the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
N3 Capital Partners Changes Name to Pennybacker Capital, Eyes $250M in Investments
As it prepares to move from Fort Worth to Austin this fall, real estate private equity firm N3 Capital Partners L.L.C. has changed its name to Pennybacker Capital L.L.C. The firm also announced plans to start investing its $250 million inaugural fund. Led by Tim Berry, co-founder of N3 Development Ltd., the firm closed the N3 Opportunity Fund I in December and is now seeking equity investment deals between $1 million and $20 million per transaction. The fund will target investments in undervalued commercial, mixed-use, multi-family and raw land real estate assets, primarily through joint ventures with proven real estate…
Fort Meyers Chooses Acquest for Riverfront Project
Downtown Fort Myers, Fla., is undergoing a renaissance and Acquest Realty Advisors Inc. will play a big role in the endeavor, now that the city council has selected the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company to spearhead the development of a waterfront mixed-use project.Working with city officials and a redevelopment team, Acquest will take on the responsibility for conceiving and bringing to fruition a project that will transform a five-acre city-owned parcel into a coveted destination. Fronting The Caloosahatchee River, the designated site is neighbored by the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, Centennial Park and the Harborside Event Center, which will be expanded…
Fowler Buys 420-Unit Atlanta M-F, Plans Upgrades
Conifer Crossing, a 420-unit multi-family property in Norcross, Ga., has traded hands for $31.75 million. The buyer was San Francisco-based Fowler Property Acquisitions; the seller, Denver-based Simpson Housing L.L.L.P. Located on about 54 acres on Holcomb Bridge Road, Conifer Crossing is about 17 miles northeast of Atlanta’s CBD, and is currently 98 percent occupied. In the vicinity of the property is about 10 million square feet of office space, including Technology Park/Atlanta, a 3.8-million-square-foot business park primarily occupied by technology-related tenants. The property includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 1,233 square feet each. Amenities include a clubhouse, pool, fitness…
NetLease Q&A: CB Richard Ellis’ Sandquist Says Quality Deals, Sale-Leaseback Best Bets Now
In business parlance, doom usually comes paired with gloom, and the current state of the real estate market – even commercial sectors whose fundamentals aren’t that bad – inspires people to haul out that set of words. But not everyone sees things that way, least of all in the net lease business.Andrew Sandquist, senior vice president in the Oak Brook, Ill., office of CB Richard Ellis Inc., and a net lease investment specialist with the company’s investment properties group, points out that the pace of net lease investment sales may be slower than it once was, but that deals are…
Port of Corpus Christi Opens Trade Lines to Venezuela
Establishing a dedicated monthly shipping service between Texas’s Port of Corpus Christi and Venezuela opens a two-way trade route that hadn’t existed at the port before. The opening of the trade route comes on the heels of the selection of Federal Development as the master developer of a $400 million project that includes the development of La Quinta Trade Gateway. Federal Development will be the master developer of 1,009 acres in Ingleside, which includes 576 acres at Naval Station Ingleside, which will revert to the port in the fall of 2010. Federal will create a mixed-use site with potential uses…
Ramco-Gershenson Adds Shopping Center to Florida JV
Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust has sold the 330,000-square-foot Plaza at Delray shopping center in Delray Beach, Fla., to its $450 million joint venture with the state of Florida, which is advised by Heitman L.L.C. The JV secured $48 million in permanent financing for the center for five years at 6.0 percent interest. “This transaction allows us to maintain a 20 percent ownership interest in a very attractive center; pay off $43 million in permanent, company-level debt; and generate approximately $23 million in net proceeds, which will be used to fund our previously announced business plan,” president & CEO Dennis Gershenson said…
PNC Finances $354M for Trio of California Projects
PNC has provided a total of $354.4 million in financing to three separate projects in California. In the largest financing, PNC subsidiary PNC Real Estate Finance extended a $300 million term/construction loan to Macerich for the expansion of The Oaks, a high-end retail center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. PNC was the lead syndicator on the loan, with seven other institutions providing the remainder of the financing. In another deal, PNC ARCS–a multi-family lending arm of PNC Real Estate–funded a $34.5 million loan for the purchase and rehabilitation of Woodsong Apartments, a 262-unit garden-style apartment complex in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Freddie…
Emaar Begins Sales at $3.2B Master-Planned Community in Dubai
Development in Dubai continues to explode with Emaar Properties, the Middle East’s largest builder, saying it is beginning sales this week for its newest residential master-planned community. Mushrif Heights is estimated to cost $3.2 billion U.S. and will be an eco-friendly community spread over 44 million square feet featuring villas, town homes and apartments. Emaar Properties, which introduced the master-planned community concept to Dubai in 1999 with its Emirate Hills project, is building Mushrif Heights near Al Awir, close to Mushrif Park and about 15 minutes from the Dubai International Airport. A company release notes that the new neighborhood is…
Apollo to Pursue Additional RE Debt Acquisition
There’s little doubt that debt, besides being the raw material of the real estate crunch, is also a pretty hot commodity in some ways, as property values decline and loan-to-value ratios shift. In recent weeks, as reported by CPN, such investors as the new Investcorp Real Estate Credit Fund L.P. and Inland American Real Estate Trust have been eager to snap up real estate debt. New York-based Apollo Real Estate Advisors has also stepped up its interest in real estate debt recently, raising additional capital for its debt investment fund, Apollo Real Estate Finance Corp. (AREFIN). All together, the firm…
Douglas Emmett Nabs $365M Loan
Douglas Emmett Inc. has announced that it has obtained a non-recourse $365 million term loan to refinance the bridge loan that was obtained in connection with the REIT’s acquisition of a six-office portfolio on March 26, 2008. This new loan is secured by the six-office portfolio. The loan bears interest at a floating rate equal to LIBOR plus 165 basis points, but the firm has entered into interest rate swap contracts that effectively fix the interest rate at 5.515 percent until September 4, 2012. The loan facility matures on August 18, 2013. Emmett does not have any debt maturities until…