the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Energy Programs Assist Property Managers
Property managers say resources are readily available to help them make their properties more energy efficient. One, the Energy Star program, run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, allows a building to benchmark its energy performance against its peer set. The requirements to perform these measurements are relatively easy, such as having a year’s worth of utility bills, noted Al Skodowski, Transwestern’s senior vice president & director of engineering. “It takes a lot of the guesswork out of things,” he said. “And it’s a free program.”In July 2007, CB Richard Ellis adopted the BOMA…
Palisades Financial: Inside Glimpse into Refi Strategy
The refinancing woes of heavyweights like Macklowe Properties and Centro Properties Group are the talk of the real estate finance industry, yet those headline-grabbing cases tell only part of the tale. Investors and lenders nationwide are grappling with the challenges of refinancing properties in a lending environment that has changed drastically since the first half of 2007. One of the many owners weighing refinancing decisions today is Fort Lee, N.J.-based Palisades Financial. The investment banking firm wants to refinance the acquisition loan on an apartment asset that it bought with a minority partner three years ago in the St….
Hanrahan, Hilton Score Big in St. Louis
After teaming up seven years ago and specializing in capital placement across the country, Michael Hanrahan and Paul Hilton established themselves as leading investment brokers who have made a major impact on St. Louis and other cities in the central United States.In the past 18 months, the senior vice presidents & principals for Colliers Turley Martin Tucker’s investment services group closed 30 deals totaling $1 billion. Their clients included The Procter & Gamble Co. and Duke Realty Corp. In their biggest deal of 2007, the duo represented FULCRUM Asset Advisors L.L.C. and Angelo, Gordon & Co. in the $90 million…
Grubb & Ellis Sells Arizona Office Building on Behalf of TIC Investors
Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors L.L.C. sold 2800 East Commerce in Tucson, Ariz., to Hidden Willows L.P on behalf of tenant-in-common investors. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.The 136,000-square-foot office building is 100 percent leased to Intuit Inc. Built in 1999 on 15 acres, the building contains an onsite fitness center, a full-service cafeteria with an outdoor patio, and onsite educational and recreational accommodations. The property also includes a parking lot with 1,100 spaces Ryan Gallagher of Grubb & Ellis Co. and Thomas Nieman of PICOR Commercial Real Estate Services were the brokers in the transaction.
AMB Leases Los Angeles Distribution Center to USG Intermodal
AMB Property Corp. has fully leased its 199,000-square-foot Los Angeles-based facility to USC Intermodal, a Southern California-based third party logistics supplier.AMB Clipper Distribution Center is located in Los Angeles’ South Bay submarket. USC Intermodal has leased the property to accommodate its expanding presence in the South Bay.”The South Bay benefits from two powerful demand drivers: access to Los Angeles International Airport and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as proximity to the huge and growing population base in Southern California,” AMB president Gene Reilly said in the release. “The rail-served AMB Clipper Distribution Center benefits from…
ProLogis Inks Tenants at New Industrial Park in Japan
ProLogis has leased 730,000 square feet of space at ProLogis Parc Tosu, a major new industrial park being built in Japan’s Saga Prefecture, a key logistics and manufacturing hub for the southeast region. Coca-Cola West Logistics, a group company of Coca-Cola West Holdings, has leased approximately 586,000 square feet of space in a 730,000-square-foot distribution facility located at the park. The balance of the building is leased to Hitachi Transport System, a global provider of third-party logistics services, bringing the first phase of development at the park to 100 percent leased.Both Coca-Cola and Hitachi Transport System are three-continent customers for…
DHL Global Leases 175,000 SF in Houston
DHL Global Forwarding has leased AMB Property Corp.’s 175,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility located in Houston, the companies announced today. The property is being developed near Houston Intercontinental Airport. AMB IAH Logistics Center II is situated on the main road into the future master-planned international air cargo terminal of IAH, which experienced a 6 percent increase in total air cargo volumes during 2007 and ranks as one of the top ten busiest international cargo gateways in North America.”DHL relies on AMB for real estate solutions across North America, Europe and Asia and we are pleased to continue to win their trust with…
Management Matters with Mike Myatt: Avoiding Spreadsheet H*ll
Any CEO or entrepreneur still vertical and breathing has spent more hours than they can likely count pouring over poorly conceived financial information. I probably review at least 50 spreadsheets a week, and few things chap me more than feeling like the spreadsheet I’m reviewing was constructed by an alien. PowerPoint presentations certainly receive more notoriety for being the butt-end of business jokes, however in my opinion a boring slide-show pales in comparison to the sophomoric use of a spreadsheet. I know this may seem like a trifling rant of little consequence, but if you stay with me I promise…
$116M Hoboken Sale Marks Return to Business as Usual for Tarragon
Tarragon Corp. is moving on from a year of debt reduction and selling inventory in struggling housing markets, and is ready to get back into the acquisition business. This morning the mixed-use and residential developer announced that it had sold a new high-end apartment complex in Hoboken, N.J., to an institutional investor for $116.2 million. “I think this transaction marks a return to business as usual,” William Friedman, the company’s chairman & CEO, told CPN this morning. In contrast to some of the properties it has sold to pay down debts, Tarragon developed the 217-unit Hoboken complex with the intention…
Herbst Gets Helping Hand in Contemplating its Future
Las Vegas-based Herbst Gaming Inc., which reported a net loss of $34.1 million for the first nine months of 2007 after having recorded a net gain of $36.7 million for the same period in 2006, has tapped Goldman, Sachs & Co. to help in the exploration of financial and strategic alternatives. Herbst took a big hit at its slot route operations in Las Vegas as a result of the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, which imposed a ban on smoking at indoor places of employment. The company, according to its third quarter 2007 earnings report, had been further hobbled by…