the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
First Industrial to Buy $82M Portfolio of Vehicle Auction Sites
First Industrial Realty Trust has agreed to acquire an $82 million real estate portfolio of eight car auction sites from ADESA Inc., a company that operates 60 car auctions across North America. ADESA will lease back the sites under 20-year leases with 20-year renewal options. ADESA will reinvest the funds freed up in the transaction into its core auction business. In addition to the portfolio acquisition, Chicago-based First Industrial will provide ADESA with about $12.5 million for construction of physical improvements at the Otay Mesa site in California. The portfolio consists of four sites in California and single sites in…
Bacon: Stabilized Fannie, Freddie Will Aid U.S. Housing Market
The move by the U.S. government to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship will stabilize the two giant government-sponsored entities, said Kenneth Bacon (pictured), executive vice president of housing and community development for Fannie Mae. The result of the government’s move means that the two agencies “are very much in business,” said Bacon, this morning’s keynote speaker at the Cityscape USA conference in New York. The market’s reaction to the government’s actions have been positive, Bacon said. He said that Fannie Mae’s sale of $ 7billion in debt since the actions was oversubscribed. Fannie Mae’s apartment portfolio has…
Philly REIT Pays Off $400M Debt with $420M in Financing Deals
With the completion of $420 million in unsecured and secured financing deals involving four retail assets, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has been able to repay the $400 million outstanding balance on a real estate mortgage investment conduit that was cross-collateralized with 15 properties. The Philadelphia-based company had assumed the REMIC, which carried an annual interest rate of 7.43 percent, in relation to its $1.3 billion acquisition of Crown American Realty Trust in 2003. As for the secured loans, PREIT attained a total $290 million on four properties. The company received a $97 million non-recourse mortgage loan through Newark, N.J.-based…
ProLogis Signs New Leases with Kuehne + Nagel
ProLogis has announced that it has signed new lease agreements totaling 386,000 square feet at two distribution parks in the United States with Kuehne + Nagel, a leading global logistics provider and one of ProLogis’ multi-continent customers. The first lease, totaling 208,000 square feet is for space at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, a master-planned distribution park located along Interstate 80 approximately nine miles east of Sparks, Nevada. Kuehne + Nagel plans to operate the space on behalf of several clients. The second lease, totaling 178,000 square feet is for space at ProLogis Park Tracy I, a 1.3-million-square-foot distribution park located…
Jones Lang Makes Senior Management Changes
Jones Lang LaSalle has reshuffled some of its regional senior management, effective early next year. Alastair Hughes, currently CEO for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), has been named CEO for Asia Pacific, succeeding Peter Barge, who will become chairman for Asia Pacific. At the same, Christian Ulbrich, who currently leads the firm in Germany, will become CEO for EMEA and join the company’s Global Executive Committee. “The move is part of an orderly plan for executive succession,” a spokesperson for Jones Lang LaSalle told CPN. “We’re able to do that because of a deep talent pool, and smooth management…
$150M Newark Mixed-Use Project Moves Forward
Plans are underway for the development of Liberty Plaza, Newark, N.J.’s first Class A office and mixed-use project in 15 years, which will feature a 430,000-square-foot, 22-story office and retail tower in Phase I. Located on 3.5 acres adjacent to the New Jersey Transit Broad Street Rail Station, the project (pictured) is expected to cost at least $150 million. It is also less than a mile from Interstate-280. Because of its location near the rail station, the project has been pre-approved for New Jersey’s Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit, which could make it eligible for as much as $100 million…
CresaPartners Merges with Strictly Commercial to Become Central Florida Force
Boston-based CresaPartners, the largest corporate real estate advisory firm in North America that focuses solely on tenant representation, has combined operations with Orlando-headquartered tenant representative firm Strictly Commercial, the only commercial real estate firm in Central Florida concentrating exclusively on providing office real estate solutions for area businesses. By joining forces, CresaPartners expands its presence in the Central Florida office market, and SCI gets a partner with international connections.”We have a similar culture and that is to only serve one side of the table–businesses,” John L. Gay, SCI president and co-founder, told CPN of the arrangement with CresaPartners; Gay co-founded…
Plans Emerge for $700M Mixed-Use Project in Houston
A 150-acre site just outside of downtown Houston in the burgeoning Pearland district has been designated for a new mixed-use development, the WaterLights District. Historic Real Estate Inc. is behind the project, and plans to spend $700 million to bring in to fruition. Located along Clear Creek off Highway 288, WaterLights will be in a prime spot to capitalize on a robust area that has long been sustained by the city’s energy industry and the presence of the Texas Medical Center. It is largest enclave of hospitals and medical schools in the world. And, it is in the midst of…
Former HUD Secretary Never Expected Fannie, Freddie Move
“I never expected such a day to come,” said Henry Cisneros, executive chairman of CityView and former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton. He was speaking of Sunday, Sept. 7, when President George W. Bush announced the federal government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Two days later, on Tuesday, Cisneros (pictured) delivered the Opening Keynote Presentation, Home Ownership and the Uncertain Mortgage Market, at the first ever Cityscape USA, Bridging U.S. and Emerging Real Estate Markets conference at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Cisneros proclaimed his long-term advocacy…
Younan Takes 770,000SF Chicago Office for $124M
Younan Properties has agreed to the $124 million purchase of 180 North LaSalle, a 770,000-square-foot, Class A Chicago office building located in the city’s Downtown Loop area.The 38-story building was built in 1971, designed by architect Harry Weese Associates, and is located next to another property owned by Younan at 200 North LaSalle. With 1.4 million square feet on the street, Younan Properties is now the largest landlord on LaSalle. 180 North LaSalle received a $21 million renovation in 1999 that upgraded the building’s façade, lobby and common areas, and its operating systems. Currently, the building is 87 percent leased,…