the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Finance Groups Doubt SEC Plan to Tag CMBS Pools
Proposed changes to bond ratings are raising the hackles of real estate finance groups, which worry that the Security and Exchange Commission’s new rules would slow the recovery of the CMBS market. “It would create extended period of market disruption, and right now, everybody’s trying to figure out an end to the market disruption,” Dottie Cunningham, CEO of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association, told CPN this morning. At issue are the wide-ranging reforms formally proposed Wednesday by SEC. New rules would require ratings agencies to use different symbols for structured products. For example, the designation “SF,” for structured finance, or…
Bonds Issued for Housing Creation, Preservation in NYC
Continuing to do its part to fulfill Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan for the development and preservation of 165,000 affordable housing units over a 10-year period, the New York City Housing Development Corporation has issued bonds for the construction and conservation of nearly 2,200 such residences across the city’s five boroughs. The largest bond issuance of the group, supplied as part of HDC’s Low-Income Affordable Marketplace Program, was $120 million to provide permanent financing for the construction of 1,000 units to be contained within as many as nine new projects in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Under its New…
Plans Proceeding for Vancouver Hotel
The president of Rancho Santa Monica Developments Inc. said today he has signed a letter of intent with a joint venture partner to build a 14-story, 91-suite boutique hotel in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. The project, to be built at 620 Seymour St., is expected to cost about CAN$27 million, including about CAN$5.5 million to buy the property. Developer and company founder Graham Alexander told CPN today he is working with Nick DeCotiis, president & CEO of the DeCotiis Group of Companies, a well-known Canadian company active in commercial and residential real estate development and investment. The hotel is currently…
First Industrial Takes 4 LA-Area Properties
First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. has acquired four buildings in the Los Angeles area totaling approximately 440,000 total square feet.The properties were purchased in three separate deals. The firm purchased a 184,000-square-foot, two-building portfolio in Thousand Oaks in one deal, and a 177,000-square-foot distribution center in South Bay via its joint venture with the California Teachers’ Retirement System in a second deal. The third buy involves an 83,000-square-foot distribution facility in Torrance. The Thousand Oaks properties are currently 100 percent leased. The Torrance facility will be repositioned for leasing after the sale is finalized. Brokers from CB Richard Ellis Inc.,…
Formation Capital to Buy Bankrupt Haven Healthcare’s Facilities for $84M
Formation Capital L.L.C. has signed an agreement to acquire bankrupt Haven Healthcare’s portfolio of 24 facilities for an aggregate $84 million. The skilled nursing centers and assisted living properties are located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Haven’s financial woes reached a climax in November 2007, and the company is still being investigated by the state regarding its suspected diversion of federal and state funds for investments in a record company and personal real estate, according to the Connecticut Attorney General’s office. With 14 assets located in Connecticut, the portfolio Formation has agreed to buy encompasses all…
JLL, Staubach Rumors Grow Stronger with $735M Takeover Talk
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. is in advanced talks to buy Staubach Co. in a $735 million deal, U.K.-based Property Week has reported, further strengthening recent and growing rumors of the possible purchase. In the most detailed account of the takeover yet, the report said that the acquisition could be announced on the New York Stock Exchange as early as next week. The expected purchase price reflects 10 times Staubach’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, the report said. It cited U.S. sources that said the sale could net Staubach CEO Greg O’Brein approximately $50 million. It is unclear how…
NY Governor Calls for WTC Progress Review
The World Trade Center development is behind schedule and will miss its June 20 deadline for finishing Tower 2’s foundation excavation, the Port Authority has reported. As a result, it will pay from $9 million to $18 million to Larry Silverstein, the WTC developer, it has announced. The PA had already missed deadlines on two other WTC sites, and turned over $13 million to Silverstein. And New York’s new governor, David Paterson, has had enough.Late yesterday he sent a letter to Chris Ward, the new executive director of the Port Authority, calling for a complete audit of the schedule and…
Lifestyle Centers Need Critical Mass: Steiner + Associates’ Rosenberg
After years of dominating retail real estate development, lifestyle centers have been hit hardest by the economic slowdown. Developers are putting projects on the back burner as many retailers hesitate to commit to leases. A common explanation is that the upscale, destination-style retailers are taking a hit as consumers cut back on discretionary spending and gravitate toward discounters. In other cases, the current lull in lifestyle-center development stems from strategic misfires. “A lot of better retailers went into a lot of lifestyle centers, and not all lifestyle centers are created equal,” said Steiner + Associates president Barry Rosenberg, speaking with…
175-Acre Auto Auction Center Comes to Dallas Logistics Hub
ADESA, a motor vehicle auction, reconditioning, logistical and services company, has agreed to a 20-year lease for a new auto auction center at the 6,000-acre multimodal Dallas Logistics Hub. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Allen Group, developers of the Dallas Logistics Hub in Southern Dallas County, said the build-to-suit facility will be located on 175 acres within the city of Hutchins. The property will house three buildings totaling approximately 196,000 square feet of space for an auction arena, administrative and financial offices and reconditioning facilities. The Allen Group and ADESA will design, construct and commission the facility…
Starwood Capital Forms Public Infrastructure Subsidiary
Citing a need in today’s “increasingly turbulent real estate and credit markets,” Starwood Capital Group Global L.L.C., has tapped two real estate executives to head up a new subsidiary that will manage investments in U.S. public real estate infrastructure bonds. Starwood said today Ramiro Albarran and Bob Burch, former Bank of America executives, will join Starwood Infrastructure Finance L.L.C., as managing principals. Albarran and Burch will have the primary responsibility for finding and managing Starwood Infrastructure Finance’s investments. “Starwood Infrastructure Finance will fill a valuable need in today’s market by providing long-term capital projects (large and small) across the country…