the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
The News: Tumbling Single Family Home Prices Negatively Affects Seniors Housing
Falling single-family home prices continued to have a negative impact on the seniors housing market, particularly in the independent-living subsector, according to a recent Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. report that measured seniors housing metrics from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008.Seniors are reluctant to sell their homes in a declining market. The independent-living sector seems to have suffered the most harm from this trend. Softer demand and a strong level of construction have resulted in a 200-basis-point drop in occupancy, according to the report. Revenue grew 4 percent to $2,471 per…
Cushman Report: Even Manhattan Humbled in 2008
After a steep decline in office rents and leasing activity at the end of 2008, many owners are attempting to lure tenants with aggressive deals, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s year-end report on the Manhattan office market. Office leasing volume in Manhattan dropped to 19.1 million square feet last year, a 19 percent drop from 2008 and the second-lowest total since 1997. In the 241 million-square-foot Midtown district–largest of Manhattan’s three submarkets–asking rents dipped more than $4 per square foot in the fourth quarter, to $79.81. “We don’t recall a drop like this in recent history,” said Joseph Harbert,…
Atlanta Office Market Survives 2008 with Positive Absorption
Despite the poor fourth quarter results and bleak economic news, Atlanta’s office market ended 2008 with positive absorption of 391,300 square feet–but that’s down more than 2.4 million square feet from the 2.9 million absorbed in 2007, according to figures from Atlanta-based Richard Bowers & Co. The forth quarter saw a negative absorption 411,900 square feet–the first quarter of negative absorption in the market since the first quarter of 2006, according to a Richard Bowers & Co. fourth-quarter 2008 and year-end Atlanta office market report. “The first quarter of negative absorption indicates we have a market in flux,” David Morgan,…
Emeritus Closes Refi Deal, Extends $73M Debt
Assisted living and Alzheimer’s care facilities provider Emeritus Corp. capped the end of the year by ensuring there would be no material maturities hanging over its head in 2009. The company wrapped up the $36.3 million refinancing of seven properties through Freddie Mac, a move that allowed it to pay down and extend an existing debt with Capmark. Freddie Mac provided Emeritus with a 10-year loan at a fixed rate of 6.05 percent, and the company quickly put the proceeds to use. Emeritus applied $20.1 million toward the Capmark loan, leaving a $72.7 million balance that the company was then…
As Phoenix Light Rail Debuts, Will T.O.D. Get on Track?
Phoenix’s $1.4 billion, 20-mile light rail system carried its first passengers on Dec. 27th, and real estate professionals believe that development opportunities around the line’s 20 stations are significant; Valley Metro, which operates the system, projects the system will initially carry 26,000 passengers a day. Phoenix is one of the last large American cities to open a mass transit rail system, but Mindy Korth, executive vice president in the Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. believes this tardiness carries some benefits. “It’s going to allow the system to institute best practices from other cities,” Korth said, noting that developers…
Markets Start 2009 With Upward Bump
Instead of a lackluster lull after the New Year’s holiday, investors decided to buy equities on Friday, driving the Dow Jones index up 258 points, or nearly 3 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up even more, in terms of percentage: 3.16 percent and 3.5 percent respectively. GM, which recently won a short financial reprieve, led the way by gaining more than 14 percent, though that represented only 45 cents a share. Investors seemed to be largely undeterred by the woeful numbers from the Institute for Supply Management. Or it could be that investors are now inured to bad…
560-Unit California M-F Complex Goes for $54M
Blue Rock Village (pictured), a 560-unit multi-family complex in Vallejo, Calif., has been sold for $54.4 million to a San Francisco-based private ownership group.Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services represented the seller, a publicly traded REIT, as well as the buyer on the deal. Situated at 1900-2000 Ascot Parkway, the 448,256-square-foot property sits near the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course and National Park, and features a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. Community amenities include swimming pools and spa, a fitness center, picnic areas and gated community living.
ProLogis Leases 282,000 SF to Safelite AutoGlass
ProLogis has leased approximately 282,000 square feet at ProLogis Park Ontario Airport in Ontario, Calif., to Safelite AutoGlass.A newly constructed, 681,000-square-foot facility is located off Interstate 15 midway between Interstate 10 and the Pomona Freeway, minutes from the Ontario International Airport, and comprises approximately 1.9 million square feet in six buildings. Safelite occupies space with ProLogis in various locations across North America: this transaction marks the fifth between the two companies.”The Inland Empire West submarket provides excellent regional access to Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, as well as Arizona and Nevada,” Mike Del Santo, first vice president and…
Post Continues $360M Disposition Plan with Atlanta M-F Sale
In its third quarter earnings report issued last month, Post Properties Inc. noted that it would sell six assets with the hope of pocketing approximately $360 million, and with today’s news of the disposition of Post Lenox Park in Atlanta, the company has one down, five more to go. Atlanta-based Post Properties sold the 206-unit apartment community to an entity formed by Greensboro, N.C.-headquartered Steven D. Bell & Co. for $22.7 million. Developed in 1995, Post Lenox Park is a Class A, garden-style multi-family property located at 100 Lenox Park Circle in Atlanta’s tony Buckhead submarket. “Our acquisition strategy was to…
$48M First Phase of Brooklyn Bridge Park Project Breaks Ground
Reusing and revitalizing Brooklyn’s deteriorated East River waterfront began with a groundbreaking in February on the piers area and now a $48 million contract was awarded to Skanska for Phase I of the Brooklyn Bridge Park project in New York City. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. is overseeing the approximately 85-acre project, which consists of piers, upland and water area, stretching along 1.3 miles of Brooklyn waterfront.The purpose of this project is to allow reuse of the East River waterfront for public benefit, and to once again make the waterfront an asset for the city and the region. The…