the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
$296M Bond Issue Moves Construction of Suburban NYC Senior Community Forward
The development of the Amsterdam at Harborside gets a shot in the arm from Herbert J. Sims & Co., which recently underwrote a bond issue valued at approximately $296.4 million for Amsterdam Nursing Home Corp. Inc.’s seniors housing project in North Hempstead, N.Y. Sited on a nine acre parcel, the Amsterdam will encompass all sectors of seniors housing, featuring 226 apartments for independent living residents, 32 assisted living units, 18 special needs assisted living units, and 56 skilled nursing beds. The all-encompassing property will be final piece that completes a planned unit development that will also feature an 18-hole championship…
Zell Takes Large Position in Starwood: Report
Late yesterday, in an SEC filing, entities controlled by Sam Zell reported that they had taken a 7.72 percent stake in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. According to a Reuters News report, some market watchers think that this may signal the end of the slide in real estate that came following his astute sale of Equity Office Properties at the turn of the year.According to the report, Zell has 14.75 million shares that were bought from October 2007 through January 2008. Share costs were from $39.63 to $62.37 per share. All told Zell has put about $737 million into…
New Canyon Capital Principal Angelides Sees Great Future for Urban Rental Housing
“A set of very powerful forces” is making urban rental housing a great investment over the next five years or more, says Phil Angelides. And the Canyon-Johnson Urban Communities Fund he’s helping to launch will be a significant player in that sector. Continuing urban population growth across the United States, driven in part by immigrants and minorities, Angelides said, but also by “echo Boomers” aged 20–35, will make urban rental residential redevelopments increasingly profitable and increasingly attractive to investors. “The financial fundamentals are very strong,” he said, pointing out that the average American family is now spending $3,500 a year…
ProLogis Signs New Leases for 858,000 SF with DHL
ProLogis has announced new lease agreements for more than 858,000 square feet of distribution space in Europe with DHL Exel Supply Chain. The leasee is a subsidiary of the Deutsche Post World Net group. DHL is ProLogis’ largest global customer. At the end of 2007, ProLogis had agreements in place for more than 7.8 million square feet of space with DHL in 10 European countries. The new transactions include: 420,000 square feet in a facility under construction at ProLogis Park Tarancon near Madrid, Spain; 247,500 square feet leased in a new, 915,000-square-foot industrial park ProLogis is developing near the city…
Wells Takes UnitedHealthcare Services Building in Metro St. Louis
Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II has taken UnitedHealthcare Services’ five-story office building in suburban St. Louis, the fund has reported. The deal is a sale-leaseback, and UnitedHealthcare has signed a long-term lease for 100 percent of the property.The building has 188,500 square feet on five floors, and was built for UnitedHealthcare a decade ago in Riverpor-Earth City, the area’s largest mixed-use business park, northeast of St. Louis. The park offers direct access to Interstates 70 and 270, and is just five minutes from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. No other terms of the deal were disclosed.Wells REIT II specializes in…
Parkway Buys Phoenix Corporate Center for $81M
Parkway Properties Inc. has acquired Desert Ridge Corporate Center on behalf of its Parkway Properties Office Fund L.P. in an $81.6 million deal. Parkway will own a 26.5 percent share of the property and receive a commensurate share of income. The property will carry a $49.2 million first mortgage. The complex consists of two, four-story Class A office buildings totaling 275,000 square feet and one 18,000 square foot multi-tenant specialty retail building. Completed in phases between 2006 and 2007, the property is part of a 5,700-acre master-planned community called Desert Ridge. It includes a 765-space parking structure and a 596-space…
New Crowne Plaza in Las Vegas to Have Asian Theme
InterContinental Hotels Group said its new 386-room, 31-story Crowne Plaza hotel, set to open in 2010 in Las Vegas, will have an Asian theme. The hotel will include a casino, three restaurants, three lounges, a full-service spa and swimming pool, as well as a fitness center, business center and retail. The hotel will also feature 16,000 square feet of meeting and banquet room space. The hotel is owned and managed by Andrew Lai, under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group. The hotel, located in central Las Vegas, will have an Asian-themed interior and exterior, due…
Normandy Real Estate Partners Buys 500,000 SF of Class A Office Space
It’s an all–Garden State deal: Two well-established commercial real estate companies based in New Jersey have just completed the sale of three Class A office properties there for a total of 500,000 square feet. Financial information on the deal was not disclosed. Advance Realty Group, based in Bedminster, N.J., sold the Park Place campus in Florham Park, 310 Madison Avenue in Morris Township and the Branchburg Centre in Branchburg to Normandy Real Estate Partners, based in Morristown, N.J. A prepared statement said that Advance had “achieved their investment objectives” and will redeploy the capital into the company’s pipeline of development…
Ventas Completes $191M Stock Sale
Ventas Inc. has completed the sale of more than 4.48 million shares of its common stock in an offer that was announced last week, as reported by CPN. All together, the company has received net proceeds from the sale of about $191.1 million.According to the company, it plans to use the proceeds to pay down outstanding debt under its revolving credit facility, and for possible acquisitions. The shares were sold to UBS Investment Bank, as sole underwriter, at a price of $42.78 per share. The 4.48 million share total also included 585,000 shares sold under UBS’s overallotmentoption.Though a time-honored strategy…
$125M Casino Moves Forward
Construction on the $125 million first phase of GoldTown Hotel and Casino Resort near Carson City, Nev., should start in the second quarter of the year after county officials gave the go-ahead for specific issues with the project ranging from a variance on the height of the building to zoning map amendments. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved Phases I and II of the planned GoldTown Hotel and Casino Resort (pictured) project being developed by American Vantage Cos. and its subsidiary, Brownstone GoldTown CV L.L.C. The GoldTown Hotel & Casino Resort project was announced on July 2. The two-phase…