the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Zabeel Takes Stake in Vegas Hotel Developer
Dubai-based Zabeel Investments has taken a 50 percent stake in the Light Group, a Las Vegas-based hospitality development and management company.The Light Group’s most notable development is the Harmon Hotel, Spa & Residences in Las Vegas, which is currently under construction with an opening slated for 2009. The company is also planning a resort and residential development on an island called Blackadore Caye off the coast of Belize.The deal marks the first foray into the United States by the Dubai investment house, which was formed in 2006. It has recently taken major stakes in European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co….
Winston Capital Sells Turnback Ranch Near Austin
Turnback Ranch, a 242-acre lakeside site in Lago Vista, Texas, about 15 miles west of Austin, has been sold by Turnback Development L.L.C., a partnership of principals in Winston Capital Corp., to Equilibrium Resorts, an affiliate of the Tharaldson Cos.Equilibrium will manage the property’s development and operations. Financials were not disclosed. Under the new name of Mahogany, A Lake Resort, the property will eventually feature a Mediterranean-style village, a resort hotel, estate-sized lakefront homesites, single-family homesites and townhomes. The property has about 11,000 feet of frontage on the north shore of Lake Travis, a nearly 19,000-acre reservoir. Winston Capital earlier…
Excavation Activity for WTC Tower 3 Wraps Up
Steady progress on the World Trade Center continues as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey brings excavation work for WTC Tower 3 to a close, about a month after excavation for WTC Tower 4 reached completion. With the conclusion of the work for both towers, the Port Authority turned the sites over to WTC redeveloper Silverstein Properties. Excavation activities for the buildings on Greenwich Street involved 400,000 tons of concrete, soil and rock. Additionally, the Port Authority built a new 80-foot-deep foundation supported by 240 steel tiebacks. Silverstein is now in a position to move forward with…
Net Lease Market Slammed in 2007
As fourth-quarter 2007 commercial real estate numbers trickle in early this year, they’re only confirming what everyone suspects — the credit contagion has left its mark on every aspect of the business. Northbrook, Ill.-based Boulder Net Lease Funds L.L.C.’s Net Lease Market Report for fourth 2007 follows the pattern by noting that the net lease market contracted significantly in the quarter, both in deal volume and cumulative asset value. “There’s no doubt that the net lease market has sustained its largest down quarter,” said Randy Blankstein, president of Boulder Net Lease Funds. “The question now is where does the market…
Covington Capital Sells Indy Warehouse Facility, Plans Opportunistic Strategy in 2008
Capital Corp. has made a quick move, and a neat profit; it has sold its Rockville Business Center. Covington Capital, based in Santa Monica, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio, acquired the center, a 630,000-square-foot former RCA manufacturing facility in Indianapolis in Sept. 2005. The building was bought out of bankruptcy from GMAC, and Covington spent about $3.8 million to redevelop the property, almost 70 percent vacant at the time, into a multi-tenant bulk warehouse by reconfiguring interior spaces, adding dock doors, and remodeling the office spaces and the exterior. Covington pushed leasing up to 97 percent and has now closed on…
M1 Real Estate Plans $800M Portfolio, NYC’s Argonaut Leasehold First U.S. Investment
M1 Real Estate, a Monaco-based real estate investment and development company that has acquired a 99-year leasehold on Manhattan’s Argonaut building, plans to invest over $800 million in commercial real estate in key markets around the world, the CEO said today.”The Argonaut was definitely a home run acquisition and it will reflect the portfolio that we will continue to grow in the New York area,” Moustapha El-Solh told CPN this morning. El Solh said the privately-owned firm, an affiliate of M1 Group, is “looking at two other transactions in the New York area.” The firm does not own any other…
Citigroup Sells Japanese HQ for $445M
In a deal worth $445 million, as reported by the Nikkei Business Daily, Citigroup has sold its headquarters building in Tokyo. As part of the deal, Citigroup is leasing back the property.The move comes in the wake of historic losses for financial services giant Citigroup due to its exposure to subprime mortgages. In January, Citigroup announced that it wrote off more than $18 billion in bad investments in the last quarter of 2007; currently, the company in the midst of a plan to raise an infusion of billions from overseas investors and the sale of assets. The 22-story building is…
Los Angeles-Area Distribution Center Goes for $68M
In a market where the vacancy rate for distribution centers is a tight 1.8 percent, a joint venture of Birtcher Development & Investments and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers L.L.C. have purchased a 608,000-square-foot industrial building in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., for $68 million. The building was sold by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The facility has been leased by Liz Claiborne as the retailer’s West Coast distribution hub since 2000. It is located at 9400 Santa Fe Springs Road.The original building was developed in 1980 and served as the headquarters for Fedco, a food and product wholesale company, and predecessor…
Financing Propels $180M Manhattan Hotel Project Forward
With a $39.1 million loan in hand, EB Developers has taken a big step in the development of a 242-room hotel near Ground Zero in New York City. The project will cost an estimated $180 million to complete. Acting on behalf of EBD, Multi Capital Group orchestrated the loan, which is being utilized to fund pre-construction costs, as well as the acquisition of the land. EBD purchased the parcel, totaling less than one-fifth of an acre at 133 Greenwich St., for $45 million last year from the Cooper Group. In addition to the upscale guestrooms, the 33-story hotel will feature…
Chelsea Pier Architect to Do Brooklyn Navy Yard Project
Fine arts services provider SurroundArt has tapped Steven Kratchman Architect to oversee the “greening” and unification of its new Museum Resource Campus that is currently underway at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. SurroundArt’s campus will encompass 167,000 square feet of leased space in three separate buildings at the waterfront locale. Ultimately, SurroundArt’s occupancy at the Navy Yard will encompass a new 89,000 square-foot structure that is currently underway on Perry Ave., the 7,000 square-foot Paymaster Building, an adaptive reuse endeavor, and 71,000 square feet the company already leases in Building Three at the 300-acre industrial park. Kratchman will unify the three…