The Developer's Brief
Writing for developers, institutional investors, and the lawyers who close their deals. Practical, opinionated, and as short as the topic will allow.
A step-by-step map of whether a project's on-site solar (and any battery storage) can claim the Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Credit under the OBBBA prohibited-foreign-entity rules, and why the credit opinion has become the principal obstacle.
Multifamily developers selling spare electrical capacity to AI operators — what to get right on zoning, utility regulation, and loan covenants in Texas and Missouri.
What Notice 2026-40 — the IRS's first OZ 2.0 transitional guidance — means for developers raising and deploying capital across the 2027 seam.
After Tornetta v. Musk and Delaware's legislative response, why Texas has become the better choice for new LLCs and LPs — and what changed in the two governance reforms.
Three jurisdictions, two drafting paths, one objective — treating a four-member sponsor group as a single voting and contracting unit in a five-member LLC. A practitioner's read on Missouri, Texas, and Delaware.
Why a properly drafted as-is clause is a powerful defense in Texas commercial real estate purchases but does materially less work in Missouri — and what the two states share.
Why a lender's non-imputation endorsement request on a loan policy is unusual — and why the policy jacket already answers the underlying question.
A line-by-line walk through the balancing-provision and completion-guaranty mechanics that decide who pays when a construction loan goes out of balance.
A practitioner's primer on standby letter-of-credit law in Texas and Missouri — Article 5, ISP98, the independence principle, and the drafting traps that decide who pays when a draw is contested.
A response to a Missouri Bar Journal article on Delaware Statutory Trusts in § 1031 exchanges — what the article gets right, and the risk-side considerations that deserve more attention.
A CMBS refresher for practitioners — the 2025 reopening, the REMIC/PSA/special-servicer framework, conduit vs. SASB structural differences, and five practice tips for the next deal.
Discover how Section 4.8(3) of the Restatement (Third) and the Uniform Easement Relocation Act give property owners more flexibility to relocate easements. Learn the legal standards, key court decisio
A practitioner's primer on federal securities compliance for private real estate joint ventures — Rule 506, the March 2025 506(c) verification letter, 1940 Act exclusions, and the CTA.
Sponsor-side insert provisions for a qualified opportunity zone business operating agreement that takes OZ 1.0 capital in 2026 and OZ 2.0 capital in 2027 — vintage tracking, qualification by vintage, reporting, and protective covenants.
Chapter 100 industrial development bonds — the Missouri mechanism for placing project title with the municipality so a developer secures real property tax abatement and sales tax exemption, and where the PILOT bites.
A developer's guide to temporary construction easements — easement vs. license, the provisions to insist on, and what to negotiate when the grantor pushes back.
How construction-phase mezzanine debt is structured, what the intercreditor agreement actually controls, and what happens to the completion guaranty when the mezz lender takes over.
Where Opportunity Zones stand in 2026 — the 1.0 inclusion deadline, the new 50% rural substantial improvement threshold, and what changes when OZ 2.0 goes live January 1, 2027.
I prepared a lecture for the National Business Institute titled Basic Documents Related to Financing Commercial Property Acquisitions.
Read my take on tort reform at the link below.
Consider the advice of a man who didn't complete the fifth grade and owned a ranch in Oklahoma — my grandfather, Jack.
"There's an old saying that victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan.
I am a transaction attorney, an investor and a founder.
Today I received an email from a great client and friend forwarding to me an email from another person basically blaming an issue on me.
The Developer's Brief
Occasional dispatches on deal structure, entitlements, and the quiet patterns that move large projects. No filler.
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