the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Work Kicks Off on New $100M Kentucky Auto Factory
Construction of a new car manufacturing facility has kicked off on a 200-acre site in Franklin, Ky. The plant is being developed by Integrity Automotive, a joint venture between Shepherdsville, Ky.-based Integrity Manufacturing and Santa Rosa, Calif.-based electric vehicle developer ZAP. Integrity Manufacturing and ZAP have joined forces to boost the manufacturing of electric vehicles in the U.S. The new 1 million-square-foot factory, to be situated about 150 miles south of Louisville and 45 miles north of Nashville, Tenn., could have been destined for China, where ZAP conducts most of its manufacturing activities. The new ZAP plant will make its…
Carmel Fund Shells Out $66M in Cash for Suburban D.C. M-F
Carmel Partners Inc., acting through its Carmel Partners Investment Fund III L.P., has added a 230-unit multi-family property in Fairfax, Va., to its portfolio by taking Avera Station off the hands of Atlanta-based Beazer Homes in a $65.8 million transaction. The Northern Virginia property, completed only two months ago at a cost of approximately $50 million, was originally conceived as a condominium development, but under the ownership of Carmel Partners, it has undergone a change in name and property type. Avera Station is now Carmel Vienna Metro and is being marketed as an apartment community. Fund III closed in October…
RED, CDK Form $200M Partnership
In the latest of numerous partnerships between a deep-pocketed capital source and a real estate company, RED Development L.L.C. has teamed up with CDK Realty Advisors. Under the terms of the deal, a fund managed by CDK will provide $200 million for investment in certain existing RED projects as they open. These include–in RED’s hometown market–Adam’s Dairy Landing in Blue Springs, Mo., and Summit Fair in Lee’s Summit, Mo. The fund will also be a 50/50 JV partner with RED in future development projects. For each of these development projects, CDK will provide the equity necessary to obtain construction financing…
Vertex Locates U.S. HQ in Dallas After Acquiring Area Firm
With a cost of doing business below the national average in the Dallas area combined with the recent acquisition of a Dallas firm, global outsourcing firm Vertex Outsourcing plans to move its new U.S. corporate headquarters to the Dallas suburb of Richardson in October. The firm leased 37,300 square feet of office space in Richardson Commons (pictured) and plans to move about 220 employees into this location. The move follows Vertex’s July 29 acquisition of Alliance Data Systems Corp., acquiring that company’s utility services component. which provides billing systems, professional services and process outsourcing to utilities in the United States…
Sale of Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field Edges Closer
The sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, along with storied Wrigley Field and a stake in SportsNet Chicago, a cable TV operation, could pass a milestone by the end of this month or early in October. Final bids for the Cubs and the other assets will be due by then, according to press reports, with five bidding groups still in the running. The Cubs are owned by Tribune Co., which is best known as the owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times newspapers. In an effort to pay down debt, the parent company put the Cubs assets…
Stanford Begins $350M Business School Project
It’s a meeting of big green and sustainable green. Stanford University has broken ground on a new eight-building, 360,000-square-foot graduate business school campus, to be named the Knight Management Center in honor of Stanford alum and business school mega-donor Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike Inc. The campus is scheduled to open in 2010 and be fully completed by spring 2011. Knight gave $105 million, possibly the largest gift ever to a business school, toward the project, which is expected to cost at least $350 million by the time the campus is completed in 2011. Present at the groundbreaking, Knight pressed…
Exclusive: NYC Non-Profits Still Expanding, Undeterred by Soaring Prices, Sluggish Economy
When the word non-profit comes up, the idea of deep pockets is rarely the first thing that springs to mind. Yet, in a real estate market marred by economic downturn and a credit crisis, these organizations in New York City are engaging in an activity that the great majority of businesses are avoiding–expanding. According to the New York Nonprofit ViewPoint, a report by the non-profit practice group of real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis Inc., these entities are pouncing on certain opportunities presented in a down market. Tough economic times or no, leasing office space in New York City…
Hurricane Ike Leaves Uncertainty in its Wake
Ripples in the commercial real estate world will be felt for a long time after Hurricane Ike struck the Texas gulf coast and then worked its way north and east wreaking havoc in its path from Little Rock to Chicago. From ripping off sections of the retractable roof from the $352 million Reliant Park in Houston to shattering windows in downtown high-rises and sending papers and furniture into the streets there, Ike’s effects may be felt for years to come, experts indicated. Companies like Dallas-based Silverleaf Resorts Inc. evacuated resort guests and personnel from Silverleaf’s Seaside Resort in Galveston and…
Lehman’s Efforts to Salvage Itself Come Up Short
Only a week after posting multibillion-dollar quarterly losses, and unveiling a plan that would have spun off most of its commercial real estate assets, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. threw in the towel today by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move came after the company spent the weekend trying to sell itself to either Bank of America or Barclays Plc. Both potential suitors said “thanks but no thanks” after it became clear that the federal government wasn’t willing to backstop Lehman’s troubled or otherwise hard-to-value assets. Lehman investors have already made clear their disdain for the company. From a 52-week…
After Wall Street’s Wild Weekend, Uncertainty Rules in Capital Markets
Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers’ filing for bankruptcy protection this weekend is unlikely to thaw the year-old credit freeze-up that has plagued lending for commercial real estate. “This is bad news, of course,” said Lawrence Longua, clinical associate professor at the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University. He said that the news adds another layer of uncertainty to the market. “Lehman’s bankruptcy means that there will be $40 billion of real estate that they are going to be unloading. There are no buyers out there, there are only sellers.” “Lehman provided equity,…