. The matter at issue was the value of project as it existed and the probable future value when complete.
Project requirement: WREA was retained by legal counsel to value the existing development and perform a market study to determine the feasibility of the development as proposed, the cost to finish the project and the time requirements to fully lease the space.
Result: The judge ruled for the client.