If there were any doubt that the sale-leaseback investment vehicle has caught on worldwide, a recent report by Real Capital Analytics confirms that sale-leasebacks not only form an important chunk of all real estate investment sales – worldwide – but also that European companies are increasingly keen on the idea. The growth of Euro-sale-leasebacks represents a marked shift in attitudes, considering that European companies were long known to be reluctant to sell the land on which their operations sat, especially their headquarters. “Corporate users capitalized on investor demand for property globally with $88 billion of dispositions in 2007, including $56…

Taking advantage of Houston’s growing employment base and a high vacancy rate, Los Angeles-based Post Investment Group L.L.C. has purchased an almost 2,500-unit apartment complex in the city for an undisclosed price in a joint venture with a New York-based private equity firm. The 2,469-unit Broadway Square Apartments (pictured) is situated on a 69-acre lot directly adjacent to Houston’s Hobby Airport.  “This is our second acquisition in Houston and we have several other properties that may soon be under contract,” Jason Post, Post Investment Group president, told CPN today. “We are heavily drawn to the huge employment and population growth…

Mitsui Fudosan America Inc. has leased the entire 50th floor at 1251 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan to investment management firm Paulson & Co. The 10-year lease for 44,100 square feet has an aggregate fixed-rent value of $62 million, an MFA spokesperson told CPN, and also brings the 54-story, 2.4 million-square-foot Class A building to full occupancy. Current lease rates there top $100 per square foot, according to MFA. Newmark Knight Frank was the broker on the deal.“Demand for premium office space in the midtown area remains strong, particularly among the financial and professional services firms,” MFA vice president…

Princeton, N.J.-based Sovereign Investment Co. has closed on the acquisition of a portfolio of properties from Lone Star Funds, which is leasing them back for 15 years, which extension options.  All together, Sovereign paid $69 million for a group of Lone Star Steakhouses and Texas Land & Cattle restaurants in 19 states. Dallas-based Lone Star Funds took Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, a casual dining steakhouse chain, private in December 2006. The sale-leaseback deal, according to Sovereign, forms part of the investors’ financing strategy to pay for the privatization.  Though they both derived their names from the nickname of the…

Cambrian Development will take the next step in building the Grand Cambrian Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., now that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has granted the company the requisite Chapter 30 construction permit. The luxury condominium resort, highlighted by a water park and convention center, will cost $160 million to complete.Located off Highway 16 on Lynch Road in the Lower Dells’ Rocky Island region, the Grand Cambrian (pictured) will occupy 112 acres along 2,000 feet of Wisconsin River shoreline on a site that had been utilized for boat launching for 26 years beginning in 1959, and most recently,…

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. is expanding its commitment to creating safe environmental practices across its North American platform by naming Dave Pogue as its first national director of sustainability, institutional and corporate services.Pogue (pictured) will be responsible for managing the development, introduction and implementation of sustainable practices and policies throughout its 1.1 billion-square-foot portfolio in the Americas. The goal is to create a consistent balance of maximum financial performance and responsible environmental stewardship.“This is an opportunity for me to combine a passion with a profession,” Pogue, who is based in San Jose, Calif., told CPN today. “I’m grateful for…

Two months after Deutsche Bank presented Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino developer 3700 Associates L.L.C. with a notice of loan default, the foreclosure process on the $3 billion project has gotten underway. Despite financial woes, general contractor Perini Building Co. has been moving forward with construction activities and is now in talks with the 3700 Associates and Deutsch Bank regarding the continuation of its work.Less than three weeks ago, Global Hyatt Corp. and Marathon Asset Management L.L.C. stepped in to salvage the drowning project; negotiations are still in the works for a recapitalization plan. The Cosmopolitan’s troubles seem to be, quite…

Saturday was a big day at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua in Lahaina, Hawaii. Ninety-three of hotel’s 107 one- and two-bedroom whole-ownership suites sold for $176 million. The sales came in a single day.“If you look at the general condo-hotel market, it is going very poorly,” Jerry Landeck, a senior partner with Miami-based Gencom Group, which owns the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, told CPN today. “Our formula goes against that trend by combining very high end brands, very upscale amenities, and locations with very high barriers to entry –Kapalua is the only hotel within 23,000 acres on one end of Maui.”The whole-ownership suites sold…

Pioneering real estate developer Roger Rechler, who died last week of complications from lung cancer, played a major part in Long Island’s transformation into an area with a substantial amount of office and industrial space. Rechler (pictured), who passed away on March 13th at age 66, a managing partner of Rechler Equity Partners, was instrumental in guiding the development, ownership and operations of the largest commercial real estate portfolio on Long Island, which comprised 100 buildings, totaling more than 6 million square feet of space. Rechler (pictured), along with his father, the late William Rechler, and his brother, Donald, co-founded…