As some readers of this blog know, for the past year, I have had the privilege of presenting the “Legal Minute” on the Real Estate Radio Hour each Saturday at 10 am on WCCO Radio 830 AM. The show brings together experts from all corners of the real estate world for an hour each week to provide timely advice and tips for homeowners, investors and others.

For January, I have focused my Legal Minute spots on the topic of commercial leases. Here they are:

January 1, 2011: Commercial Leasing Basics

January 8, 2011: Triple Net Lease vs Gross Lease

January 15, 2011: Subordination, Non-Disturbance and Attornment Agreements

January 22, 2011: Ground Leases

The January 29, 2001 Legal Minute will be covered by my good friend, Lymari Santana, family law attorney with the law firm of Mack & Santana (which is Of Counsel to my firm, Mansfield Tanick & Cohen). Lymari will cover “Real Estate in a Divorce.”

Architecture Minnesota, the magazine of the American Institute of Architects Minnesota, won four awards in 2010 from the Minnesota Magazine & Publications Association’s prestigious Minnesota Publishing Excellence Awards: a Gold Award for Best Feature Article in the category of General Interest, Under 60,000 Circulation, for Minnesota Modernisms (Nov/Dec 2009); a Gold Award for Best Regular Column in the category of General Interest, Under 60,000 Circulation for Conundra; a Silver Award for Best Single Cover in the category of General Interest, Under 60,000 Circulation (Nov/Dec 2009); and Bronze Award for Overall Excellence in the category of General Interest.

“We were especially gratified by these awards because this was our first year in the General Interest category, in competition with a number of quality magazines with larger readerships—magazines that we’ve always looked up to,” says editor Christopher Hudson. “It’s a thrill to have fared well in their company.”

In addition to architectural stories, the magazine also publishes directories in each issue that serve as a resource to the public, architects, and allied professions. Each year’s May/June issue contains the Firm Directory for fine-tuning a search for an architect based on criteria like percentage of work by building type, firm location, and firm size. Each firm also has a listing of five projects that help directory users quickly familiarize themselves with a firm’s work.

In 2011, the bimonthly publication will feature these themes and directories (directories in parenthesis): Jan/Feb: On Campus: New University Projects (Directory of Consulting Engineers), Mar/Apr: AIA Minnesota Honor Awards & Landscape Architecture (Landscape Architecture Firms); May/Jun: Housing for Lifestyles (AIA Minnesota Firms, Consultants); Jul/Aug: Entertainment (Renovation, Remodeling, Restoration); Sept/Oct: Interiors (Interior Architecture/Interior Design); Nov/Dec: Health and Wellness (General Contractors).

In 1997, the MMPA established the Publishing Excellence Awards to recognize and foster outstanding publishing achievements in the areas of editorial, design and overall excellence. The judges are volunteers from the industry selected based on their expertise.

As the primary public outreach tool of AIA Minnesota, Architecture Minnesota is published to inform the public about architecture designed by AIA Minnesota members and to communicate the spirit and value of quality architecture to both the public and the membership.

This photo used with permission of Jennifer O'Brien

Minnesotans take their hunting seriously, and that includes finding the right piece of land on which to hunt. Some choose to purchase a piece of land for hunting. While this might be attractive for some, what do you do with it when it is not hunting season? Thus, for many hunters, a lease of hunting land is preferable to ownership.

Hunting land leases are common in Minnesota and other states where hunting is popular. As with any type of lease, a hunting land lease should be in writing and should at a minimum, contain the following basic terms:

1. Lease Term: how many years will the lease run? More importantly, what is the start date and end date for each year? For example, suppose that the land being leased is farmable land in the summertime; obviously, the owner is going to want to have the use of the land at that time, so the lease may run October to December for three years.

2. Legal Description: provide a complete and accurate legal description of the land which is subject to the lease; also, it may be helpful to include a graphical depiction of the subject land.

3. Posting the Land: the lease should provide that the lessee may post signs (such as “private property” or “no trespassing”) on the property during the duration of the lease; further, posting should be done in a manner that does not create an eyesore.

4. Compliance With Laws: the lessor should include a clause that a violation of any hunting or wildlife law will cause the lease to immediately terminate.

5. Limitation of Liability: the lessee should assume all risk for any injuries occurring while on the property; hence, a limitation of lessor’s liability is imperative.

There are other clauses (such as types of hunting permitted, no littering, and the like) which are also desirable.

Hunting is big business in Minnesota, and just like any business transaction, the lease of hunting land requires a proper contract to avoid disputes (and it would not hurt to have the contract drafted by a knowledgable real estate attorney).

We’ve said it before that multifamily is leading the way for local Twin Cities real estate investors and the latest stats from the local builders association is also showing demand in new permits pulled for apartment buildings and senior housing.

According to the Builders Association of Twin Cities there where 228 permits issued from cities in September. Units issued however was 604, signaling strong growth for the multifamily and apartment community in Minneapolis/St. Paul area. That is a 38% increase year over year.

Along with apartment buildings, senior housing units are also figured into the total amount of units planned. Minnetonka led the way with 149 units planned for multifamily project. The next on the list is Minneapolis with 88 planned units.

Multifamily is a good product class to be in right now as more and more investors look for performing assets and former homeowners look for places to rent.

The photo above is from Mill City District Apartments, one of the larger multifamily housing projects in Minneapolis and the metro area.

Here is a link to the September report from BATC

Here is the latest report from Marcus and Millichap (link – may have to subscribe) giving their forecast of the Minneapolis-St. Paul retail market.

And recent reasons to be optimistic are the September store sales top expectations. Although only 28 national retailers are tracked.

Reasons for stabilization:

• 400,000 square feet will be completed versus only 240,000 square feet last year.
• 350,000 square feet of retail space was under construction as of 2nd quarter
• Strengthening local job and slowing supply growth
• Buyers are focused on solid class properties that have strong tenants for stable cash flow – single tenant properties like restaurants or national chains.

It looks to be a sluggish ride along the bottom for a few more quarters

flickr photo cred: Kelly1878