Company & Industry News

Mike Sikora presented at Ohio Realtors’ first ever virtual Annual Convention.  While we at Sikora Law place tremendous value on the power of in-person presentations and seminars, virtual seminars (especially in these uncertain times) can prove very beneficial.  Mike prides himself on adding value to our Client’s businesses and to those take their time to hear him speak.  Mike’s Commercial Core Law Program had 583 attendees participate – a record for one of Mike’s speaking engagements.  The attendees were very appreciative and complimentary of the insight and perspectives that they received from that program.  We appreciate Ohio Realtors calling upon us to present.

Click here to learn why nearly every major commercial brokerage that conducts business in Ohio chooses Sikora Law.

Considering whether to use an entity transfer for your commercial real estate transaction is more important than ever.  For multiple reasons (construction costs, lending terms, low supply, unrealistic seller expectations, to name a few), getting commercial real estate deals done is getting harder.  Sometimes, it makes the most sense to use an entity transfer structure for your deal.

There are even variations among forms of entity transfers – ranging from straight entity transfers – to so-called “drop-and-swap” transactions – each of which is better than the other under certain circumstances.

Certain interest groups are pushing, through legislation, to eliminate the opportunity to complete transactions at all, or to thwart financial feasibility of deals, and we are pushing back.  In these challenging economic times, thoughtfully considering these options is more important than ever.  Until a better model can be established, we all have to make the best of this model.  We believe we know how to do that extremely well.

Every week, we advise our Clients on the importance of this subject, and we believe we know better than any other firm in Ohio exactly where the law stands on this subject and where it is headed, so we believe we know better than any other firm how to help you determine how best way to structure transactions for financial feasibility and maximum success.

Let us know how we can help.

Click here to learn why nearly every major commercial brokerage that conducts business in Ohio chooses Sikora Law.

On December 29, 2020, Senate Bill 39 – the Transformational Mixed-use Development Tax Credit Bill – became the law of Ohio.  That new law is extremely important for the commercial real estate industry – it is something that is sorely needed as our economy pulls out of the Coronavirus Recession.

This new law will now enable certain transformational mixed-use developments to move forward.  Mixed-use developments with $50,000,000 or more in total project costs (and 15 stories or 350,000 square feet) that are in or around cities with a population of 100,000 or more, or smaller scale but still transformational mixed-use developments that are located more than 10 miles outside of a major city may qualify.

Unlike any other Ohio commercial real estate economic development law – it includes a first of its kind, built-in return on investment calculation and methodology to ensure that additional state and local taxes generated by the development will exceed the amount of the tax credits awarded to the developer.

Senate Bill 39 also improves Ohio Commercial Broker Lien Law by mandating recovery of all attorneys’ fees and costs for the prevailing party and streamlining the process for serving Broker’s Liens.

Our firm drafted portions of Senate Bill 39, and we were extremely involved in the process of advocating for its passage – before it became law.

House Bill 251 (the Bill regarding Contract Action Statutes of Limitations) has been favorably reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee (receiving only only one dissent).  If that Bill becomes law, it would further reduce Ohio’s statute of limitations for a breach of contract action from 8 years to 6 years.

To review HB 251, click here.

Congratulations to our very own Mike Sikora and Rick Craven for receiving 2021 distinctions from Super Lawyers.  Mike was named a Super Lawyer, a distinction only given to no more than 5% of attorneys in each state, and Rick Craven’s Rising Star selection is only given to a maximum of 2.5% of attorneys in each state who are no more than 40 years old or who have been practicing law for no more than 10 years.  We are grateful to have Mike and Rick as leaders of our firm.