the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Boulder Seeks Investment Partner for Net Lease Buys
Boulder Net Lease Funds, a sponsor of private equity funds investing solely in net leased properties, is on the hunt for a partner for a new joint venture that will focus on single-tenant, net leased office and industrial properties. Northbrook, Ill.-based Boulder has already completed a pair of previous joint ventures, one with Greenfield Partners and another with ORIX Real Estate Capital. “…[C]urrent dynamics within the office and industrial net leased real estate market will create compelling investment opportunities,” noted Boulder president Randy Blankstein, in a release. “We intend to continue out focus on acquiring single tenant properties offering opportunistic…
Six Flags Theme Park Coming to Qatar
International theme park operator Six Flags Inc. will be extending its overseas reach with a park in Qatar, according to the terms of an agreement between Six Flags and Oryx Holdings, a diversified Qatar-based holding company. The 500,000-square-foot Six Flags-branded park will be part of Qatar Entertainment City, a mixed-use development in Lusail, Qatar, and is scheduled to open by mid-2012. Six Flags will provide concept development and planning services to Oryx Holdings for the park’s creation, after which the two companies will collaborate on the park’s design, development, construction and management. “The partnership will help further establish and push…
Pair of Firms Lease 250,000 SF at ProLogis Complex in Japan
ProLogis has signed new lease agreements for approximately 250,000 square feet of distribution space in Osaka, Japan to two third-party logistics providers.Sankyu Inc. has leased approximately 184,600 square feet at ProLogis Parc Osaka II, a distribution facility located at the Port of Osaka. Sankyu currently leases approximately 54,000 square feet from ProLogis at ProLogis Parc Amagasaki.Also at ProLogis Parc Osaka II, Kintetsu World Express has leased approximately 64,500 square feet. Kintetsu is now occupying approximately 209,000 square feet of ProLogis’ facilities in locations across Japan, China and in the United States.”Our portfolio of industrial properties around the Port of Osaka…
Brookfield Transfers Interest in Canary Wharf
Ontario-based Brookfield Investments Corp. has sold 15 percent of its interest in The Canary Wharf Group, to Brookfield Europe L.P. The sale is actually a transfer of assets from one subsidiary to another, and part of a much larger merger process. Brookfield Investments, which was formerly Brascade Corp., is an investment company with investments primarily in the forest products and property sectors. The company is owned by Brookfield Asset Management, based in Ontario Canada.Sachin Shah, CFO at Brookfield, told CPN, “This is an integral step for Brookfield Asset Management in consolidating its European operating platform.”The Canary Wharf Group, or CWG,…
More Job Losses Reported, Payroll Data Set for Release Today
Another round of reports come out today and the news continues to look ominous. U.S. non-farm payrolls data for November is set for release this morning and economists in a Reuters survey forecast 340,000 jobs were lost in the month, compared with a loss of 240,000 jobs in October, according to a Reuters report. On Thursday, major companies, including AT&T and DuPont announced more than 20,000 job cuts, CNNMoney.com reported. Car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc. cut more than 2,200 jobs and taken other steps to meet its goal of reducing annual costs by $150 million to $200 million…
Pink Slips Proliferate in November
The magnitude of the unemployment numbers–533,000 jobs evaporated in November, according to the Department of Labor–took economists and analysts by surprise this morning. A Reuters survey of such observers had predicted a loss of 340,000 jobs for the month. It’s the highest monthly total since 1974. The current unemployment rate, after figuring in the latest surge of job losses, is now 6.5 percent, the highest since 1993. Some calculations put the “real” unemployment rate much higher, perhaps twice as much, by including able-bodied adults who are so discouraged that they’ve giving up on finding work and are presumably spending their…
Jacksonville Office Fetches $51M
One Enterprise Center, a 319,000-square-foot, 22-story Class A office building at 225 Water St. in Downtown Jacksonville, Fla., has been sold for $51.4 million. The seller, One Enterprise Financial Associates L.L.C., and Sendar Jacksonville L.L.C.–both entities controlled by Harbor Group International L.L.C.–was represented by CB Richard Ellis Inc.’s New York institutional group and Jacksonville office. The sale includes the assumption of $41.6 million in debt from Wachovia. The property, also known as Wachovia Tower, had been purchased by Harbor Group in January 2004 for $38.3 million. “We are pleased with the performance of Wachovia Tower and feel we added a…
WestLB’s 129,000-SF Move to 7 WTC Brightens Downtown Picture
A major new lease from a financial firm is rare in New York City these days, especially around embattled Wall Street. So yesterday’s announcement that a financial firm will scoop up a large block of trophy tower space in Downtown Manhattan came as a pleasant surprise. In a sign of the times, however, the new arrival will not be a U.S.-based firm. Instead, the tenant will be a German investment bank–WestLB AG. The company will take the top three floors at 7 World Trade Center for a total of 129,000 square feet. Completed in 2006 by Silverstein Properties Inc., the…
New Investment Fund to Target Hotels
A trio of hospitality veterans have teamed up to form Fairwood Capital L.L.C., a private equity fund that will acquire upscale full-service and select properties. Ed Ansbro, Robert Solmson and Richard Reiss will serve as the hotel investment fund’s principals. Ansbro is the former senior vice president for Memphis-based REIT Equity Inns Inc. Equity Inns and its 130-hotel portfolio were picked up by Whitehall Street Global Real Estate L.P. for $2.2 billion in 2007. Solmson is the former chairman & CEO of Memphis-based RFS Hotel Investors Inc., a publicly held REIT he formed in 1993 that was acquired by CNL…
Eola Capital Signs University to 81,500-SF Lease in Tampa
Eola Capital, an Orlando-based real-estate investment company, has agreed to an 81,500-square-foot, 10-year lease at Tampa’s Sabal Corporate Center with the Ft. Lauderdale-based Nova Southeastern University. The three-story, suburban office building located in Tampa will serve as the new location for NSU’s Tampa Student Educational Center. NSU has other Student Educational Centers in Miami, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Jacksonville and Ft. Myers.Jamie Puddicombe of Palmaple Corp. represented the tenant in the acquisition of the space.Nova Southeastern University currently leases 41,000 square feet of office space in Eola Capital’s Sabal Park Plaza building. The new space will double the university’s Tampa…