the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Residential Plunge, Commercial Weakness Drive Construction Spending Down
While commercial construction spending showed gains and losses, overall construction spending in April totaled $1.12 trillion, 3.9 percent lower than April of 2007 and 0.4 percent down from March, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Not surprisingly, new private single-family construction led the decline, falling 4.4 percent compared to March and a whopping 38 percent compared to April of last year. In the various commercial categories, however, spending trends were mixed. Hotels rose 7.6 percent between March and April and 45 percent compared to April of 2007. “It’s amazing to me that people keep pumping money into hotels,” Kenneth Simonson,…
W Hotel & Residences in Austin Bags $165M Loan
Austin-based Stratus Properties Inc. and the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund have obtained a $165 million construction loan for a new development in Austin, W Austin Hotel & Residences. The $295 million mixed-use project (pictured), located in Downtown Austin’s 2nd Street District near Lady Bird Lake, is seeking LEED certification and is slated for completion in early 2011. The construction loan is from Corus Bank, and was arranged by the Dallas office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. Though the market for condos has declined nationwide since the beginning of the credit crunch, the W project is nevertheless selling. In the roughly six…
India, China to Make Huge Infrastructure Investments over Next 5 Years
A pair of new reports from London-based consulting firm Trusted Sources and Urandaline, an Australian consultancy that specializes in capital-intensive industries, says that India and China will between them put $1.5 trillion into infrastructure improvements and modernization over a five-year period. “Both countries are investing on a massive scale,” Larry Brainard, chief economist at Trusted Sources, said in a prepared statement, “and this is creating attractive long-term investment opportunities, both in specific projects as well as in companies that are positioning themselves to meet the new demands for resources, expertise and technology. To sustain economic growth, both countries urgently need…
Vornado Scales Back MSG Redevelopment Plans
Vornado Realty Trust has revealed plans to redevelop Madison Square Garden and the Hotel Pennsylvania on a smaller scale than what was initially expected. Initially, Vornado planned massive redevelopments in the Pennsylvania Plaza district, including a tower for Merrill Lynch headquarters, moving Madison Square Garden and developing its 5 million square feet of air space. However, lack of government approval and the tightening credit market have dashed these plans for the time being. Merrill Lynch was forced to pull out of the tower project when their weakening financial position prevented the firm from obtaining credit to obtain financing. According to…
Panelists Discuss Growing Future of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Sovereign wealth funds’ assets total approximately $3 trillion, and are expected to quadruple to over $12 trillion in seven years, noted panelists during the NAREIT Week 2008’s “Sovereign Wealth – State Investors” panel discussion, held today at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. Forty sovereign wealth funds currently control $3.1 trillion, and are growing rapidly, especially in face of rising energy costs, noted David Marchick, managing director of The Carlyle Group, who moderated the panel. Leading the pack are the United Arab Emirates, Norway and Saudi Arabia. “It’s a new vehicle that finances the global cycle of money,” said Jan…
New Brands, Global Expansion Top Hotel Executives’ Growth Initiatives
The opportunity to introduce new brands, re-energize old ones, and to tap into fast-growing global markets present the most fruitful growth opportunities for three major hotel companies, whose chief executives spoke on Monday at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in New York. J. Willard Marriott, chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, Inc., said the global hotelier sees significant growth opportunities for its new Editions brand, a partnership with boutique hotel trailblazer Ian Schrager. “We are the odd couple,” Marriott said of his alliance with Schrager. “He is hip, and I am definitely not hip.” But, despite…
Hospitality Q&A: NYLO’s Russell Means Business
In late 2007, NYLO Hotels opened its first location in Plano, Texas. The new chain is designed to attract business travelers who are visiting suburban locations, but its design is urban-style boutique. John Russell, CEO of NYLO Hotels, talked recently about what is ahead for the new hotel chain. CPNHospitality: What are the key features that you feel make NYLO unique?Russell: We are an all-new construction hotel brand, which has loft accommodations. We have brick-paved masonry outside, and the rooms feature 30-square-foot windows, which are large. We also have a 24-hour restaurant. Our NYLO in Plano also has Texas touches,…
CPN’s Hotel Leaders Roundtable: Potential in Foreign Travelers–but Improvements Still Needed
The rate of U.S. travel by foreign consumers has increased steadily during the past six years but remains below pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels, noted Bjorn Hanson (pictured), partner in the hospitality and leisure practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P., during CPN’s sixth annual Hotel Leaders Roundtable. The conversation among eight leading hotel sector executives, which took place this morning while executives were in New York City for New York University’s International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, focused on challenges and opportunities in the current economy but spanned an array of areas of the business. While inbound overseas travelers provided 12.8 percent of revenues…
Beijing Vantone Reportedly First Corporate Tenant to Commit to Freedom Tower
Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. has reportedly signed a nonbinding deal to lease space in the Freedom Tower, making it the first private firm to agree to occupy the 102-story skyscraper now under construction at the former World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.According to a New York Times report, the space will be used to build the China Center, a combination chamber of commerce and cultural center, on floors 64 through 69 of the Freedom Tower, at the southeast corner of West and Vesey Streets. Vantone has been close to deals at two other sites Downtown–7 World Trade Center…
Rezidor to Build 2 New Hotels in Dubai
The Rezidor Hotel Group is expanding its presence in Dubai with the development of two hotels with a total of 450 rooms set to open in the United Arab Emirates city by late 2011. The company will build the Radisson DMCC Business Park Hotel, a 32-story complex with 150 rooms, and a second hotel with 300 rooms in cooperation with DMCC Business Park in the DMCC Freezone. The Radisson will feature three restaurants, a bar, a pub, ballroom, executive lounge, meeting rooms and fitness center. The second hotel, which has not been branded, will have its own restaurant and lobby…