the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
General Growth Gets Green Light for 60-Acre Honolulu Project
A plan for a mixed-use community in Honolulu has just received the approval of the Hawaii Community Development Authority. The development, proposed by Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. affiliate Victoria Ward Ltd., will span 60 acres and ultimately encompass approximately 17.3 million square feet of commercial and multi-family space. “HCDA was created several years ago specially for planning this area of Hawaii, and we’ve created a master plan based on direction from the community, HCDA and the State of Hawaii,” a General Growth spokesperson told CPN. Known as the Ward Neighborhood, the site fronts the ocean in the heart of…
Franklin Street Kills $130M Chicago Tower Deal
A deal inked by Franklin Street Properties Corp. on Oct. 31 for the $130 million purchase of Chicago’s 16-story Congress Center has fallen through.According to an SEC filing this week, Franklin Street elected to terminate the agreement on Jan. 13. No reason for the termination of the material definitive agreement was listed on the report. No terminations fees will be incurred, according to the SEC report. On Oct. 31, Franklin reported to the SEC that it had entered into a material definitive agreement to purchase property (pictured) located at 525 West Van Buren Street in the west loop of Downtown…
Tesco Inks 140,000-SF Lease at ProLogis Park Galanta-Gan in Slovakia
ProLogis has leased more than 140,000 square feet in Bratislava, Slovakia, to Tesco International Clothing Brand, a division of Tesco plc.Construction on the 290,000-square-foot building located at ProLogis Park Galanta-Gan commenced in July 2008, and is scheduled for completion during the first quarter of 2009.This is Tesco’s third lease with ProLogis in Slovakia. The company also occupies 700,000 square feet in another building at the same park and more than 375,000 square feet of space at ProLogis Park Bratislava. ProLogis Park Galanta-Gan comprises two completed warehouse facilities totaling more than 1.7 million square feet in addition to the 290,000-square-foot facility…
Hess Signs Lease for 845,000-SF Houston Tower
Energy titan Hess Corp. has signed a long-term lease to occupy the entire 844,800-square-foot Discovery Tower office building in Downtown Houston, a 29-story property currently being developed by Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Real Estate Investors.Financial details were not disclosed on the lease or the construction of the building, but HoustonArchitecture.info put the price tag on the building construction at $300 million. Located at 1501 McKinney St., the tower (pictured) will be customized to accommodate Hess, including several design modifications to maximize flexibility, long term growth and desire for employee amenities. Discovery Tower will be the first LEED Gold certified…
Obama: Economic Challenges ‘Will Be Met’
The eyes of the world were on Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for the U.S. government’s historic changing of the guard, but also for further clues about what the new administration will do to expedite economic recovery. Delivering his inaugural address as 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama soon touched on the sickly economy. “Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered,” the new president said early in his speech. “Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our…
Westmount Sells 460,000-SF Dallas Office Complex to Tenant
Just short of three years after purchasing the Riverside Commons office complex in Irving, Texas, Westmount Realty Capital L.L.C. and equity partner Buchanan Street Partners have just sold the 460,300-square-foot Class A property to two-year tenant Research in Motion. Situated on 13 acres in Irving’s Las Colinas submarket about 10 miles east of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Riverside Commons (pictured) consists of six structures that were developed between 1984 and 1987. Westmount and Buchanan snapped up the property, then known as Waterside Commons, from Crescent Real Estate Equities in February 2006 for approximately $25 million, and proceeded to shell out…
REIT Heads Feeling Stock Market Pain
Independent executive compensation consulting firm Steven Hall & Partners and executive search firm Equinox Partners have found that those at the top of the masthead at REITs in the United States have not escaped the real estate industry’s stock woes. The results of a study by the two New York City-based companies show that, at the median, individual REIT CEOs have seen the value of their equity holdings nosedive by about 49 percent over the last year. The credit crisis kicked off the downward spiral in real estate across the country in 2007 and it’s been a rocky road ever since….
Deflation on the Horizon?
As markets dipped at the end of last week–largely on renewed fears of deflation and the lingering weakness in the industrial sector, specifically auto production–calls continued for more government fiscal intervention. The market moved downward on Friday morning after the government released an assortment of dispiriting economic numbers, but regained its composure by afternoon, ending in positive territory. The Dow Jones index gained 68.73 points, or 0.84 percent, while the S&P 500 was up 0.76 percent and the Nasdaq was up 1.16 percent. The specter of deflation, last characteristic of consumer prices during the Great Depression, might have spooked investors….
Energy Sector Decline Leads Houston Industrial Market Downward
With a thriving energy sector, Houston’s industrial market remained strong in the first three quarters of 2008, but dropped in the fourth quarter as the price of oil signaled the downward movement of the oil industry, according to a CB Richard Ellis Inc. report. The Houston office of CBRE posted a 6.3 percent increase in vacancy along with an increase in lease rates from the previous quarter. Nationwide financing constraints reduced investment activity and devalued most of the major publicly traded industrial REITs. User-demand changed from buying to leasing while build-to-suit activity saw a decline and speculative buildings will all…
Atlanta Mixed-Use Lands First Office Tenants
After performing quite respectably in the face of a weak 2008 office market, Atlanta’s Midtown district is showing early signs of picking up where it left off. The $2 billion 12th & Midtown project has landed a pair of blue-chip professional services firms as its first office tenants. The law firm Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P. will take 84,000 square feet in the 38-story office tower rising at 1075 Peachtree Street., the location of 12th and Midtown’s second phase. The deal was the second major lease in Atlanta announced by a law firm this month. Previously, Hunton & Williams L.L.P. renewed 91,000…