the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Chapter 11 Filing Buys Time for $2B Las Vegas-Area Project
Even in the fast-growing Las Vegas market, the capital crunch continues to catch up with some developers. The entity building City Crossing, a 125-acre, $2 billion mixed-use project two miles south of Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month. The move is intended to buy time for Plise Development & Construction, the project’s developer, to refinance $180 million in debt, according to a report by Tony Illia this week in the Las Vegas Business Press. Plise COO Mitchell Stipp told the Business Press that the firm has been unable to reach terms with Community…
Wilshire’s $100M Mortgage Pool Fund Targets Bridge Financing
A Los Angeles–area developer is in a bind. He’s redeveloping a retail/restaurant strip mall and is well along with entitlement, but now he can’t get additional funding to finish that process, jeopardizing the entire project, even though the deal is sound and the property continues to generate rents. Enter a $600,000 bridge loan/second mortgage from a new commercial real estate mortgage pool fund by Wilshire Finance Partners, Los Angeles. The Wilshire Income Fund, recently launched by this start-up company, is targeted at opportunities like this, where a swing or bridge loan can save the day for a good project, Wilshire…
Management Matters with Mike Myatt: Does Appearance Matter?
So, do appearances really matter? They shouldn’t, but the reality is that they most certainly do. As the old saying goes, “you only get one chance to make a first impression,” and often times it is that initial perception that determines whether or not you are even afforded the opportunity to get up to bat. In this week’s column I’ll examine how managing appearances can have a substantial impact on your personal brand and your success. In a perfect world professionals would only be judged solely on their character, skill sets, competencies and performance, but alas, we do not live…
Freddie Mac Buys $140M in Seniors Housing Mortgages
Freddie Mac has announced the purchase of a $140 million pool of mortgages from Capmark Finance Inc.Prudential Real Estate Investors also invested in the deal with Freddie Mac. The mortgages are secured by seven senior housing properties, which include 880 rooms in two assisted living facilities and five independent living centers located in Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Virginia. The purchase has allowed the Shelter Group, a Baltimore property management firm, to refinance and recapitalize these properties.The properties involved in the deal have all been built within the last thirty years. Details of the transaction include a ten year plus…
Boston’s Ames Building to Be Reborn as Boutique Hotel
How do you freshen up a landmark 19th-century Boston skyscraper? One way is to give it a $75 million makeover and turn it into a boutique hotel. Morgans Hotel Group Co., Normandy Real Estate Partners and Ames Hotel Partners said this week that they will open a 115-key hotel property in downtown Boston during the third quarter of next year. The subject of their transformation is the Ames Building, a 119-year-old structure near Beacon Hill and the Washington Street Mall. Containing elements of Byzantine and Romanesque styles, the Ames Building is still one of the East Coast’s tallest masonry structures.Officials…
Orlando Office Trades in TIC Transaction
Flagler Development Group has acquired Reserve at Maitland, a Class A office property with three single-story buildings in Orlando’s Maitland submarket, in a tenant-in-common exchange, according to Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors L.L.C. The price paid for the 9.5-acre property was not released.Built in 2001, Reserve at Maitland consists of 30, 65 and 70 Keller Road. The three single-story Class A office buildings have six tenant spaces with a total of 197,000 square feet of rentable space. Located near Interstate-4 and the Orlando International Airport, the complex has 943 parking spaces.Officials at Coral Gables, Fla.-based Flagler Development Group could not…
CBRE Report: It’s a Wait and See Game for Buyers, Sellers
The glory days of staggeringly high-priced commercial real estate transactions that ended about a year ago are over for the foreseeable future, as U.S. and international investors battle the credit crunch and, according to the latest CBRE Global In-Sight report, hold tight for the gap between asking prices and offers to shrink. But all is not lost during the waiting game; rising rental rates over the last few years continue to produce higher net operating income as tenants come and go.Sellers are still hoping to turn those exceptionally high profits they became accustomed to in the last couple of years…
Houston Office Brings in $131M
Ownership of One City Centre in Houston’s Central Business District has officially changed hands in a deal valued at $131 million. Broadway Partners sold the 608,600-square-foot high-rise to Behringer Harvard REIT I Inc.Once known as the First City Main Building, One City Centre was originally developed in 1961. The deal closes about 18 months after Broadway Partners acquired the property for $115 million from McCord Development, which had renovated the property to the tune of approximately $22 million. Spanning an entire downtown city block and carrying the address of 1021 Main St., the 31-story tower had an occupancy level of…
MGM Mirage Forms JV in China for Resort Development
MGM Mirage Hospitality and Diaoyutai State Guesthouse have created a joint venture to develop and manage a mixed-use project in Tianjin, China, including the opening of a MGM Grand Tianjin luxury hotel. No financials of the plan were disclosed.The joint venture signed a definitive agreement with Sinosteel International Plaza Co. to provide development and management services for Sinosteel International Plaza, which will be built in two phases and will consist of two towers, including the luxury hotel, residential, conference and office components. The MGM Grand Tianjin (pictured) will be an 88-story tower with a 350-key luxury hotel with 50 suites…
ProLogis JV to Develop Indy BTS for Footwear Firm
ProLogis and Browning Investments Inc. have announced that their joint venture has signed a build-to-suit lease agreement with LaCrosse Footwear Inc. The joint venture will develop a 380,000-square-foot distribution center for LaCrosse just outside of Indianapolis in Whitestown, Ind. The footwear company will relocate two existing distribution centers to the new facility, which will serve as a national distribution center. Sustainability will be a hallmark of the facility’s construction, which will incorporate local materials and an energy-efficient lighting system. Whitestown lured the company to develop there with economic incentives including tax breaks in anticipation of job creation, while the Indiana…