the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Fengate to Use Yardi Voyager
Canada’s Fengate Property Management is moving to Yardi’s browser-based Voyager software, it has announced. Voyager will handle the property manager’s $2 billion mixed portfolio. Fengate properties are located throughout Ontario and in the United States. Fengate has been in the Canadian real estate management business since 1974, and began using Yardi software in 1996, when they bought Yardi Advantage. In 2002 they switched to Yardi Enterprise, which Voyager will be replacing. C.J.C. Consulting Services has begun to implement the new software application, and the employees at Fengate will be converting data to Yardi’s ASP hosting service.Fengate was included as one…
Douglas Emmett REIT Buys $610M L.A. Portfolio
In a market where employers are forecast to create 23,000 jobs in 2008, REIT Douglas Emmett Inc. has acquired a 1.4 million-square-foot office portfolio consisting of six Class A buildings in the Los Angeles area for $610 million. Working out at $428 per square-foot, the portfolio is currently 88.7 percent leased. The properties acquired include 2001Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica (pictured); 9100 Wilshire Boulevard and 8383 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills; 15250 Ventura Boulevard and 16000 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks/Encino; and 21300 Victory Boulevard in Warner Center/Woodland Hills. When reached by CPN, a Douglas Emmett spokesperson declined comment. This…
Developers Diversified Secures $500M in New Credit
Flying in the face of a tight new credit environment, Cleveland-based Developers Diversified Realty has in recent weeks secured a little more than $500 million in new loans and lender commitments. The total comes from various sources, including insurance companies and commercial banks.“It isn’t news that a number of financing avenues have shut down, but other options are still available at decent rates for borrowers with strong credit profiles,” a spokesperson for DDR told CPN this morning. DDR is taking advantage of its own strong credit profile, the spokesperson added, to take care of short-term debt that’s maturing this year,…
Hotel Fund Furthers $1B Investment Goal with Purchase of Kansas City Marriott
Acting through its discretionary private equity fund Noble Hospitality Fund L.L.C., which allows for $1 billion in purchasing power, Noble Investment Group has acquired the 295-room Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. According to Kansas City property records, DHG Kansas City Inc. was the previous owner of the Kansas City Marriott, which boasts a location in the city’s tony Country Club Plaza District, just outside of downtown. The 19-story tower also features 16,000 square feet of meeting space that includes a 42-seat amphitheater, a restaurant, a business center and a fitness facility. The hotel had been…
ProLogis Partners with SoCal Utility to Install Solar Panels on Commercial Buildings
ProLogis said today it was leasing 670,000 square feet of roof space at a Fontana, Calif., facility to Southern California Edison (SCE), the state’s biggest electric utility, as part of the nation’s largest solar cell installation program.The area at ProLogis’ Kaiser Distribution Park will be used to install and maintain enough solar panels to provide electricity for up to 1,426 households for a year. SCE plans to complete an additional five to 10 installations by the end of 2008. Each installation is comprised of one to two megawatts of solar panels. After Phase I, the utility’s goal is to put…
MGM, Sorouh Partner for Entertainment Project in Abu Dhabi
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Sorouh Real Estate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, have entered into a strategic alliance to “explore the development of entertainment opportunities within Sorouh’s real estate portfolio,” according to a prepared statement. The partnership’s first project will reportedly be “a large-scale entertainment destination.” A third partner, Rubicon Inc., is a Jordanian company that produces interactive multimedia e-education and 3D animation/CGI. An MGM spokesperson told CPN that the project to be developed with Sorouh and Rubicon is only in the very earliest conceptual stages, but that it “will not be a theme park.” Both Warner Brothers and…
ULI Panel: Controlling NYC Construction Costs No Easy Task
A panel on controlling construction costs convened in New York City today by the city’s chapter of the Urban Land Institute found that there are myriad reasons why construction costs continue to climb at a rapid rate. One major one is the sheer amount of construction projects ongoing in New York, which makes the competitive atmosphere hot for both material and labor. “The amount of building is on the scale that we saw in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s,” said Charles Murphy, senior vice president & general manager of Turner Construction Co., noting that in addition to the high…
Chester, Pa., Waterfront to Get $500M Mixed-Use Makeover
Buccini/Pollin Group today announced plans to develop a $500 million mixed-use project on the Delaware River in Chester, Pa. The 70-acre project, to be developed in phases over five years, will include 180 town homes, 225 apartments, 36,000 square feet of retail space, an 8,000 square foot restaurant, 435,000 square feet of office space and a 200,000 square foot convention center. A parking structure will accommodate 1,350 vehicles. A community marina and spacious greenways will add to the amenities. Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall. Today’s announcement follows news reported in late February by CPN that Chester will…
Seattle Apartment Property Marks 15th Purchase for $1.3B Fund
The Laramar Group has just acquired Vintage Park, a 543-unit apartment community in the burgeoning suburban Seattle town of Burien, Wa. Chicago-based Laramar purchased the property through the Laramar Multi-Family Value Fund, which allows the company to buy up to $1.4 billion in multi-family assets. Carrying the address of 1101 SW 139th Street, Vintage Park sits just 11 miles outside of Seattle within a city that is growing more influential with the major redevelopment of its downtown area, which will enhance its already successful business sector. Vintage Park is a 44-structure garden-style community that was developed on a 25-acre site…
Seniors Housing Isn’t About the Real Estate: An Interview with Lisa Brush
In her more than 15 years in the seniors housing sector, Lisa Brush has gained experience at the large and small ends of the industry, with the privately owned and the publicly traded sides, and with properties across the United States and her native Canada. Now, Brush she has left Ventas Inc., where she was senior vice president of seniors housing operations and development, and is starting her own firm, Symphony Senior Living. In an exclusive interview with CPN, she explains, among other things, why real estate people often seriously misunderstand senior housing. In 1992, fresh out of an MBA…