Allison Landa
Le Meridien San Francisco Fetches $143M
Chesapeake Lodging Trust is on its way to becoming the new owner of the 360-room hotel, signing a deal to acquire it from HEI Hospitality L.L.C.
Economy Watch: Underwater Mortgages Reportedly Down
As of the end of the third quarter, CoreLogic calculates that there are 10.8 million U.S. mortgages underwater, down from 11.3 million at the beginning of the year. Would that those numbers meant rising home prices, but no. Most of the missing underwater mortgages were extinguished by foreclosure.
Economy Watch: Consumers More Chipper Ahead of the Holidays
Why are consumers seemingly more peppy toward the end of 2010, a miserable year for consumer sentiment for the most part? November’s employment numbers weren’t very good, but except for that hiring has been trending upward lately. Also, wages have been going up for the employed, though that too leveled off in the most recent reports. Or maybe it’s just Christmas cheer.
USAA Buys Land for 167,200-SF Project
Known as 1900 Wilson, the development comprises 191 Class A multi-family units totaling 149,915 square feet as well as 17,317 square feet of street-level retail.
SoCal Industrial Property Acquired
This year’s largest industrial sale per square foot in Huntington Beach, Calif., is now complete. Teacher Created Materials, a local company, purchased the 38,149-square-foot building at 5482 Argosy Ave.
Piedmont Sells N.J. Office Building
Piedmont had owned the 410,000-square-foot 111 Sylvan Ave., which sits in Bergen County just off Palisades Interstate Parkway and near Interstate 95 in Englewood Cliffs, since acquiring it in 2003 under the company’s previous incarnation, Wells Real Estate Investment Trust Inc., for approximately $70.5 million.
Nutter McClennen & Fish Signs 130,000-SF Lease Renewal in Boston
The law firm, which has been in continuous practice for 131 years, has renewed its commitment to Boston’s Seaport District.
Colliers: Global Markets to Fuel NYC Recovery
According to Colliers Tri-State chief economist Peter Kozel, New York continues to function as a major growth engine, with the local economy a significant beneficiary of capital markets activity. Kozel said no other U.S. city will profit as much from the global economic rebound.
First Potomac Buys D.C. Office Building for $49.5M
This is the REIT’s seventh office purchase this year and its third in the D.C. area. First Potomac has bought a total of 1.3 million square feet in office properties in 2010.
Economy Watch: Home Values Down $1.7 Trillion in 2010
Zillow, which tracks U.S. housing values at a fairly granular level, said that houses nationwide will lose an aggregate of $1.7 trillion in value during 2010. That compares unfavorably with the $1 trillion in home values that evaporated in 2009.