Blogs

Construction

Violence Against Women Act Protections Extended to HUD Program Housing

For those of you out there who own and/or operate affordable housing subsidized by HUD, you should take note that the protections extended by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) have been permanently extended to HUD Section 8 properties. The final rules published yesterday in the Federal Register now make the prior 2008 interim rules…

October 28, 2010

Construction

Arlington’s Community Energy Plan – Just the Facts

Well, now that I’ve had the chance to really focus on and review Arlington County’s Community Energy Plan Summary of Preliminary Recommendations and its Addendum, published on October 13th, it looks like the County has taken its first step toward its goal for a Community Energy Plan. As with prior explanations about the Community Energy…

October 26, 2010

Construction

Indemnity – Going Too Far Can Invalidate the Clause

Those wishing to stretch indemnity clauses to the limit may want to read the recent Supreme Court of Virginia case, Uniwest Construction v. Amtech Elevator Services. This case, in addition to a recent indemnification case from the 4th Circuit, demonstrate that there are some real risks to demanding excessive indemnity obligations in a contract. You…

October 22, 2010

Construction

More Votes for Northern Virginia?

Yes, it’s getting to be that wonderful time of year again, and with all the 2011 pre-legislative session jockeying already well under way in Virginia, one of the 600 pound gorillas in the room this year is how the statutorily mandated redistricting process will play out. With control over the house and senate split, and…

October 21, 2010

Construction

A New Zoning Ordinance for Arlington County?

How many times have you land use and zoning folks gone through your locality’s zoning ordinance, read some random sentence that is a surviving remnant from like the 1938 ordinance, and thought: “What the heck does ‘draying’ mean? And what does this have to do with our twenty story office building?” Or, “Can my neighbor…

October 19, 2010

Construction

Breaking News: GSA to Require LEED Gold on all GSA Owned Projects

Lance Davis, director of the sustainability office for the General Services Administration, announced that moving forward, GSA will require all projects to achieve a LEED Gold certification level from through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system of the U.S. Green Building Council. The announcement occurred at the Green Legal Matters conference…

October 18, 2010

Construction

Proposal to Extend Whistleblower Protection to County Employees

Although obviously based upon sound legal principles, it was still surprising to find out that the Supreme Court held in Ligon v. County of Goochland that whistleblower protections for county employees against retaliatory firings under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (“VFATA”) were barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. As many of our readers…

October 15, 2010

Construction

Certain Localities to Ignore Attorney General’s Opinion on Cash Proffers

According to the Chesterfield Observer, Chesterfield and Hanover Counties intend to ignore the Attorney General’s recent opinion (click here for our previous analysis when the opinion was issued) about the applicability of Code of Virginia Section 15.2-2303.1:1 and will continue to deman cash proferred prior to 15.2-2303.1:1’s July 1, 2010 effective date. The purpose of…

October 13, 2010

Government Contracts

Benefits, Costs and Risks of Green Building – Seminar Materials

I wanted to share the materials I have available thus far from our October 1 seminar, Benefits, Costs and Risks of Green Building that we put on for the American Institute of Architects Northern Virginia Chapter. A quick but very hearty thank you is due to Debbie Burns of the AIA who did a tremendous…

October 12, 2010

Construction

Letters of Intent Explained

A Letter of Intent is a document that outlines the general terms and conditions of an agreement between parties before the agreement is finalized. In real estate deals, a Letter of Intent are typical before entering large leases or an agreement to buy or sell commercial real estate. Letters of Intent are typically not binding…

October 8, 2010