the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Marketing for Mixed-Use 300 N. Michigan Under Way
The marketing effort for 300 N. Michigan Ave., a planned mixed-use development in Downtown Chicago, has started during increasingly tough times for new residential properties, though predicting market conditions throughout the planned development period — more than three years — is difficult. Plans by developer Provence Development Group call for completion of the project in the third quarter of 2011.According to a recent report by Appraisal Research Counselors Ltd., a record number of condo residential units will come on line in Chicago in 2008 — all of which began construction before the credit crisis made funding for such development more…
New Brunswick Raises Curtain on $275M Mixed-Use Plan
Taking a cue from Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall, New Brunswick, N.J. will market the air rights for a $275 million office, residential and retail project to provide a new home for several of the city’s performing arts venues.“It’s a model that has precedents, and very successful precedents,” a spokesperson for the project’s lead city agency, the New Brunswick Development Corp., told CPN this morning. Using the strategy that provided funding for Carnegie Hall’s renovation, the city will use revenue from the sale of the project’s air rights to generate about 70 percent of the estimated $50 million cost of the project’s…
American Realty to Buy $100M of Surplus Branches from Wachovia
American Realty Capital II, an affiliate of American Realty Capital Trust, has entered into an agreement with Wachovia Bank N.A., to acquire the bank’s surplus branches nationwide on an exclusive basis. A prepared statement from American Realty Capital II stated that this year it anticipates purchasing more than 100 such branches with a total value of more than $100 million. CFO Brian Block told CPN that this transaction is the first for ARC II, a holding/sponsor company that began operations just last August. The typical locations of the surplus Wachovia branches, he explained, are freestanding lots at major intersections or…
Medical Properties Trust to Acquire 21 Healthcare Facilities from HCP for $371M
Medical Properties Trust Inc. said today it plans to buy 21 healthcare facilities from HCP Inc., for approximately $371 million, significantly boosting its portfolio and expanding its geographic reach across the United States.The Birmingham, Ala.,-based healthcare REIT said it would pay for the acquisition with a combination of common stock and debt securities, proceeds of the sale of three facilities announced earlier this week to Vibra Healthcare L.L.C., and borrowings from its existing credit facilities.The acquisition is expected to occur in stages beginning March 28 and lasting throughout the second quarter. The HCP portfolio is comprised of seven acute care…
Ventas Increases Credit Facility to $850M
Ventas Realty L.P., a subsidiary of leading healthcare REIT Ventas Inc., has entered into revised unsecured credit facilities. The move raises the company’s total borrowing capacity to $850 million and an option to expand that capacity to $1 billion Ventas last altered an unsecured credit facility in July 2007, bringing its borrowing limit up to an aggregate $750 million. Terms of the newly revised credit facilities, which mature in April 2009, also provide Ventas with an optional one-year extension. Additionally, a total of $150 million of the borrowing capacity is being made accessible in either U.S. or Canadian dollars. While…
Devon Energy Seeks Approval for $350M High Rise in Oklahoma City
Efforts to build a new $350 to $400 million high-rise office tower in Downtown Oklahoma City for locally based Devon Energy continue to move forward as the company has submitted a proposal to the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. The company was founded in Oklahoma City in 1971. Today, Devon employs about 1,350 people there.“We are rapidly growing with our employees spread out over five buildings in Downtown Oklahoma City,” a Devon spokesperson told CPN today. “We are looking for efficiency by bringing everyone into one location. We are moving forward with this goal and hope to be located in…
$84M Financing Deal Facilitates Purchase of Sacramento Area Mall
Sunrise Mall, a 1.2 million-square-foot retail property in Citrus Heights, Calif., has come under new ownership thanks largely to the orchestration of a financing package valued at $84 million. Steadfast Commercial Properties acquired the asset from Cordano Associates and Sunrise Mall Associates for over $100 million.The financing, originated by Capmark Finance Inc., came in the form of a fixed-rate loan from AXA Equitable. Located about 15 miles north of Sacramento, Sunrise Mall was originally developed in 1972 and has since undergone a handful of renovations, including a $10 million upgrade in 1999 at the hands of the sellers. Just last…
$2.5B Coney Island Renewal Plan Awaits Action
Summer is still a few months away, but city officials and planners are already turning their thoughts to the future of Coney Island, the legendary but declining resort area in Brooklyn. Next Wednesday evening, representatives of the city and the Coney Island business community will discuss the city’s plans for the site during a panel discussion at the Museum of the City of New York. A draft environmental impact statement for the city’s $2.5 billion Coney Island master plan is expected to be ready this summer, and some elements of the plan could get under way by next year, according…
Council Approves Development Plans for Former Con Ed Site in New York City
The New York City Council Land Use Committee has voted to approve a plan for the development of the former Con Edison site. Plans calling for a park at the site, between 38th and 41st Streets on the city’s east side, just south of the United Nations, can now be solidified. The changes include the granting, by developer Sheldon Solow, of an easement to the city to allow a deck to be built over the FDR highway. Solow also agreed to reduce the planned heights for some of the future buildings, which will help the redesign blend with the neighborhood….
Medical Properties Trust Sells 3 Rehab Facilities to Vibra Healthcare for $90M
Medical Properties Trust Inc., a healthcare REIT, is selling three inpatient rehabilitation facilities to Vibra Healthcare L.LC. for $90 million. As part of the deal, Vibra, which currently manages the properties, must also pay MPT $17 million for a total deal worth $107 million to MPT.The definitive agreement calls for Vibra to pay a one-time early termination fee of $7 million to MPT and make a $10 million early principal payment on the balance of an existing loan, according to a release from Medical Properties Trust. When the deal closes sometime in the second quarter, Vibra, a specialty health care…