Locating Potential Real Estate Transaction Issues: CFIUS Releases New Part 802 Geographic Reference Tool

Parties to deals involving the purchase or lease by, or a concession to, a foreign person of certain US real estate now have a new online tool to assist with their initial assessment of whether the transaction may be concerning to Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). On March 25, 2020, CFIUS released a Geographic Reference Tool (the new tool)¹ that can help indicate if a transaction involving particular real property in the United States would be a "covered real estate transaction" under the CFIUS' regulations implementing Section 721 of the Defense Production Act (Section 721). Under those regulations, CFIUS may, if it finds foreign parties to a particular transaction involving "covered real estate" pose a risk to US national security, recommend that the President block or otherwise limit the transaction. The new tool provides a quick means to locate specific real estate in relation to sensitive government facilities, which facilitates the