the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
American Campus Communities Acquires GMH
Student housing REIT American Campus Communities Inc. has agreed to the purchase of GMH Communities Trust.Under terms of the deal, American Campus will take gain control of GMH’s student housing portfolio, which was all that remained of the firm’s holdings after the $350 million selloff of its military housing portfolio in early May to Balfour Beatty Group , as reported by CPN.At the same time the purchase was announced, American Campus Communities also announced the formation of a joint venture with Fidelity Real Estate Group. The joint venture will take on 15 GMH student housing properties, valued at approximately $326…
ULI Report Highlights Major Worldwide Demographic Trends
The world is getting smaller, perhaps warmer, certainly more crowded and probably wealthier, but most of all, it’s getting older. For example, by 2030 one in eight of the world’s people will be over 65. That’s one of the key conclusions in “Global Demographics 2008: Shaping Real Estate’s Future,” a brand-new report from the Urban Land Institute, with partial sponsorship by Deloitte L.L.C. “Global aging is the most significant global demographic trend,” co-author M. Leanne Lachman said in a press briefing this morning. Lachman is president of Lachman Associates L.L.C. In introducing Lachman, ULI executive vice president Rachelle Levitt commented…
Exclusive: Capri Capital Lands $2B Development Project in Saudi Arabia
Chicago-based Capri Capital Partners L.L.C. has inked a deal with Emaar, The Economic City Inc., a joint venture of Saudi Arabian general investment authority and Emaar Properties, to oversee the development of a $2 billion mixed-use project in Saudi Arabia. The development will combine commercial and residential properties and be located in the CBD of a new city called King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). When complete, the new master-planned city on the Red Sea–up the coast from Jeddah, the commercial hub of Saudi Arabia–will include, besides the CBD, a 150 million-square-foot sea port, a 678 million-square-foot industrial zone, a resort…
Hilton Follows U.K. Alliance with Partnership for 3,500 New Rooms in Turkey
Wasting little time in moving forward with its global expansion plan, Hilton just revealed that it has entered into a non-exclusive Strategic Development Agreement with the Kosifler Group for the opening of 25 new hotels in Turkey. News on the Turkey expansion comes just one day after Hilton announced a new partnership with HLH Property Ltd. for the development of 30 new properties in the United Kingdom. Together, Hilton and Kosifler will bring to Turkey’s hospitality market over the next five years a total of 3,500 new guestrooms, most of which will be located in properties operating under the mid-market…
Authority Grants Extension to LA Mixed-Use Project
Rumors of The Related Cos.’ rejection have been greatly exaggerated. The word on the street this week has been that the developer behind the $3 billion Grand Avenue mixed-use project in Downtown Los Angeles was denied a requested eight-month construction start extension by the Grand Avenue Authority. But such is hardly the case. Early this week the Grand Avenue Authority, a board of local and state officials formed in 2003 to oversee the implementation of The Grand, granted Related a two-month extension, pushing the construction start date back from June 15 to August 15. Related is seeking the board’s approval…
NYC Trophy Update: GM Tower Gone, Chrysler Building Going, Macklowe Prizes on Block…Plus, a Spire to Inspire
The action has been as hot as Manhattan’s recent heat-wave for New York City’s most prized towers. First, the much-discussed Macklowe Properties sale of the General Motors building closed today, according to the official announcement by the buyer, a joint venture that includes Boston-based Boston Properties, US Real Estate Opportunities I L.P., a partnership managed by Goldman Sachs and Meraas Capital L.L.C., a Dubai-based private equity firm. The final pricetag: approximately $2.8 billion, less than asked, but more, according to some industry watchers, than will be easy to manage, as the deal comes with more than $2 billion in debt….
Staples to Take Over Dutch Office Supply Firm
Corporate Express NV, a Dutch office supplies distributor, has agreed to a takeover bid by Staples Inc. The board of Corporate Express agreed to the takeover after Staples raised its offer for the fourth time. Staples will pay $14.36 a share for a total purchase price of $2.37 billion. By agreeing to the Staples bid, Corporate Express backed away from its plan to merge with French company Lyreco. Under terms of the deal, Staples will assume about 1.1 billion euros of Corporate Express debt. Corporate Express CEO Peter Ventress will assume the position of president of Staples International and will…
Whitehall Buys Majority Stake in German Apartment Firm, 93,000 Units
The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has sold its majority stake in LEG GmbH to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Whitehall real estate funds for $1.2 billion. The transaction, which includes 93,000 apartments located in cities such as Cologne, Essen and Bonn, is valued at approximately $5.4 billion including debt, according to state finance minister Helmut Linssen, Bloomberg reported. The state owned approximately 68 percent of LEG, or Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft Nordrhein-Westfalen, and another 22 percent through a bank, making it the seller’s largest shareholder. In March, it agreed to bail out the bank by covering as much as $7.7 billion in potential…
MBA Finances D.C. Headquarters for $75M
The Mortgage Bankers Association has secured $75 million in financing to acquire its recently completed 169,400-square-foot headquarters building in Washington, D.C.’s East End submarket, near the city’s CBD, a new convention center and six Metro stations. “The building was originally a spec project,” Bill Asbill, senior managing director in the Washington, D.C., offices of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., told CPN. “Early on, MBA put it under contract. The agreement was that MBA would buy the building upon completion and that the developer would build out the MBA space.” The project (pictured) was developed by a joint venture between New York…
UCLA Survey Gives Mixed Marks to California Real Estate
The office markets in Los Angeles and San Diego are moving past the credit crisis, but those in Orange County and San Francisco are not, according to the latest Allen Matkins/UCLA Commercial Real Estate Survey. Based on polls of panelists in each market, including San Francisco for the first time, the survey attempted to gauge likely market conditions in 2011. Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis L.L.P. is a major California law firm. LOS ANGELES The panelists generally expect a stable market in LA, with new supply coming on line between now and 2011 to be just about matched…