Industry Overview
The real estate industry has witnessed significant transformation in both its daily business practices and financial underpinnings. Rapidly evolving consumer requirements and the arrival of “big data” to the sector are driving innovation in areas like home construction, retail development, and urban/suburban migration. Telecommuting and co-working are transforming workplaces, with implications that impact properties from languishing industrial spaces to technology-filled smart cities, introducing new legal hurdles to navigate and opportunities to explore.
Our Approach
Our ability to help our clients, local and national developers, landlords, retailers, portfolio managers, municipalities, and construction firms maintain full control over their real estate dealings, during any economic cycle has been demonstrated for more than 100 years. We offer proven legal counsel and strategic advice across all real estate transactions, development, permitting, leasing, and financing. We understand how to position our clients for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
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Newsroom
New FinCEN Reporting Requirements for Residential Real Property Transfers
March 2, 2026On March 1, 2026, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) imposed new reporting requirements for certain transfers of residential real property that are deemed to be high-risk for illicit finance. Specifically, a Real Estate Report must be filed with FinCEN for all reportable transfers outlining the particulars of said transaction. To ensure compliance with FinCEN’s regulations, it is important to understand the essential components of the Real Estate Report, specifically its applicability criteria, reporting responsibilities, and required informational disclosures.
Real Estate – 2025 in Review
February 6, 2026See how we provided results for our clients across a variety of real estate needs, including leasing, development, land use & zoning, acquisition & disposition, as well as financing. View the Real Estate — 2025 By the Numbers PDF.
CT Mirror: Opinion: HB 8002: The Good, the Confusing, the Dysfunctional
January 12, 2026This three-part series of articles summarizes “November Special Session Public Act 25-1,” Connecticut’s new housing law, commonly referred to as HB 8002. This first of three pieces reviews what the Act does not do; its most beneficial provisions (most of which are not directly related to housing production); and two important study committees from which the Act requires reports in early 2026. Both have potential to improve or obstruct affordable housing.
CT Mirror: HB 8002’s New Housing Programs — Some Useful, Some Not
January 13, 2026This is Part Two of a three-part series exploring elements of Connecticut's recently adopted housing law, the “November Special Session Public Act 25-1,” commonly referred to as HB 8002. Here we review the new Council on Housing Development; revised parking rules; conversion of commercial and mixed-use zones to middle housing; transit-oriented development; priority housing development zones; and the Connecticut Department of Housing’s new role as a developer as well as funder. Critics of the new Act have already started to bemoan a new housing bureaucracy created by the Act, and the new Co…
CT Mirror: CT Housing Growth Plans, Convoluted Regs and Opportunities for 2026
January 14, 2026This third and final article in this series reviews a centerpiece element of the “November Special Session Public Act 25-1,” Connecticut’s new housing law, commonly referred to as HB 8002. It looks at the law's treatment of municipal and regional housing growth plans, including what happened to H. B. 5002’s “fair share” proposal; opportunities for development; and an agenda for the General Assembly in 2026.
Real Estate Ownership and Digital Media Rights in the Age of Extended Reality Technology
December 2, 2025Extended reality is a broad term used to describe immersive technologies, which are software and applications that create immersive environments that merge computer-generated, digital content with the actual contours of our physical world to generate a unique user experience. Over the past several years, use of extended reality technology has dramatically increased. Whether it be for gaming, advertising, shopping, education, remote work, or tourism, extended reality technology now permeates our digital and technological landscapes. According to some sources, more than half of Americans have…
Legal Changes in 2025 Affecting Commercial Real Estate Operations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island
December 2, 2025Throughout the past year, state legislatures and regulatory agencies across New England have enacted new laws and regulations set to impact the future operations of commercial real estate located in the region. These new laws and regulations are set to affect certain key aspects of commercial real estate operations, including financing, taxation, and zoning. To ensure continued success in the New England markets, it is imperative that commercial real estate owners and developers stay apprised of these changes and developments.
A Practical Guide to AI Adoption and Use in Commercial Real Estate
July 3, 2025Generative AI (genAI) is transforming the commercial real estate (CRE) industry. From accelerating due diligence to streamlining lease abstraction, genAI tools promise significant efficiency gains across the deal lifecycle. But with this promise comes a responsibility: CRE firms should balance innovation and efficiency with appropriate privacy and security guardrails, as well as internal controls to ensure accuracy and completeness.
New Hampshire Opens the Door to Multifamily Housing on Commercially Zoned Land
October 28, 2025Earlier this year, New Hampshire enacted House Bill 631 (Chapter 201, Laws of 2025), creating new sections RSA 674:77–78, which require municipalities to allow multifamily residential developments on commercially zoned land where adequate infrastructure is available, or can be provided. This measure represents one of the most significant statewide changes to New Hampshire’s zoning landscape in decades. Beginning July 1, 2026, towns will no longer be able to prohibit residential development in commercially zoned areas that meet the infrastructure test.
