the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Administration’s Fannie, Freddie Bailout Could Cost $25B
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has submitted a report to the House Budget Committee on the Bush Administration’s proposal to provide temporary authority to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (pictured) to purchase any amount of obligations and other securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Under current law, the Secretary has permanent authority to purchase debt securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to a total of $2.25 billion from each. Reached this morning, a CBO spokesperson could not speak to whether that option has been exercised to date. The CBO report explains…
Prospect Proceeds in Buying IndyMac Mortgage Branches
Prospect Mortgage has decided to proceed with its acquisition of most of IndyMac’s retail mortgage branches in a deal scheduled to close early next month. All together, Northbrook, Ill.-based Prospect will buy about 80 Indymac loan offices nationwide. The deal is going to proceed as scheduled, and under the original terms, according to Prospect, despite the seizure of Indymac by the Office of Thrift Supervision earlier this month and the current conservatorship of Indymac by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. John Johnston and Ron Bergum of Indymac will remain leaders of the retail branch group following the closing, and some…
NYC Office Snapped Up for $146M
The 274,000-square-foot office building at 180 Madison Ave. in Manhattan has officially come under new ownership, courtesy of a transaction between two New York City-based real estate companies. The Clarett Group, acting in a joint venture with Parsippany, N.J.-based Prudential Real Estate Investors, purchased the 274,000-square-foot building from Sitt Management for $146 million. With the closing of the acquisition of the Midtown South property, Clarett has made its first move in the Manhattan office market game. Rising 23 stories above the intersection of Madison Ave. and 34th St., 180 Madison last changed hands in 2005 when Sitt bought the building…
$100M Fund Formed for Affordable Housing in LA
The City of Los Angeles has joined forces with Enterprise Community Partners to establish the $100 million New Generation Fund, the city’s first multi-million-dollar financing tool for the development and preservation of affordable housing. The New Generation Fund is owned by Enterprise and is being backed financially by a consortium–consisting of Citi, Wachovia, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Merrill Lynch, MetLife and HSBC–that has endowed the fund with $100 million. Additionally, the City, the Ahmanson Foundation, the California Community Foundation and the Weingarten Foundation are supplying a total of approximately $14 million in credit enhancements. The pre-development and acquisition fund is…
Diamond Resorts to Acquire Bluegreen Corp.
Resort giant Diamond Resorts International has inked a letter of intent to acquire Bluegreen Corp., which also specializes in resort and vacation properties. The letter cited a price of $15 a share, which would value the deal at about $500 million, not counting Bluegreen’s outstanding debt. Under the terms of the letter, Bluegreen has granted Diamond Resorts an exclusive right of negotiation through September 15, during which time Diamond Resorts will conduct more extensive due diligence. According to Bluegreen, the offer was unsolicited, but Bluegreen had been preparing for an eventual sale in any case. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Bluegreen Corp….
W. P. Carey Closes European Sale-Leaseback
W. P. Carey & Co. has reported that CPA(R):16 – Global, its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliate, has provided approximately 19 million euro of sale-leaseback financing to Schoeller Arca Systems through the acquisition of two manufacturing facilities located in Monheim, Germany and Nurieux, France. SAS designs, develops and manufactures reusable containers, boxes and pallets that are manufactured to endure multiple trips. “The sale-leaseback of our facilities is enabling us to recapitalize our balance sheet,” SAS CFO Hubert van Iwaarden said in a statement. Together with its new owners, One Equity Partners, the new financing will enable the company to grow,…
NorthMarq Arranges $46M Financing for Maryland M-F
NorthMarq Capital Inc.’s Washington, D.C., office arranged a $46 million senior mortgage acquisition financing for the The Park at Kingsview, a 326-unit multi-family property in Germantown, Md. Christopher Feeley and Gary McGlynn, both serving as NorthMarq’s senior vice presidents & managing directors, along with the firm’s vice president Frank Relihan arranged the financing, which was based on a seven-year term and was arranged for the borrower through NorthMarq’s seller-servicer relationship with Freddie Mac. NorthMarq Capital provides more than $11.8 billion in annual production volume and services a loan portfolio of more than $36.5 billion.
Kayne Anderson Takes $45M Student Housing Complex
Los Angeles-based investment firm Kayne Anderson Capital Partners has acquired a 212-unit student-housing complex in Riverside, Calif., for $45 million, or $212,000 per unit. Constructed in 2001, the Class A apartment complex, GrandMarc at University Village (pictured), houses students at the University of California, Riverside. The property consists of eight four-story apartment buildings and one single-story leasing office/clubhouse. The apartments range in size from one-bedroom/one-bathroom to four-bedroom/four-bathroom units. Average size is 1,310 square feet.The unit price ranks above the average for apartment complex sales in the U.S. this year, according to data supplied by New York-based Real Capital Analytics. Real…
Dallas Software Retailer Relocates Headquarters
Despite a slowing office leasing market in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, a Dallas-area based smartphone software retailer signed a seven-year lease of about 50,000 square feet in the master planned commerce center of Las Colinas in the Dallas suburb of Irving. Handango, an online retailer of smartphone software, signed the long term lease of 48,660 square feet in Corporate Point at Las Colinas (pictured) after leasing 11,800 square feet about nine months ago. The move coincides with Handango’s decision to move its corporate headquarters from the mid-cities area of Hurst to Corporate Point. Since acquiring the 10-story, 223,500-square-foot office building…
Giuliani, Berman Enterprises Launch RE Investment Fund
Giuliani Partners, headed by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and commercial real estate owner Berman Enterprises are launching a real estate investment fund of between $500 million and $750 million focused on commercial and residential opportunities. The fit with Giuliani’s firm is a good one for Berman Enterprises, said Jeffrey Berman, (pictured), a partner in the firm. “Rudy is the former mayor of New York, and he’s a deal maker whose experience is unparalleled,” Berman said. He said that experience is particularly valuable to Berman, which has not invested in New York. The new fund is targeting a limited…