the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Soccer Team Could Kick Off $500M Investment for Chester, PA
Yesterday’s announcement that Chester, Pa., will host Major League Soccer’s new Philadelphia team could bring as much as $500 million in development to the struggling city. Officials confirmed Thursday afternoon that soccer league’s 16th franchise will start playing in an 18,500-seat, $115 million stadium by 2010. The venue will be the centerpiece of a 60-acre parcel on the Delaware River waterfront near the Commodore Barry Bridge. Details are as yet undetermined, but at full buildout, the complex is expected to incorporate entertainment, retail, residential and office components. The state of Pennsylvania has earmarked $47 million for the project, and Delaware…
$200M Mixed-Use Development Underway in North Dallas Suburb
Developer O & S Holdings L.L.C. has broken ground on the $200 million Bridge Street Town Centre, a mixed-use, upscale lifestyle center featuring retail, office and a local college, in the north Dallas suburb of McKinney. The Westin McKinney and Conference Center will be the centerpiece of the Bridge Street Town Centre. Phase I is scheduled to be completed fall 2009. The first phase of the development will include a five-story, 221-room Westin McKinney; the 43,000-square-foot McKinney Convention Center (pictured); and the 125,000-square-foot Collin College (formerly Collin County Community College) Higher Education Center. The Westin will be McKinney’s first-full service…
Intercontinental Acquires Atlanta Area Office for $103M
Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. has acquired Lakeside Commons, a 514,000-square-foot, Class A office complex in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket, for $102.8 million. It is at least the third office acquisition made through Intercontinental’s U.S. Real Estate Investment Fund, L.L.C., in recent weeks.The name of the seller was not disclosed today.The two-building complex (pictured) and structured parking facility at 980-990 Hammond Drive is located on 10 acres just east of Georgia 400 and north of Interstate-285. The campus has a café, sundry shop, health club, dry cleaner and car detailer on site. It is about 97 percent leased to tenants such…
Ashford Plans to Sell Hotels, Expand Mezz Business
Coming off a solid fourth quarter, Ashford Hospitality Trust plans to continue selling properties and using some of the proceeds for activities it sees as more profitably attuned to the current state of the hotel and credit markets, such as mezzanine lending. During the Dallas-based REIT’s conference call yesterday, president and CEO Monty J. Bennett noted that Ashford’s enjoys a geographically diversified portfolio, a blend of full-service and limited service properties, an expanding mezzanine lending business, and “locked-in, long-term fixed-rate debt, with less than 10 percent maturing over the next two years.”Despite such strengths, investors have shied away from Ashford…
Hyatt, Marathon Come to Rescue of Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan
The $3 billion Cosmopolitan hotel-casino in Las Vegas has a new lease on life, thanks to an agreement from Global Hyatt Corp. and Marathon Asset Management L.L.C. to provide funding to the troubled project. CPN reported on Jan. 17 that Deutsche Bank had issued a notice of default on a construction loan reported to be for $760 million. The Cosmopolitan’s developer is Ian Bruce Eichner, operating as 3700 Associates. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday that, according to Cosmopolitan COO Scott Butera, Global Hyatt and Marathon will recapitalize the project. The terms, which have not been disclosed, are being finalized…
Houston Petroleum Firm Expands Space with Long Term Lease
Following a record year for the Houston office market, BHP Billiton Petroleum has expanded its space with the signing of a long-term lease through 2021 for almost 450,000 square feet in the city’s Galleria submarket. Financials on the deal were not disclosed. BHP Billiton’s lease will total 444,145 square feet in the Four Oaks Place, which is a four-building Class A office complex with 1.8 million square feet, located at the northern end of Post Oak Boulevard in Houston’s Uptown Galleria submarket. The building is owned by TIAA-CREF and leased and managed by Transwestern. BHP has been located in Four…
501-Acre SoCal Mixed-Use Project Gets Thumbs Up from City
Limoneira Co. prepares to take the next step in the development of a 1,500-home mixed-use community now that it has obtained the Santa Paula City Council and Planning Commission’s approval of the 501-acre project, located about 40 miles outside of Santa Barbara, Calif. The development will be sited in unincorporated Ventura County on the former Teague-McKevett Ranch property, which is now known as East Area I. Limoneira’s plans will create a veritable “city within a city” centered on 1,500 homes, including single-family residences, townhomes, condominiums and apartments. Adhering to city mandates, Limoneira will incorporate affordable housing into the residential segment….
Wyndham to Develop Hotel-Casino in St. Croix, Part of $250M Complex
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is expanding its brand in the Caribbean with its first project to be built in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The luxury 400-room Wyndham St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino will be part of a $250 million conference center complex.Construction is expected to begin this spring on the 294-acre property on the island’s south shore and be completed in 2010. It is being developed by Golden Resorts L.L.L.P. of New Jersey in joint ownership with Jericho All-Weather Opportunity Fund of Boca Raton, Fla. The resort will be managed by Wyndham Hotel Management Co.Located near downtown Christiansted…
Kennedy Wilson Acquires Fourth Seattle-Area Property
Kennedy Wilson Multi-family Management Group has brought its total ownership in the greater Seattle market to 1,735 units with the acquisition of the 300-unit James Street Crossing from Equity Residential for about $36 million.All together, counting the James Street Crossing, the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company, a subsidiary of Kennedy Wilson, now holds roughly $275 million in four multi-family assets in the market, which it entered only in late 2006.According to the company, its interest in owning apartments near Puget Sound stems from the area’s strong fundamentals. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 51,000 new jobs were created…
Report: CRE Sale Closings in U.S. Dropped Sharply in January
According to Real Capital Analytics’ latest monthly report on the U.S. office, industrial, retail and apartment markets, sales transactions are drastically down year-over-year, while offerings for sale continue to be strong in most sectors. Cap rates, no surprise, are up almost across the board. In each sector, the report notes, some buyers are still active and still willing to aggressively pursue the right assets. “While equity capital for property in the U.S. remains plentiful,” the report states, “the buying hiatus is likely to continue…. uncertainty over economic growth has replaced the credit crunch as the major driver of the continuing…