the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
ProLogis to Develop for Teva in England
ProLogis Inc. will develop 262,000 square feet of warehouse space in the United Kingdom for Teva, a pharmaceutical supplier, it has announced. The new building is located at ProLogis at Glasshoughton, being developed near Leeds, England. Building is slated to begin this month, and it is scheduled to be ready for occupation in the fall. The new site will serve as the company’s primary U.K. logistics center and corporate headquarters. Teva, the largest supplier for U.K.’s public funded National Health Service, currently employs about 1000 people in the region, and will be moving from a smaller facility to the new…
Inland Completes Hotel Portfolio Deal Amid Slowing Investment Market
Inland American Lodging Corp. has completed the acquisition of a 22-hotel portfolio on behalf of Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc., including both upscale and upper upscale properties.All together, Inland American paid about $900 million for the 4,061-room portfolio to seller RLJ Urban Lodging Fund, an affiliate of RLJ Development L.L.C., a privately held hotel owner controlled by Robert Johnson, billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television.According to Inland American Lodging, the properties are in markets with strong barriers to entry and which are less sensitive to the slings and arrows of economic misfortune, including Boston, Baltimore, Chicago and Washington, D.C….
GM Building Saga Continues
In a long and bumpy attempt to alleviate a $7 billion debt on a portfolio of premier Manhattan office buildings, Macklowe Properties faces yet another obstacle as Leslie Dick Worldwide Ltd. appeals a judge’s ruling in favor of Macklowe regarding its plan to generate funds through the disposition of the 1.8 million-square-foot General Motors Building. Macklowe has put the trophy property on the market in an effort to repay one particular loan that was part of its debt financing package for the acquisition of the portfolio from Equity Office Properties last year.Originally developed in 1968, the 50-story GM Building sits…
Westcor Pushes Phoenix Mall Opening Back a Year
As retailers nationwide feel the financial pinch, Westcor, the largest owner-manager of commercial properties in Arizona, has delayed the opening of its Phoenix-area Estrella Falls regional mall from 2009 to 2010. The 2-million-square-foot Estrella Falls open-air regional shopping center (pictured) will include a combination of department stores, lifestyle shopping, dining, entertainment and a streetscape with 30 acres of open space. The project was originally scheduled to open in fall 2009. Now, it has been pushed back to fall 2010. Tenants already in place, including Dillard’s and Harkins Theaters, remain committed to the development, according to Westcor information. “We made the…
CBRE Closes Fund for $1.2B in Investments in Asia
Continuing to tap into Asia’s coveted real estate markets, CB Richard Ellis Investors has just closed its second value added investment fund for the region. Strategic Partners Asia II closed with equity commitments of about $400 million, leaving it with total purchasing power valued at an estimated $1.2 billion. Asia II will target Japan, which has one of the largest economies in the world, as well as China, India and Korea, destinations that top the list of the world’s largest economies that are presently growing at breakneck speed. The fund will focus on the acquisition, development, and repositioning of premier…
Ground Breaks on Phase 2 of $75M Phoenix-Area Mixed-Use Project
Ground broke today on phase two of the $75 million mixed-use lifestyle and entertainment center, Shoppes at Surprise Pointe, in Surprise, Ariz. At the groundbreaking, developer Glimcher Ventures Southwest L.L.C., also announced the company’s joint endeavor with Victory Lanes, which will make its debut at Shoppes at Surprise Pointe. Glimcher and Victory Lanes (pictured) will unveil an Arizona roll-out plan for additional venues in the coming months. Phase two of the development consists of 17 acres that will include 125,000 square feet of retail shops, restaurants and entertainment venues valued at $30 million. “As a Surprise resident for over 12…
Survey: New York Office Space a Global Bargain
Among the world’s great headquarter markets, New York City’s Midtown Manhattan ranks tenth for office occupancy costs, according to the latest edition of an annual survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield Inc. The report, titled Office Space Across the World 2008, cites New York’s occupancy costs–a combination of rent, taxes, and utility–at an average of about $100 per square foot, a bargain according to Cushman & Wakefield. By comparison, London, which ranked first in the survey, averages $312 per square foot of office space. At $238.58, Hong Kong placed second and was followed by Tokyo ($210.12), Mumbai, India ($166.04) and…
Centro May Have More Time to Deal With Debt Woes
Centro Properties Group, whose fortunes late last year were weighed down by a $3.4 billion mass of short-term debt it was unable to refinance, is reportedly on the verge of winning more time from its creditors to deal with the problem.The debt was mostly incurred when Centro bought U.S. retail assets in 2006 and 2007, especially New Plan Excel, a REIT that specialized in neighborhood and community centers. In December, the Melbourne-based Centro worked out an agreement with its banks to postpone the due date on its debt until Feb. 15–this Friday.As of this morning, a number of news outlets…
Global Commercial Property Acquisitions Surpass $1 Trillion in 2007
The size of the global commercial real estate market is larger than previously thought, with more than $1 trillion in significant property sales across 75 countries and five continents, according to the new Global Capital Trends report released by Real Capital Analytics. And because RCA only tracks sales greater than $10 million, the total size of the marketplace may be closer to $1.5 trillion, noted RCA founder & president Robert White. RCA is the first independent research firm to report on the global property markets. Of the cities reported, 114 recorded more than $1 billion of commercial property sales, with…
Atlantic City to Get Premier Hotel, Minus the Casino
It’s not necessarily all about rolling the dice in Atlantic City, and Cape Advisors Inc. plans to capitalize on the demand for upscale accommodations with the development of a 332-room hotel that will forego the seemingly requisite casino. The Chelsea (pictured) will be the first non-gaming hotel to be built on the Boardwalk in the last four decades. Cape Advisors has partnered with investor group Normandy Real Estate Partners on the project which, according to construction market information provider BuildCentral Inc.’s database on new construction, is a $93 million endeavor. The Chelsea will sit near the Tropicana Casino & Resort…