the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Student Housing Fund to Target $150M in Distressed Assets
While the student housing sector is described by real estate experts as recession resistant, more than a few investors have fallen prey to the ills of the economy and credit market, and that’s where the Place/BV Student Housing Fund L.L.C. has decided to carve out an opportunity.The fund is setting aside approximately $50 million to acquire pre-distressed, distressed and foreclosed student housing properties. With leverage, the fund will have about $150 million to shop the market. Managed by BVP Managers L.LC., a joint venture involving Place Properties L.P. and Blue Vista Capital Management L.L.C., Place/BV’s new investment plan is designed…
KOR Inks Tenant at New Jersey Industrial Park
McCollister’s Transportation Group, a third-party logistics firm, has leased 66,500 square feet at KOR Cos.’ Central Crossings Business Park in Bordentown, N.J. The multi-year lease, negotiated by Cushman & Wakefield Inc., brings the 142,000-square-foot building to 100 percent occupancy. The facility will serve as an expansion of McCollister’s regional warehousing operation. “Central Crossings fit McCollister’s needs perfectly–its quality and flexibility truly sets it apart,” noted Noah Balanoff of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented McCollister’s with team members Stan Danzig and Jules Nissim. “KOR was aggressive with the deal terms and was able to deliver the space to McCollister’s with its…
Owners of Austin Office Net $44M Refi
The joint venture owners of Downtown Austin’s Bank of America Building have successfully lined up a $44 million refinancing for the property. Owners Walton Street Capital and T. Stacey Associates went though the Dallas office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. to arrange the financing, which was provided by CapitalSource Finance L.L.C. Proceeds from the refinancing will be used for capital improvements and additional lease-up for the property, which is currently 90 percent occupied to a tenant roll including Bank of America, BDO Siedman L.L.P. and Manpower. The owners acquired the property in 2004. In addition to the 26-story Bank of…
ProLogis Leases 400,000 SF in Charlotte, Reno
ProLogis has signed new lease agreements in Charlotte, N.C., with four transactions totaling approximately 283,000 square feet.• Anna’s Linens leased 112,000 square feet at Ridge Creek Distribution Center, located near the intersection of Interstates 77 and 485. Anna’s Linens now occupies space in two ProLogis distribution centers in both Charlotte and Houston, totaling approximately 164,000 square feet.• CEVA Logistics leased approximately 84,700 square feet at West Pointe Business Center, located at the intersection of Interstates 85 and 485. CEVA’s current lease agreements with ProLogis total approximately 5.4 million square feet in locations across North America and Europe.• PSS World Medical…
Dollar Retailing Seeing Good Times
The Dow Jones index took something of a dive yesterday, possibly because of ill tidings from the likes of Time Warner and Intel, or the anticipation of bad job market numbers, or maybe because it was time to yo-yo back to roughly where the market started at the beginning of the year. In any case, the Dow was down 245.40 points, or 2.72 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 3 percent exactly and the Nasdaq lost 3.23 percent.Jobless numbers from the federal government will be released tomorrow, but private assessments of the increasing scope of the problem are already out….
New Firm to Focus on Hotel Investment
Anticipating opportunities to come, Ardent Hotel Advisors, a hospitality management and asset management company, has partnered with Steven Surgent to form Ardent Hotel Investors, a new entity that will invest in hotel properties nationwide. “The partnership is a good one because of the experience and expertise on both sides,” said Surgent, who will serve as a principal with the newly-formed AHI. AHI will act as a real estate private equity firm with a focus on the acquisition of value-added hospitality opportunities throughout the U.S. As principal of AHI, Surgent will be responsible for launching the company’s hospitality investment platform in…
Pending Home Sales, Factory Orders Dip
It isn’t clear that the days of yo-yoing equity markets have gone away–just wait until the next international shock or surprise bankruptcy–but for the moment the Dow Jones index seems to have mellowed out. It fluctuated above its starting point yesterday and ended up gaining a modest 62.21 points, or 0.69 percent. The S&P 500 gained 0.78 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.5 percent. Tech investors apparently aren’t all that worried about the state of Steve Jobs’ health (Apple was down slightly yesterday, but has gained 6.6 percent since New Year’s Eve). Recall that only a couple months ago, a…
CNL, Macquarie Plan $1.5B Global REIT
Orlando-based CNL Financial Group and Sydney’s Macquarie Group have joined forces for the first time to establish a new global REIT, CNL Macquarie Global Growth Trust Inc., which will pursue opportunities in just about every sector of commercial real estate in various areas around the world. The partners can afford to think big, as the proposed total offering for the REIT is $1.5 billion. Timing is everything and CNL and Macquarie believe that now–in the midst of what has essentially become a global meltdown of the real estate market–is just the right moment to lay the groundwork for a new…
Big Changes Continue at GVA
GVA Worldwide, which has undergone some major changes of late, including the buyout of a majority stake in its New York-based subsidiary and the retirement of its CEO in October, has made another move with the addition of a new president & CEO focused on North America and another for Asia and Europe. Richard Kimball (pictured) has joined the organization in the newly-created position of president & CEO – North America. In the role, Kimball will be responsible for leading business development efforts and key brokerage activities in support of GVA’s firms in the United States and Canada. He will…
Construction Industry Faces Hard 2009
The equity markets dropped considerably Monday morning, but then yo-yoed around for the rest of the day–small fluctuations, really–and ended up slightly down, for the first time in four trading sessions and the first time this year. The Dow Jones index dropped 76.7 points, or 0.85 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.35 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.49 percent. Investors might be buying stocks (sometimes), but consumers aren’t buying so many cars. In December, sales of GM cars were down 31 percent compared with the same month last year, while Ford sales were down 32 percent. Toyota suffered a…