New York City-based investment firm W. P. Carey & Co.’s publicly held non-traded REIT affiliate CPA:16-Global has purchased four manufacturing facilities from Best Brands Corp. for approximately $50 million. Each of the facilities contains a combination of manufacturing, warehousing and refrigerated warehousing. The properties total approximately 665,000 square feet and are located in Colton, Calif.; Dallas; Bonner Springs, Kan.; and Eagan, Minn. The facilities will be leased back to Best Brands, a baked goods company, on a long-term basis. “We really like the company and we think Best Brands is a leader in the bakery industry,” Gino Sabatini, executive director…

Illustrating the dramatic new attitude of commercial real estate owners toward sustainable building practices, TIAA-CREF has reduced energy use in its office portfolio and slashed approximately 37 million pounds from its carbon dioxide emissions. With the overall goal of reducing energy use by 10 percent by 2010, TIAA-CREF has also begun working to improve the energy performance of its 12,000-unit apartment portfolio. “Any time we replace an appliance it will be with an Energy Star appliance,” Nicholas Stolatis, the director of strategic initiatives with TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate, told CPN today. “We will also replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents…

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton said former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economic heavyweights should recommend whether or not the U.S. government should buy up homes to help solve the housing crisis. The government should be ready to buy, restructure and resell failed mortgages to buttress the economy, Clinton said in a speech today in Philadelphia, according to a report from Reuters. Clinton has endorsed legislation from Democrats Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut that would increase the government’s capacity to stand behind mortgages that are reworked to be more affordable. Under…

Vornado Realty Trust has closed a construction loan that will provide up to $290 million for the REIT’s renovation and expansion of Bergen Town Center, a 900,000-square-foot shopping center in Paramus, N.J. The interest-only loan has a rate of LIBOR plus 1.50 percent and matures in March 2011, with two one-year extension options. In addition to the renovation, the center will be expanded by 250,000 feet of space to be built on 27.5 acres adjacent to the mall. The center is currently anchored by Filene’s Basement, Century 21 and Marshalls; the renovation and expansion will add Whole Foods and Target….

Asia Properties moves forward with plans to develop a multi-resort destination in The Philippines, with the completion of the acquisition of a parcel of beachfront land. The transaction marks the Bellingham, Wash.-headquartered company’s second land purchase for the project. The site of Asia Properties’ project is on an island just off the shores of Camarines Norte, a province in Luzon. Ultimately, the company will erect a bevy of upscale resort properties ranging in class from four to six stars. While specifics of hotel brands have not been disclosed, Asia Properties asserts that many hospitality companies have already expressed interest in…

A 2,300-acre parcel in Rancho Cordova, Calif., has been given a clean bill by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, thereby paving the way for owner GenCorp Inc. to reclaim the property for commercial and residential use. Known as the McDonnell-Douglas Inactive Rancho Cordova Test Site, or IRCTS, the land was purchased by GenCorp. subsidiary Aerojet in 1984 from McDonnell Douglas Corp. The transaction was not the first between the two entities. Aerojet first took ownership of the property, part of a 3,900-acre site, in 1956 and then leased 1,700 acres of it to McDonnell Douglas the same year….

I often receive inquiries from board members wanting to know when it is time to consider replacing the CEO. While it is refreshing to know that at least some board members are actually paying attention to CEO performance, the decision to replace a CEO not only requires a complex analysis, but the wrong decision will have far reaching consequences. In this week’s column I’ll share my thoughts on the right reasons to transition the CEO. Before I address the question at hand, for contextual purposes, I believe it’s important to actually define the role of the board of directors. While…

New York City’s real estate market has enjoyed an astounding run in recent years, but the financial markets crisis is starting to take its toll. “I think what happened with JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns is a bellwether situation,” said Peter Hennessey, president of The Staubach Co.’s New York City metropolitan area office. The fallout from JPMorgan Chase’s agreement this week to buy troubled rival Bear Stearns will definitely ripple through the Manhattan office market. Assuming that about 7,000 Bear Stearns employees get pink slips, that would eventually return roughly 3 million square feet of space to the market, Hennessey…