the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Riverstone Adds 2,400 New Units to Management Roll
Dallas-based Riverstone Residential Group has been awarded the management of 2,372 units in eight states. Riverstone added 14 apartment communities to its management portfolio for a new total of 192,000 apartment units under its umbrella. The properties are located in California, Connecticut, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. “Being a national company, we have 37 offices in 30 states and we’re always looking for opportunities for what we consider to be organic growth. It happens in a number of ways. It may be a new management company or we may have an asset and see an under-developed property…
St. Regis to Open in Dubai in 2012
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will be bringing the St. Regis brand to the United Arab Emirates Dubai, it has reported. The opening is slated for 2012. The St. Regis Hotel Dubai will be close to the commercial and main shopping centers of the city, in the Starhill Towers & Gallery, a high-rise and multi-use development owned and developed by ETA Star Property Developers. The Starhill is part of the multi-billion dollar Business Bay Development, a 21-million square foot mixed-use project of Dubai Properties that will include retail, office, hospitality and residential. Dubai development has been much in the news…
Walgreens to Cut Expansion Plans
Pharmacy chain Walgreens has announced plans to curb its expansion beginning in 2009. The company’s future plans involve cutting its expansion from 9 percent in 2008 to 8 percent in 2009 to 6 percent in 2010 and ultimately to a level of 5 percent expansion in 2011. The new expansion goals reveal a deviation from the company’s previous plans of annual long term expansion of 8 percent. Because of stores already on the development track, the firm cannot decrease its openings through 2009. The company expects that the current year will yield approximately 500 new stores, a net figure factoring…
JP Morgan Acquires $150M NYC Apartment
P & H Associates has sold The Wimbledon luxury apartment building in Manhattan to JP Morgan Investment Management in a $150 million deal. The 230-unit Wimbledon (pictured) is located at 200 East 82nd Street, near Central Park, in the heart of luxury hotels, multi-million dollar residences, four-star restaurants and high-end retail. The apartment complex encompasses 28 stories, and includes 6,000 square feet of street-level retail that is leased and occupied by Citibank. The building has been renovated since it was first opened in 1980, having seen upgrades for the roof, kitchens, elevators, hallways and windows. The deal was handled by…
Lipstick Building Touches Up its Financing
Manhattan’s Lipstick Building, the distinctive elliptical high-rise at 885 Third Avenue, has undergone a successful restructuring of its financing with Goldman Sachs. In addition to restructuring the preferred-equity portion of the building’s financing, owners Metropolitan Real Estate Investors L.L.C. have increased their stake in the property (pictured). “The restructuring of the Lipstick Building’s financing reflects the enduring value of prime commercial real estate in the heart of Manhattan,” Metropolitan chairman Haim Revah said in a prepared statement. The Wall Street Journal has reported that a $60 million preferred-equity loan to Metropolitan and its partners from Goldman Sachs was due today…
Inland Takes $100M Interest in Wakefield
Seeking capital to pursue healthcare real estate opportunities, NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. said today its healthcare real estate venture, Wakefield Capital L.L.C., sold $100 million in convertible preferred equity interest to Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. New York City-based NorthStar will receive about $90 million of the net proceeds in the deal, the REIT announced today. Inland American, an affiliate of The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies Inc., headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., could convert the preferred equity into a 42 percent ownership stake. It will yield a dividend of 10.5 percent prior to conversion, according to a…
330,000SF Outlet Mall Planned for Phoenix Area
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. has just revealed that it will develop an upscale outlet shopping center in suburban Phoenix. The 330,000-square-foot project will mark the company’s entrée into Arizona. The new Tanger Outlet Center will occupy a 30-acre parcel that Tanger recently committed to acquiring with the signing of a purchase and sale agreement with HWWCC Development L.L.C. Located at the intersection of 101 Loop and Camelback Rd. in Glendale, the site is near leading sports venues the University of Phoenix Stadium and Jobing.com Arena. Ultimately, the retail destination will offer 80 stores in an open-air environment. Tanger is…
Fannie Mae Roiled by Criticism, Called ‘Adequately Capitalized’ by Paulson
Is the other shoe in the ongoing financial crisis the failing solvency of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Statements yesterday by long-standing Fannie Mae critic William Poole, former St. Louis Federal Reserve president, questioned the two companies’ solvency, and sent their share prices on a roller coaster ride. According to Poole, who is now a fellow at the Cato Institute, Freddie Mac owed $5.2 billion more than its assets were worth in the first quarter of 2008, thus making it insolvent under fair value accounting rules. Moreover, the fair value of its assets fell 66 percent to $12.2 billion during…
Florida’s First Fuel Cell-Powered Community in the Works
Miami-based Distribution Management Services Inc. will soon commence the construction of 174 deluxe affordable homes in Poinciana, Fla., but the residential project won’t be your typical single-family home development. Now that DMGS has signed a letter of intent with Miami-headquartered ConeXa Products, the housing enclave, located about 30 miles south of Orlando, will become the first in the State of Florida to be powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology. Can the widespread application of this technology at commercial properties be too far behind? ConeXa, a distributor for Beaverton, Ore.-based Hydra Fuel Cell Corp., will provide HydraStax hydrogen fuel cells for…
RFR Developing $80M NYC Condo Project
Located in the heart of Soho, surrounded by cast-iron buildings and a cutting edge neighborhood, 350 West Broadway (pictured), between Grand and Broome Streets, is set to house eight full-floor residences. The two- and three-bedroom units, which will be ready occupancy in September 2009, will range in size from 2,875 square feet to 3,539 square feet. Prices start at $9,575,000. The building is being developed by Aby Rosen of RFR Holding LLC, which also owns the Lever House and the Seagram Building. In a statement, Rosen said, “With 350 West Broadway, we worked to create an exclusive address that represented…