the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Management Matters with Mike Myatt: Know Thy Customer
How well do you really know your customer? Let me put this as simply as I can. If you want to succeed in business you must be in touch with the demands of the marketplace. While many businesses think they understand their customers, few of them really do. What most companies view as an understanding of their customer’s wants, needs, and desires more often reflects their own internal biases, perceptions, and judgments. In this week’s column I’ll share a few tips that will help your business succeed by achieving a better understanding of your customer’s needs. If you desire to…
Massive Starrett City Sale Moves Ahead in Fishbowl
The controversial sale of the nation’s biggest federally subsidized housing complex is moving forward under an unusual number of watchful eyes. This week, approximately eight entities submitted bids for Spring Creek Towers, a nearly 6,000-unit complex on Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, N.Y., that is almost universally known by its original name, Starrett City. The scale of the property (pictured), which has 46 residential towers, a 124,000-square-foot retail center, schools and even its own power plant, will probably make Starrett City the subject of one of the nation’s biggest multi-family sales of the year. Despite the size of the project, however,…
Supermétal Tapped to Build Bones of $1B Calgary Office Project
Development of Eighth Avenue Place, a 2 million-square-foot office and retail property in Calgary, AB, takes a big step forward as Supermétal Structures Inc. comes on board to install the 11,000 tons of structural steel that will serve as the skeleton for the 50-story high-rise involved in the two-tower project. Matco Investments is behind the $1 billion project (pictured). Supermétal was chosen for the job by EllisDon Construction, the contractor for Eighth Avenue Place–more familiarly known as Penny Lane Towers–on behalf of Matco. Situated downtown in the heart of the city’s Financial District on a parcel that had been home…
Changes in Store for Grubb & Ellis as Peters Departs
Today’s departure of Scott Peters as CEO of Grubb & Ellis Co. may be the most dramatic change at the top since the firm’s merger with NNN Realty Advisors last December, and industry insiders say that more changes may be in store. “It’s going through the trials and tribulations of acquisition,” an executive with knowledge of the recent dynamics at Grubb & Ellis told CPN today, speaking on condition of anonymity. Grubb & Ellis disclosed Peters’ move this morning in a statement, saying only that he had left to pursue other interests and that the resignation is effective immediately. Gary…
Marriott Breaks Ground on Orlando Timeshare
Marriott Vacation Club International, the vacation ownership division of Marriott International Inc., broke ground yesterday on Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve at Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla. The 500-acre Grande Lakes campus is already home to a JW Marriott hotel and a Ritz-Carlton, the latter including a golf club and a spa. The resort is proposed to eventually include 340 villas and townhomes, with the first phase slated for occupancy by summer 2010. Sales will begin tomorrow, with initial prices ranging from $26,000 to $40,000/week, depending on season and floor plan selected. Planned amenities at the property on build-out will include a…
562-Unit South Carolina M-F Trades in TIC Transaction
The apartment community known as Plantations at Haywood in Greenville, S.C., has just come under new ownership. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors L.L.C., acting on behalf of tenant-in-common investors, snapped up the 562-unit property from Simpson Housing. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors relied on Wachovia Bank to finance its acquisition of Plantations from Simpson, which turned to real estate services firm Apartment Realty Advisors for representation in the transaction. Carrying the address of 135 Haywood Crossing Dr., the complex, formerly known as Haywood Crossing & Station, is sandwiched between I-385 and I-85 about two miles form Greenville’s Central Business District….
Buffet Restaurant Operator Wants Out of Master Lease
Buffets Holdings Inc., through a number of its subsidiaries, has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking to reject a master land and building lease for 129 of the company’s restaurants. The motion also seeks court authorization to close 127 of these locations by the end of August (two have already closed). In Eagan, Minn.-based Buffets Holdings’ motion, the company claims a number of issues with the master lease, including above-market rents, mandatory annual rent increases of 2 percent or more and provisions that provide little recourse when restaurants perform poorly. New York-based…
HFF Handles Over $200M in Florida Deals for Flagler
Flagler Development Group of Coral Gables, Fla., has made more than $200 million in office and industrial space acquisitions recently, including the purchase of two Orlando office properties for a total of $92.5 million. The Miami office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. announced that it had represented Flagler in the acquisition of Reserve at Maitland, three buildings which sold for $39.56 million, and Maitland Promenade, a five-story , Class A office building with about 230,000 square feet which sold for $52.94 million. Reserve at Maitland is located at 30, 65 and 70 South Keller Road and has a total of…
Exeter Takes 612,000SF Baltimore Industrial
Baltimore Land Holdings has sold an industrial distribution facility outside of Baltimore. The 612,900-square-foot property is located in Jessup, Md., along the Baltimore-Washington corridor.CB Richard Ellis Inc. acted as executive leasing agent on the property, which sold for $40 million. The buyer of the building is Exeter Property Group, a real estate prove equity firm based in Pennsylvania. Exeter will use the property to attract clients with needs for 40,000 to 400,000 square foot areas. The property is located at 7605 Dorsey Run Road, a road which is currently being improved and extended and is conveniently located proximal to major…
Hurdles Face Retailers, Investors Going for the Gold in China
China will command the world spotlight next month when it hosts the 2008 Olympics, but retailers and developers will continue to look toward the world’s largest nation as a growth market long after the last gold medal is awarded. During the next three to five years, upwards of 300 new malls will come on line in China, estimates Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak RCT, a retail traffic consultant. The staggering statistic comes as no surprise; a study published this year by CB Richard Ellis Inc. found that 40 percent of the top 226 international retailers already operate stores in China—the…