the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Updated: RER Survey Says Commercial Real Estate Feeling the Strain
Income-producing real estate is feeling the strain of persistent turmoil in the world’s financial markets and the downbeat outlook for the U.S. economy, according to the latest survey of real estate executives by the Real Estate Roundtable, which was released today. Still, a majority of those surveyed expected some improvement in the not-too-distant future. The survey, conducted for the Washington, D.C.-based Roundtable by FPL Advisory Group, polled over 100 upper-level managers in the real estate industry, including CEOs, presidents, board members and other executives to get a C-suite eye-view of the market. The participating executives hailed from across the spectrum…
Two Former Staubach Execs Join CB Richard Ellis
CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. has hired two real estate industry veterans, Michael McShea and Peter Larkin, both of whom focus on the public sector. They have joined the company’s Government and Public Sector Solutions (GPSS) group based in Washington, D.C. McShea and Larkin, who will both hold the title of executive vice president at CBRE, and will provide strategic planning and real estate advisory services for local, municipal, state and federal government entities, as well as institutions of higher learning. The duo are joining CBRE from the Staubach Co., which was recently acquired by Jones Lang LaSalle. McShea, with…
CVS to Acquire Longs Drugs for $2.9B
In one of the year’s notable retail acquisition announcements, Longs Drug Stores Corp. has agreed to be acquired by Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Caremark for $2.9 billion or $71.50 per share. The purchase price includes the assumption of Longs’ outstanding debt. CVS will fund the all cash deal with $1.5 billion in debt and existing cash and liquidity. Under the terms of the deal, CVS will acquire the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Longs’ 521 retail drugstores in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona as well as its Rx America subsidiary, which offers prescription benefits management (PBM) services to more than 8 million members…
Boston Properties Completes Acquisition of Two NY Properties from Macklowe
Boston Properties and its partners have closed on the acquisition of 540 Madison Ave. and Two Grand Central Tower in New York City for about $705 million, a major part of the $3.95 billion, four-property portfolio deal that it struck with beleaguered seller Macklowe Properties earlier this year. The larger deal, as reported by CPN in late May, also involved the sale of the iconic GM Building in New York, which closed in June. Its purchase price, $2.8 billion, included the assumption of $1.9 billion in debt maturing in 2017. 540 Madison Ave. is a 39-story, 292,000-square-foot building at Madison…
Quartet of Colliers Firms to Merge, Los Angeles to Streamline
Colliers International’s U.S. operations have sure been on their toes the past few days. The brokerage network has announced a major consolidation of four of its Eastern-region firms and a streamlining of its Greater Los Angeles operations, both aimed at creating operating efficiencies and better client service. Although these strategies are unrelated, Doug Frye (pictured), chairman of Colliers International-Global, told CPN that they are indicative of the overall commercial real estate industry. “There has been consolidation for a while,” he said, “and a downturn in the market just accelerates that process.” In the Eastern region, St. Louis-based Colliers Turley Martin…
Prime Takes Last of Former Crescent Office Holdings
Morgan Stanley Real Estate has completed the sell-off of the former Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.’s Dallas office portfolio with the sale of Stanford Corporate Centre to Prime Income Asset Management. Stanford Corporate Centre (pictured)–consisting of a 13-story, 275,000-square-foot office building and the adjoining 63,000-square-foot Telos Fitness Center–is located in the Far North Dallas office corridor, and is the last piece of Crescent’s Dallas Class A office portfolio. On July 31, 2007, Crescent sold about a dozen properties for $382 million. “Stanford Corporate Centre and the North Dallas Athletic Club (now the Telos Fitness Center) were not included in the…
Study: Credit Crunch Slashes Commercial Property Sales in Half
In a stunning finding, a Real Capital Analytics Inc. study has discovered that global property sales fell by 50 percent during the first half of 2008. Sales in Germany, where the collapse was the most severe, fell by 65 percent, while sales in the United States plunged 63 percent. During the first half of the year, investors fled industrialized economies and sought deals in the developing world. India, for example saw its commercial property sales rise by more than 100 percent during the first half of 2008. So did Romania and the United Arab Emirates. Brazil rose 40 percent, with…
Pinnacle Picks Contractor for $375M St. Louis Casino Project
Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. takes a big step forward with the development of River City, its planned casino project in suburban St. Louis, Mo., as it taps Yates/Paric to serve as general contractor. Yates/Paric, a joint venture involving W.G. Yates & Sons Construction and Paric Corp., will operate under a contact valued at approximately $149 million for River City, the first phase of which carries a development price tag of $375 million. River City is located in Lemay on 80 acres Pinnacle is leasing from the St. Louis County Port Authority. The project sits 10 miles from the Gateway City in…
Life Sciences Trends Point to Continued RE Demand
The life sciences industry’s real estate needs in the nine key U.S. markets continue as soaring construction costs hinder the upgrading of existing office space, international players compete for the limited pool of high-end accommodations and businesses increase reliance on outside real estate services providers, according to a new report by CB Richard Ellis Inc. “This is an industry that is so intense on focusing on core business, which is R&D, new products, and healthcare–which is only going to increase as the population ages,” a CBRE spokesperson told CPN today. Additionally, growing expectations in quality of life, as well as…
LaSalle, Constant Care Look to New Leadership for Growth Initiative
Assisted living developer the LaSalle Group and management firm Constant Care Management Co. have made changes to their corporate structure in an initiative to spearhead growth.Mitchell Warren (pictured) has taken over as president of LaSalle and is now overseeing continued expansion plans for the company and complete asset management. Warren was formerly vice president of development for LaSalle, and led the company’s expansion plans through the Dallas Fort Worth area and Chicago, with responsibilities ranging from new business to new residence planning and development. Chad Anderson, formerly vice president of operations for LaSalle and CCMC, has assumed the role of…