the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
KBS Completes Largest-Ever New Jersey Office Deal
KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II has scooped up the remaining four office buildings at Park Avenue at Morris County–a Class A, six-building complex located at the Columbia Turnpike exit of Route 24 in New Jersey’s Essex/Eastern Morris County submarket. This transaction, which closed last week, comes more than a month after KBS REIT II’s September completion of the first phase of the deal–a pickup of first two buildings, 100 (pictured) and 200 Campus Drive. With its October acquisition of the last four buildings, the REIT has taken full ownership of the complex. In both chapters of the deal, KBS…
Report: Big Apple Construction Activity to Remain Strong
Despite this year’s nationwide economic downturn, the credit crunch and the recent banking industry implosion, the building frenzy in New York City continues. As per a new report by the New York Building Congress, 2008 will be a banner year, and 2009 won’t be too shabby, either. However, even a town with one of the strongest commercial and multi-family real estate markets in the country will not completely escape the nation’s economic ills. According to the forecast by the Building Congress, construction spending among government, business and institutional entities in New York City’s five boroughs will grow to a record…
Verizon Pockets $192M in Sale of Boston HQ
Kennedy Associates has taken the 22-story office tower at 185 Franklin Street in Boston off the hands of Verizon Communications Inc. in a deal valued at $192 million. But Verizon is not walking away from the six-decade-old property completely. The telecommunications company will continue to own 100,000 square feet of the building, which has a total 700,000 square feet of rentable office space, and will lease back the remaining 600,000 square feet from Kennedy under a short-term agreement. Sited in Beantown’s bustling Financial District, the art deco-style structure at 185 Franklin (pictured) originally served as the headquarters of New England…
From CPN’s Morning Newsletter–Market Gyrations Continue as Recession Fears Mount
As CPN reported exclusively in our Daily News REport Morning Edition(subscribe here), after the stock market continued its recent roller coaster ride yesterday–the Dow Jones index lost a massive 733 points just days after gaining a record 976 points on Monday–all eyes will be watching today. Global government largesse hasn’t helped much so far. European stocks are now taking their lead–down over 3 percent so for this A.M.–from Asia’s 11.5 percent overnight selloff. According to the folks on CNBC oil is heading to 60, the 2008 chart is starting to look like 1929’s, and the Dow could tank another 27…
FirstService Completes Investment in GVA Williams
FirstService Corp. has announced the completion of its previously reported purchase of a 65 percent interest in New York-based GVA Williams Real Estate, with senior management retaining the balance of equity. To celebrate the conclusion of the deal it is scheduled to bring together Douglas Frye, president & CEO of FirstService Commercial Real Estate Services and chairman of Colliers International, Robert Freedman, executive chairman of Williams Real Estate and Mark Jaccom, CEO of Williams Real Estate to talk with the press at a luncheon at the Williams Real Estate Manhattan headquarters today. GVA Williams will be re-branded as “Williams Real…
Forget the Debt: James K. Galbraith on What Happens After the Bailout
The National Debt Clock in New York made news (including here) last week when its operators had to drop the dollar sign to make room for one more digit. But, James K. Galbraith, Ph.D., professor of economics and government at the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, told CPN that the more appropriate attitude is “Turn off the debt clock.” Galbraith is the son of the late John Kenneth Galbraith, the renowned economist and author, and his most recent book, The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too, was published…
Global Credit Crisis Affects London’s 2012 Olympic M-F Construction
The Australian-based developer building the Olympic Village for the 2012 Summer Games in London is having trouble getting loans to fund the construction because of the global credit crunch. Lend Lease Corp. has been seeking a debt-equity deal for the project but has been unable to find one because of the financial crisis, Mark Gell, a Land Lease official, told Bloomberg News today. In an effort to keep the construction schedule on track, the British government has used 95 million pounds from a contingency fund, according to the Bloomberg story by Rebecca Keenan and Brian Lysaght. The number of units…
Atlantic City Issues RFP to Develop 150-Acre Site
Atlantic City has issued a request for proposals for the development of Bader Field, a 150-acre former municipal airport. The site, the city states, is the premier gaming and resort development parcel in North America.The Bader Field RFP is open to various development opportunities and is not limited to casino. Other uses include hotel, retail, entertainment, residential and commercial uses . The selection of a developer, or developers, for the site is expected at the end of the first quarter of 2009. Atlantic City has positioned the disposition of the site as a ground lease with a substantial upfront payment…
Financial Market Update: After the Closing Bell-Thurs., Oct. 16
Watch it fall! Watch it rise! And fall again, and then rise again! Most of the gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average came today in the last 90 minutes of the day; it closed up 401.35 points, or 4.7 percent. The Nasdaq was up as well, gaining, 5.5 percent, and so was the Standard & Poor’s 500, gaining 4.3 percent. Why? Why not? The market is an exercise in bungee jumping these days. AIG execs must be a little spooked these days at the attention they’re getting–especially from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Late on Thursday, the company…
RCA: Troubling Times Ahead for Property Markets
September usually sets the pace of the investment market through the end of the year, and if this September is any indication, the property markets are in for some troubling times, according to Real Capital Analytics’ Global Capital Trends September/October 2008 report. “The credit crunch that has been impeding deal flow in the U.S. and Europe is now spreading throughout Asia and erupting into a full-blown financial crisis in the West,” the report indicated. “In the course of the month, some of the largest lenders to the commercial real estate industry have fallen: Lehman, Hypo, Wachovia, Fortis, AIG, HBOS, Merrill…