the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
HFF Brokers $129M Refi for Hampshire Portfolio
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has arranged a $129.4 million refinancing for a 14-property, 1.35 million-square-foot portfolio that’s part of The Hampshire Cos.’ Hampshire Partners Fund VI. The properties, 12 in New Jersey and two in southern Connecticut, consist of six office buildings (877,000 square feet), five flex buildings (167,000 square feet) and three industrial buildings (306,000 square feet). In a prepared statement, HFF noted that “The Hampshire Cos. is recapitalizing a portion of the fund’s assets, replacing a current line of credit and rebalancing the rest of the portfolio with the new loan.” Based in Morristown, N.J., The Hampshire Cos….
WTC Developer Unveils New Design, Gives Rebuilding Update
A breakfast meeting sponsored by the Alliance for Downtown New York and the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association this morning became the forum for the latest update on the World Trade Center rebuilding effort by developer Silverstein Properties. During the presentation Silverstein Properties president & CEO Larry Silverstein revealed news about the condo-hotel development at 99 Church St., as well as upcoming steps for Towers 2, 3 and 4. The renowned Robert A.M. Stern Architects is behind the design, unveiled today, of the 40-story condo-hotel that will rise at 99 Church Street, the former headquarters of Moody’s Corp. Silverstein acquired the site…
$91M in Financing in Place for Phoenix Condo Project
Fore Property Co. has gotten its hands on a financing package valued at nearly $91 million for its Mirabella, a 715-unit multi-family project it’s developing in the suburban Phoenix city of Avondale, Ariz. The funding, orchestrated by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., comes in the form of a $74.2 million four-year fixed-rate loan provided by a life insurance concern for construction of Mirabella. Additionally, an institutional equity partner is on board the project, and chipped in an additional sum of approximately $16.7 million in joint venture equity was attained from an institutional equity partner. Sited on a nearly 34-acre parcel of…
New Partnership to Bring 50 Extended Stay Hotels to U.S. Market
Choice Hotels International has joined forces with Bell Hospitality Group to open at least 50 of Choice Hotels’ MainStay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay brand hotels across the United States. Bell will handle construction of the properties, which will be erected in various locales in the Midwest and the South, as well as in New Mexico and Colorado. As per terms of Choice Hotels and Bell’s development agreement, construction of the 50 new hotels must be in the development stage by Oct. 31, 2009. Already, the partners have closed on franchise deals for five MainStay properties in Tulsa and Oklahoma…
Foreign Investors Hold $230B In U.S. Commercial Real Estate
Nearly 200 members of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) responded to an annual survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2007 by saying that they collectively owned $230 billion in U.S. commercial real estate. The survey also concluded that U.S. property assets are by a wide margin the most sought after in the world by foreign investors. “Collectively, AFIRE members hold a total of $700 billion in commercial real estate in their own countries and around the world,” James Fetgatter, chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based AFIRE, told CPN today. “So the $230 billion in U.S….
$17B Cash Purchase of Harrah’s Wraps Up
The biggest casino buyout ever is now a done deal. Over a year in the works, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.’s acquisition by private investment firms Apollo Management L.P. and TPG Capital L.P. has finally reached completion, bringing to a close a buyout valued at $27.8 billion. With the conclusion of the transaction, in which the buyers shelled out $17.1 billion in cash and assumed $10.7 billion in debt, Harrah’s becomes a private company. The deal leaves Harrah’s stockholders with $90 per share of common stock. Issued and outstanding shares of non-voting stock now come under the domain of affiliates of Apollo…
St. Louis Envisions Relatively Smooth ’08
The St. Louis market “will sustain its healthy gains and weather the short-term problems currently causing concern.” That was the theme of a Colliers Turley Martin Tucker presentation on Jan. 24 at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. And while, as always, not every market sector deserves as much optimism as the locals would like to generate, the St. Louis metro area does have some reasons to sleep well at night. St. Louis is “a good market for people who have weak hearts, or weak stomachs,” Keith Zeff, director of research for CTMT, joked to CPN. Investors who want to balance the…
Morgans Hotel Group a Step Further in Hard Rock Vegas Move
With a massive $750 million expansion and renovation project underway on the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, the resort’s owner, Morgans Hotel Group, has received approval to begin operating the Hard Rock Casino next month. The company received approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission to operate the casino at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. MHG and its equity partner, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, expect to begin operating the casino in February. The parntership acquired the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (pictured) for $770 million last February. In March, they announced a major expansion and renovation…
New $150M Home for New World Symphony in Miami Beach Gets Underway
Ground has broken on a sprawling new campus for the Miami Beach-based New World Symphony, also known as America’s Orchestral Academy. The new complex, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, will cost $150 million to complete. Miami Beach is presently undergoing a rebirth centering on the City Center Redevelopment Project, of which the new symphony facility will be the centerpiece. The NWS complex will include a performing and recording segment with a capacity to seat as many as 700, a digital music library, 32 rehearsal rooms, a multi-purpose room, artists suites, changing rooms and administrative offices. Additionally, just adjacent to…
ProLogis Expands Presence in Poland
Industrial giant ProLogis has inked deals recently to develop and lease more than 1.1 million square feet of industrial space in Poland. All of the transactions were in the fourth quarter of last year, and spread out in various parts of the country.”There’s a lot of demand for modern warehouse and distribution space in Poland,” Michael de Jong-Douglas, managing director for ProLogis in Central and Eastern Europe, told CPN this morning. “Not only among logistics companies, but also among retailers and manufacturers worldwide, all of whom have an increasing interest in Poland.”According to CB Richard Ellis Inc., about 9.5 million…