the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
$100M JV to Acquire, Auction Builder Inventories, Bank Foreclosures
Two real estate investment firms, Los Angeles-based LandCap Partners and Kennedy Wilson of Beverly Hills, have contributed $100 million in equity to a joint venture that plans to purchase newly completed or partially completed homes and condominiums in inventories held by builders and financial institutions. Aiming to hold properties no longer than a year, the venture will re-sell the properties, generally at auction through an affiliate of Kennedy Wilson. “A transaction might consist of 20, 30 or some number of units at one project or 10 units at 10 different projects owned by the same seller,” Stuart Cramer, senior managing…
Mission West Closes on $115M in Financing
Putting up 20 commercial R&D properties totaling approximately 1.6 million square feet as collateral, Mission West Properties Inc. has secured $115 million in financing from entities associated with Hartford Insurance Co. The Northern California-based REIT locked in a fixed rate of 6.21 percent on the 10-year term loan, which will be amortized over 20 years. Mission West utilized proceeds from the refinancing to repay short-term debt and a loan from Prudential Insurance Co. of America that was scheduled to mature on Oct. 15, 2008. As for repayment of its previous loan obligation, Mission West had originated the 10-year $130 million…
Central Banks Try Different Strategies to Stabilize Financial Crisis
Just don’t call it “nationalization.” The Bush administration is reported to be considering taking equity stakes in some high-profile U.S. banks as its next measure to contain the global credit crisis. The decision, which is still up in the air, would not require new legislation, but would instead derive from powers already granted by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Nationalization in fact is rearing its head overseas. Earlier today, facing what its prime minister called the prospect of “national bankruptcy,” Iceland suspended trading on its stock exchange for two days, and the island nation’s Financial Services Authority took…
Financial Market Update-Thurs., Oct. 9
Rather than merely haul away toxic bank assets at unreasonably high prices, thereby rewarding bankers for their bad judgment, word is (via various major news outlets) that Sec. Henry Paulson (pictured) and his minions at Treasury are actually considering buying ownership stakes in the banks that the department helps with its $700 billion line of credit from the American people. It’s an idea that’s been kicking around almost since Paulson proposed the original bailout plan, and would amount to a partial nationalization of the banking industry, which may be why he’s resisted it until now. If such a plan happened…
HFF Arranges $36M Financing for Washington, D.C., Office Building
The Washington, D.C., office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has announced that it arranged $36 million in financing for 1401 K St., a 124,700-square-foot Class A office building in Washington, D.C. HFF senior managing directors Bill Asbill and Bob Donhauser and director Cary Abod worked exclusively on behalf of Guardian Realty Investors L.L.C. to arrange the five-year, fixed-rate financing through AIG Investments. The loan proceeds were used to acquire the property and establish reserves for future tenant improvements, leasing commissions and capital expenditures. HFF will service the loan.Located in the K Street corridor of Washington, D.C., on Franklin Square, 1401…
CB Richard Ellis Launches Asset Repositioning Group
Corporate owners can have many reasons to get surplus properties out of their portfolios, ranging from accounting to post-merger strategy. In a bid to further raise its profile in the specialized field of marketing surplus assets, CB Richard Ellis Inc. is launching a new practice within its global corporate services group. Property owners often take a less than efficient approach to repositioning and selling these sites, director of operations for CB Richard Ellis’ new asset repositioning management group Bruce Rasher (pictured) told CPN. “Clients typically engage these services independently on an ad-hoc basis and almost put each service in its…
Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers Taps Helminski as National Director, Project, Development Services Group
Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers, Colliers ABR, Colliers Pinkard and Colliers Turley Martin Tucker have appointed Gary Helminski (pictured) as national director for project and development services. Helminski will report to Joseph Stettinius Jr., CEO of Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers.In this capacity, Helminski will lead the expansion of the consolidated companies’ service offerings to include development services, multi-site program management, relocation and move management, and national account project management for both corporate and investor clients. Helminski brings 25 years of industry experience to the position. Most recently, he served as managing director of the project and development services group at Jones…
First Industrial to Invest in New State-of-the-Art Logistics Facilities in Belgium
First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.has announced that it has signed on to invest in two state-of-the-art distribution facilities in the heart of Belgium’s “Golden Triangle.” The deal concerns a two building, 1.3 million square-foot business park, which will be known as “First Park Maritime Logistics” on a site that intersects the municipalities of Bornem and Puurs.The facilities will be acquired on a forward-commitment basis on behalf of FirstCal Industrial Europe, a $475 million joint venture between First Industrial and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. This transaction is the first acquisition by First Industrial in Europe and the first for…
Macquarie Expands NYC Lease to 260,000 SF
Macquarie Group, an international provider of banking, financial, advisory and investment services, has renewed and expanded its leased space at 125 West 55th St. in Manhattan. The firm currently occupies 100,000 square feet, and will expand its occupied space to 260,000 square feet under the expansion. Macquarie will now occupy an additional six floors, as well as part of the eighth and ground floors.The 23-story tower was built in 1989 by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes & Associates. Major tenants at the 590,000-square-foot building include Katz Media Group and Air France. Kuriloff and Robert Tanzmann, brokerage professionals from Cushman & Wakefield…
Fed, Central Banks Cut Rates
The Federal Reserve has cut its key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. The response, an effort to stem mounting losses in the markets around the world, is part of a move that includes similar efforts by other central banks, according to news sources. The Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to 4.5 percent and the European Central Bank its rate by half a point to 3.75 percent. Other central banks in China, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland have done likewise.”The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth,” the Fed…