the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Jones Lang LaSalle is First CRE Firm to Join Ceres Network
Ceres, a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public-interest groups that works with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges, has announced that Jones Lang LaSalle is its first member company from the commercial real estate industry. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Ceres has about 80 corporate members that have committed to disclosing their environmental and social commitments and results, and to engaging with Ceres’ coalition of investors and environmental and social organizations on corporate responsibility. Companies that join Ceres can get expert advice on sustainability reporting, enter industry dialogues on sustainability issues and access the…
Suburban KC Lifestyle Center Changes Hands
Arciterra Group L.L.C. has acquired a lifestyle shopping center in Olathe, Kan., for $29.3 million from Maefield Development Corp. The 289,400-square-foot property, Olathe Pointe, opened in 2006, but is not completely built out. “There’s still a great deal of buyer interest in Class A retail properties in good locations, and this property was no exception,” John Riser, a vice president of investments & senior director of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ national retail group in Indianapolis, told CPN this morning. “In fact, there was widespread investor interest in it, including REITs and local shopping center owners.” Marcus &…
FORT Takes New Suburban Phoenix BTS
Despite a local office market pushing 19 percent vacancy, the newly-constructed Avnet Building in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler was sold to FORT Properties Inc. for $35.2 million. Phoenix-based Ryan Cos. US completed the build-to-suit facility (pictured) in April. Located within the Chandler Freeways Business Park at 6700 W. Morelos Place at the junction of Interstate 10 and the San Tan (Loop 202) Freeway, the site is within the growing hub of Chandler’s industrial sector. The building has approximately 230,000 square feet of space and is fully occupied by Phoenix-based Fortune 500 firm Avnet Inc. which provides supply-chain, logistics, product…
Housing Bill a Boost for Affordable Sector
Having cleared Congress with the Senate’s passage over the weekend, and anticipated to be signed by President Bush without delay, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 will provide assistance to thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure, but it will also provide a boost for the affordable housing industry, which has also fallen prey to the credit crunch. The legislation includes alterations of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and changes for mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that are designed to ease the process of developing affordable housing. The bill calls for the modernization of the LIHTC in an…
AMB Ramps Up Industrial Property Presence in Mexico with Accion Takeover
AMB Property Corp., through an affiliate, has acquired the remaining 42 percent of G. Accion S.A. de C.V. that it had not previously owned. The purpose of the transaction was, according to AMB, to create a fully integrated platform from which the company will continue to develop, lease, acquire and operate industrial real estate in Mexico. Currently, San Francisco-based AMB’s Mexican portfolio totals about 9.2 million square feet of operating and under-development facilities, and land capable of supporting roughly 6.8 million square feet of further development. Target markets for AMB include Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Queretaro, Reynosa and Tijuana. Demand…
Shovels Hit Dirt for $100M Biotech HQ in Suburban Philly
Work has commenced on Almac Group’s new North American headquarters campus in Lower Salford Township in Harleysville, Pa., about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia. The Craigavon, Northern Ireland-headquartered bioscience research-and-development services company will invest $100 million to develop a 240,000-square-foot facility as part of an expansion and consolidation project that will ultimately yield an office and production complex of up to 1 million square feet.The new building will allow Almac to bring its employees from offices in Audubon and in Yardley at the Lower Makefield Corporate Center under one roof. The Audubon locale sits about 15 miles south of the…
Balfour Beatty Wins 50-Year, $410M USAF Housing Project
In a project that will span 50 years and three bases in three states, Balfour Beatty Communities of Newtown Square, Pa., will develop, manage and maintain 2,435 housing units for the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. The three bases are Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane, Wash.; Travis Air Force Base, near Fairfield, Calif.; and Tinker Air Force Base, near Oklahoma City. The West Military Housing Privatization Project will begin with a seven-year Initial Development Period and includes the design, construction and/or renovation, management, and maintenance of the housing units. It falls under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, which…
ING Sets Green Initiatives
ING Real Estate is the latest firm to introduce a new set of sustainability guidelines for acquisitions, development projects and asset management of its real estate investments, designed to encourage more green transactions and practices as part of ING Group’s worldwide commitment to reduce its carbon footprint.The company’s initiatives are based in part on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, so the firm is requiring that, in most instances, ground-up development will be certified under LEED New Construction, LEED Core & Shell or LEED Neighborhood Development standards, with a targeted Silver or higher certification….
Holliday Fenoglio Places $168M in Financing for USC Student Housing Project
Plans for the development of University Gateway (pictured), an upscale mixed-use student housing development across from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, move forward with the closing of financing for the 421-unit project. With the assistance of commercial real estate capital intermediary Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., developers Urban Partner L.L.C., Real Estate Capital Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors attained funding totaling $167.5 million in the form of a construction loan and joint venture equity. Wells Fargo’s Merchant Banking Group provided the fully underwritten construction loan, while RCG Longview Equity Fund L.P. supplied the equity for what will…
Lee & Associates Taps Royster for President, Strategic Growth
Lee & Associates has named Phil Royster as its president of strategic growth. The newly created position will have Royster overseeing all of the company’s expansion efforts. Among the responsibilities will be identifying growth opportunities and establishing the company’s strategy for new office acquisitions and the formation of new Lee & Associates companies nationwide. Plan’s call for Royster to work closely with Lee’s regional company presidents in indentifying these potential partners. He will be based in the company’s Sherman Oaks office where he will work alongside Lee’s L.A. North group president Mike Tingus. The appointment is effective immediately. Royster is…