CT Mirror: Opinion: Fixing CT’s HB5002 — Part One
July 23, 2025On June 4, H. B. 5002, the “Act Concerning Housing and the Needs of Homeless Persons,” having passed the Connecticut House and Senate, was headed to the governor’s desk. Advocates celebrated the anticipated adoption of multi-faceted affordable housing legislation. By June 10, the bill had a Public Act number --but no governor signature. Lobbying commenced. Emails and articles-many replete with misinformation-began flying.
CT Mirror: Opinion: Fixing CT’s HB5002 — Part Two
July 24, 2025Part One of this two-part piece on Connecticut's HB5002 -- the land use bill vetoed by Gov. Ned Lamont -- explained the elements of the legislation and made some observations of their benefits and failings. Excessive parking requirements are a well-known and frequently used exclusionary zoning technique. Parking spaces consume land and reduce density. H. B.
Boston Business Journal: Why Force Majeure Clauses in Leases Are Crucial Amid Tariff Uncertainty
June 9, 2025Marc A. Angelone, partner in the Real Estate Group, emphasizes the importance of revisiting base lease forms to ensure force majeure provisions address current and modern risks—especially during times of uncertainty and unprecedented circumstances. In the article, Marc notes how the recent instability in U. S.
Fourth Edition of Treatise Highlights Recent Changes and Updates to Connecticut Landlord-Tenant Law
June 13, 2025I wrote the very First Edition of Connecticut Landlord and Tenant Law with Forms treatise back in 2008. After seventeen years, including two previous editions, the Fourth Edition has now been published by ALM Law. com and Connecticut Law Tribune. The treatise covers the legal relationship between landlords and tenants in both the commercial and residential settings.
Hinckley Allen Achieves Permitting of Mixed-Use Redevelopment in Connecticut
June 4, 2026Hinckley Allen represented developers Wheelers Farm Partners LLC and Greenview Equities in the approval of a zoning regulation amendment, rezoning, and Preliminary Development Plan for the redevelopment of a 47 acre, five building, 460,000 sf, underperforming office park in Milford, CT. The office park, currently operating at a 70% vacancy rate, will be transformed into to an adaptive reuse/mixed use redevelopment that will feature two rehabilitated office buildings retrofitted with new commercial and restaurant uses, 514 apartments in seven buildings, and numerous recreational amenities, inclu…
Securing the Storefront: How Companies are Tackling Increasing Retail Theft
July 17, 2024Retail crime, and specifically organized retail crime, is on the rise in major markets throughout the United States. In 2022, the National Retail Federation reported a loss of $112 billion dollars, up from $99. 3 billion in 2021. In addition to profit loss, many retailers are seeing increased operating costs for private security, and some large national retailers have even fled longstanding locations in major cities, citing the rapid spike in retail theft.
Big Box Bankruptcies: Challenge and Opportunity
July 17, 2024The surge of big box store closures this year has left many storefronts empty across New England. With almost 3,200 chain closures nationwide since the start of the year, some landlords are seizing this opportunity to change the landscapes of their retail spaces choosing new tenants that enhance the consumer experience. Each closure has the potential to serve as a fresh start for landlords, tenants, shopping centers, and communities.
Easing Use Restrictions Opens Up Opportunities in Retail for Landlords and Tenants
July 17, 2024Use restrictions—once rigidly dictated by anchor tenants—are undergoing significant transformations leading to new opportunities for retailers and landlords. Historically, retailers wielded considerable influence, often securing exclusivity clauses to shield themselves from direct competition and maintaining shopping centers as strictly retail-focused zones. However, both landlords and tenants are reassessing the utility and flexibility of these restrictions with an increase of e-commerce and a shrinking pool of available retail space.
Recognizing the Difference Between a Lease and a License in Connecticut
March 26, 2024A lease and a license are distinctly different under Connecticut law and these two terms should not be viewed as interchangeable concepts. Understanding the legal difference between a lease and a license is essential for parties to protect their property rights, comply with legal obligations, and effectively manage property agreements. Things like the ability to terminate the agreement, as well as the duration of the agreement, can vary greatly between the two.
The Impact of Rhode Island’s New Land Use Laws on Property Owners
March 15, 2024During the 2023 legislative session, the Rhode Island legislature enacted a package of sweeping changes to Rhode Island’s zoning and land use laws. The goal: streamline housing development permitting in Rhode Island, resulting in increased production. Many of the new laws, however, have broader impacts that may affect property owners and developers undertaking a wide range of new development projects.
Hinckley Allen Leads the Charge for Affordable Housing in CT
June 4, 2026Hinckley Allen represented Connecticut developer, Sager Development LLC, in securing land use approvals for a new affordable multifamily community in Farmington. After just two hearings, the Town Plan and Zoning Commission unanimously approved applications for regulation amendment, rezoning, and site plan approval for a 65-unit Low Income Housing Tax Credit development near the UConn Medical Center, pursuant to Connecticut’s Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Act, General Statutes § 8-30g. Approximately 80% of the community will be affordable, with 15 of those units to be administered by F…
