the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
First Industrial, CalSTRS Target Europe with $475M JV
Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System–CalSTRS–have formed a joint venture to invest $475 million in industrial real estate in The Netherlands and Belgium. The venture called First Cal Industrial Europe L.L.C., is First Industrial’s first foray outside the western hemisphere. First Industrial announced plans to enter The Netherlands and Belgium markets last July. In a statement prepared then, the company said that both countries offer significant growth opportunities due to rising volumes of containerized cargo, growing demand for modern distribution facilities, and an emerging trend toward leasing versus direct ownership by corporate customers. The…
Job Growth Continues Slowdown in December
The U.S. economy added just 18,000 jobs to payrolls during December, far fewer than had been expected, and down from the 115,000 jobs created in November. In addition, the nation’s unemployment rate climbed to 5.0 percent, the highest in two years. The numbers, released late last week by the Department of Labor, continue to show a trend of an overall slowdown in economic growth. The 18,000 new jobs created in December were the fewest in a month since August of 2003, when a decrease in new jobs was reported. Another decrease was reported this past August, but that number was…
STAG Acquires Industrial Space in 3 States
Boston-based STAG Capital Partners has started the year with a clutch of industrial acquisitions in various secondary markets in Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia. All together, the deal adds about 1.35 million square feet of space to STAG’s portfolio. The company specializes in holding single-tenant, net leased properties.”We’re following where the opportunities take us,” David Pizzotti, vice president with STAG, told CPN this morning. “All the properties are stabilized and represent long-term, high-quality assets. We’re always on the lookout for that kind of asset.”In Seville, Ohio, near Cleveland, STAG bought two warehouse facilities totaling 345,000 square feet as part of a…
$150M Mixed-Use Complex in Works for Downtown Detroit
Plans for the development of Cadillac Centre, a mixed-use project designed to help spur Detroit’s renaissance, have come to the fore. Northern Group Inc. will develop the property at a cost of $150 million. Cadillac Centre will cover the entire Monroe Block downtown on Campus Martius Park. In terms of architecture, Cadillac Centre will encompass both the old and the new. Leading architect Anthony Caradonna, principal of New York and Roem’s OPUS Architecture and Design Studio Inc., is behind the design of the project, which will feature two 24-story skyscrapers that will be physically linked to Northern Group’s 80-year-old, Beaux-Arts-style…
Las Vegas Sands Secures $3B in Financing for Singapore Project
Development of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore has just gotten a big boost now that Las Vegas Sands Corp. has gotten its hands on a major loan package. The company entered into a credit agreement that makes $3.8 billion available for the project. The financing for Marina Bay Sands comes in the form of a Singapore dollar-denominated facility that marks the largest such private financing package ever. Goldman Sachs, DBS Bank Ltd., UOB Asia Limited, and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. served as the coordinated the financing. Marina Bay Sands will be Singapore’s first integrated resort, incorporating the Waterfront Promenade with…
New York State Agencies Renew 500,000 SF in Lower Manhattan
The office building at 25 Beaver St. in New York City will continue to be the home of four state government agencies, now that a lease renewal agreement has been set in stone. New York’s Department of Insurance, Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Department of Lottery, and Office of Court Administration will all stay put in a total of 500,000 square feet of space. The address of 25 Beaver St. denotes a separate entrance to the 1 million-square-foot tower at 60 Broad St. Real estate services firm Staubach Co. represented the four agencies in the lease renewal with property…
Port Authority, Westfield Reach Retail Development Agreement at WTC Site
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and The Westfield Group have agreed to jointly develop and operate 488,000 square feet of retail at the World Trade Center site. The Port Authority will provide approximately $825 million, and Westfield will provide approximately $625 million toward the $1.45 billion retail project. Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, Westfield had net leased the World Trade Center retail components, which consisted of 427,000 square feet of space, which become one of the highest grossing shopping areas in the nation. In December, 2003, to accelerate the rebuilding at the World Trade Center site,…
Management Matters with Mike Myatt: The Three Most Powerful Words in Business
Every professional, regardless of his or her position or stature, should go back to basics on a regular basis to ensure that bad habits have not been formed. In that vein, I cannot think of a better time to review some fundamentals than at the beginning of a new year. I have watched the undisciplined and casual choice of vocabulary cause even the most savvy executives to lose productivity and leverage without even realizing it. The simple reality for leaders is that what you say, and how you say it, does in fact matter. In today’s column I want to…
Padilla Details NorthMarq’s Investment Sales Strategy
As economic uncertainty and consolidation create challenges for investment sales nationwide, NorthMarq Capital Inc. is quietly laying the groundwork to expand beyond its long-time capital markets business and become a major investment sales player. This year, NorthMarq will open as many as three dedicated investment sales offices, company CEO Edward Padilla told CPN exclusively today. By the end of January, NorthMarq plans to reveal the location of one of those offices. All told, NorthMarq could end 2008 with investment sales offices in California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and the Minneapolis area, where NorthMarq’s corporate headquarters is located. Padilla (pictured) detailed NorthMarq’s…
Centro Quits Hedging its Interest Rate Bets
There were new developments at the end of this week for Centro, the credit-squeezed owner of retail properties in the United States and the Antipodes. According to statements the company made to the Australian Securities Exchange earlier today, Centro can no longer extend its interest rate hedges. “As a result,” the statement said, “Centro’s current interest rate hedging is now below historical levels. This has increased Centro’s exposure to interest rate movements, and could translate into volatility in Centro’s earnings if interest rates rise or fall significantly.” The company noted that about half of its Australian-dollar debt and about 40…