the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Experts Clarify Credit Crunch’s Impact on Deal Financing
Financing deals during the ongoing credit crunch has left a lot of question marks, but three experts at this morning’s Commercial Real Estate Due Diligence conference, hosted by IncreMental Advantage in New York City, shed some light on the market and what both borrowers and lenders can expect in the near future. Today, life insurance companies and commercial banks are the most viable options for lending money, noted Rick Lechtman, director of The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group L.L.C. International balance sheet lenders have also appeared, but Michael Wachs, vice president of AMC Delancy Group, noted that borrowers should be concerned…
HCP to Sell 4.5M Shares for $150M, Issue 12.5M Shares to Public
Healthcare REIT HCP Inc. has announced that it will sell 4.5 million shares of common stock to Goldman Sachs & Co. for $149.9 million in an offering it just priced at $33.32 per share and, in a separate move, will offer 12.5 million shares of common stock to the public. HCP plans to use the proceeds from the sale of stock to Goldman Sachs and the issuance of additional stock to repay part of a $1 billion debt under the company’s revolving credit facility which, when entered into on Aug. 1, 2007, had an initial capacity of $1.5 billion. Additionally,…
Developer Launches Urban Boutique Hotel Brand
Developer Associated Ventures L.L.C. has launched a new limited-service, urban boutique hotel brand, to be called Hotel Highland. The first hotel in the collection, the Hotel Highland at Biltmore, is scheduled to open in September, following the $3 million conversion of a 120-room Phoenix Inn Suites hotel in the Biltmore area of Phoenix. In addition to the hotel, the developer plans to build an 80-unit condominium tower, when market conditions are favorable again. Associated Ventures will look to acquire properties outright for conversion to the new brand, said Melanie Pennell-Mayer, managing member of Associated Ventures, LLC. “We’ll look for owners…
Henderson Enters NYC with Upper Manhattan M-F Portfolio Buy
Henderson Global Investors has made its first acquisition in New York City with the purchase of 177 units in three buildings on W. 107th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side as part of its CASA IV Fund. The six-story buildings with a total of 135,800 square feet at 210, 220 and 230 W. 107th St. sold for $60 million, according to a March 18 CPN report. Millbrook Properties was the seller. Henderson, an independent investment manager with more than $117 billion under management, said today the acquisition was a joint venture investment made with The Dermot Co., a New York…
Host, RECO Enter JV for Asia, Australia Investment
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. and RECO Hotels JV Pte, an affiliate of GIC Real Estate Pte of Singapore, have entered into a joint venture, structured as a Singapore corporation, to “explore investment opportunities” in Asia and Australia. GIC Real Estate is the real estate investment company of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Pte The partners have reportedly agreed to invest a maximum of $600 million of equity, which they anticipate leveraging into a total investment potential of $1.5 billion to $2 billion. Host owns a 25 percent interest in the JV and has the potential to earn a…
FX Eying Elvis-Themed Las Vegas Project
The latest venture by media and entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman, FX Real Estate and Entertainment, has unveiled plans to develop the acreage it holds at Las Vegas Blvd. and Harmon Ave. in Las Vegas, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 17.72-acre parcel, known as the Park Central Property, is located at the southeast corner of that intersection, across Harmon from the Planet Hollywood resort and casino complex. FX Real Estate, according to the filing, plans to pursue a “hotel, casino, entertainment, retail, commercial and residential” development project on the Park Central Property. Currently the site…
$180M L.A.-Area Opus West Project Moves Forward
The City Council of Westlake Village, Calif., has approved plans for Opus Corporate Center at Westlake Village, a $180 million, 435,000-square-foot mixed-use development by Opus West. The development (pictured) will feature two Class A, four-story office buildings totaling 361,000 square feet, three free-standing restaurant pads, a 45,000-square-foot fitness facility and 8,000 square feet of service retail on the 21.5-acre site. With the city council’s approval, the project is slated to break ground in April with completion anticipated in first quarter 2009. “This is a terrific site in a market with strong demographics,” Stuart Morkun, Opus West director of real estate…
Cushman & Wakefield Creates New Healthcare Group
Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc. has just kicked off its new healthcare practice group. The group’s eight-person team will focus on providing a range of services to clients involved in the rapidly growing healthcare industry across the United States and Canada. Cushman, which already had a foothold in the healthcare industry–its senior housing and healthcare group has been incorporated into the new practice group–has designed the healthcare practice group to incorporate experts from its various divisions, be it the company’s business consulting group, capital markets group, investment sales group or any number of other service teams….
$394M Financing in Place for Redevelopment of Landmark Chicago Office Tower
The historic office structure at 208 South LaSalle Street in Downtown Chicago is about to get more than a facelift, now that owner The Prime Group Inc. has secured an aggregate $393.6 million financing package for the building’s reincarnation as a hotel and office property. Approximately $271.6 million of the funding–orchestrated by real estate services firm Holiday Fenoglio Fowler L.P.– will be used for construction activities, and the remaining $123 million served as equity for the capitalization of the joint venture vehicle that is redeveloping 208 LaSalle. The partnership, UST Prime III Joint Venture Ltd., consists of Prime affiliate Reschke…
Glimcher Plans $100M California Mixed-Use Development
Glimcher Ventures Southwest L.L.C. plans to develop a $100 million 15-acre mixed-use development in Roseville, Calif., directly adjacent to the city’s largest mall, The Westfield Galleria at Roseville. Dubbed Highland Village, the 225,000-square-foot development will combine retail shops, restaurants and two Hyatt-affiliated hotels–a Hyatt Summerfield Suites and a 151-room Hyatt Place–which will serve as the anchor tenant of the project. “This is a AAA+ location next to the number one mall in Sacramento,” David Glimcher, president of Glimcher Ventures Southwest, told CPN. “The Westfield Mall is being expanded and this is the heart of Roseville, which … has a huge…