the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
SL Green Inks Viacom to 1.3M-SF Lease at 1515 Broadway in Manhattan
Viacom has decided to keep its global headquarters at 1515 Broadway in Times Square, renewing and extending its lease for 1.3 million square feet of space at the 54-story Midtown Manhattan skyscraper that is home to MTV studios and the Nokia Theater. SL Green, the commercial real estate firm that co-owns the building with SITQ of Canada, said Tuesday it is the third largest lease in Midtown Manhattan history. The lease renewal through 2015 includes 1.1 million square feet that was to expire in two years along with an extension of 170,000 square feet that was to expire in 2012…
Retail REITs Show Continued Weakness
The outlook for retail REITs continues to darken, as shoppers are cutting back on their trips to the mall amid the economy’s struggles. One piece of evidence is Fitch Ratings’ action on Nov. 5, which revised retail REIT Developers Diversified’s rating from stable to negative. . In its recent report on the company, Fitch saw some positives for DDR, such as a strong occupancy percentage in its portfolio and a lease expiration schedule that is manageably staggered. The Fitch report said DDR has actively addressed 2009 lease renewals. But the negative outlook was centered on two major issues: DDR’s leverage…
NYC Feels Heat from Credit Crisis, But Long-Term Outlook Still Favorable
New York City’s commercial real estate market isn’t immune to the fallout caused by the economic downturn. Transactions have plummeted 61 percent from the beginning of the year through October, according to data from Real Capital Analytics Inc. In the longer term, however, the outlook for the market remains strong.The credit crunch has been “very democratic” in terms of its impact on the commercial real estate landscape, touching all markets, investors and property types, according to Dan Fasulo, managing director & head of research for Real Capital Analytics. “The more that net operating income decreases for properties, the more pressure…
Retrenchment May Slow Hotel Openings After 2010: Lodging Econometrics
After a record boom in hotel openings through 2010, the global hotel pipeline may diminish dramatically as the financial crisis catches up with the industry, according to projections by Lodging Econometrics. By mid-year 2008, the global development pipeline had reached 10,781 projects representing more than 1.8 million keys. That marks a 28 percent jump from mid-2007, when the pipeline stood at 8,398 projects and about 1.4 million keys. Lodging Econometrics’ tally count hotels under construction, expected to start construction in the next 12 months, and projects in early planning. Developers are currently building 4,468 projects and 836,567 keys. Construction is…
U.S Treasury Buys $40B of AIG Shares, New York Fed to Lend $30B to LLC, Nortel Networks to Reduce Costs by $400M
In a deal with the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board, American International Group Inc. (AIG) restructured the government’s financial support with the U.S. Treasury purchasing $40 billion of newly issued AIG preferred shares under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. This purchase will allow the Federal Reserve to reduce from $85 billion to $60 billion the total amount available under the credit facility established in September. The Fed also gave the thumbs up for two new lending facilities including a Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Facility that will lend up to $22.5 billion to a newly formed limited liability company (LLC)…
Open Offices, Mixed Greens Highlighted in CoreNet Surveys
A pair of new surveys, released by CoreNet Global at its summit in Orlando, Fla., focus on two key areas in corporate real estate: alternative workplace strategies (AWS), which are very much on the rise, and green buildings, where attitudes are, at least this year, decidedly mixed. In the AWS survey, undertaken in collaboration with Microsoft, 77 percent of respondents indicated that they see AWS programs expanding over the next three years. Of those surveyed, all attendees at the CoreNet Global Summit, 86 percent report having an AWS initiative in place, with the largest percentage of those having had a…
Dow Sluggish After Morning Jump
After a morning up, the Dow Jones index ended the day down 73.27 points, or 0.82 percent, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq a bit down as well (1.27 percent and 1.86 percent, respectively). It could be that the initial enthusiasm investors showed in other parts of the world for the Chinese stimulus plan had worn off by the time U.S. markets were open very long. Part of the downward movement in the market today also involved Goldman Sachs shares, which were down about 8.7 percent seemingly on rumors that the company is planning a new secondary equity offering,…
Forest City Completes Trio of Financing Deals Totaling $167M
Despite the sagging economy and possible recession, Forest City Enterprises Inc. recently completed three financing transactions totaling more than $167 million. Still, even the $10.9 billion Forest City has learned that the nagging credit crisis is making it ever more difficult to ferret out lenders with money to lend. “Our financing origination people are making 10 calls for every two they used to make,” a Forest City spokesperson told CPN. “It isn’t that lenders are making value judgments about our projects; they just don’t have money to lend.” Nevertheless, on Nov. 7, Forest City closed on a $75 million construction…
Grubb & Ellis Acquires Houston Office Building
Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors L.L.C. has purchased Oak Park Office Center III, a 151,000-square-foot office building in Houston’s Westchase submarket, in a $34 million deal with Realty Associates Oak Park III L.P.The property with an approximately 151,000 square feet, is located within Oak Park at Westchase, a 225-acre master-planned office park. Situated on more than 11 acres, the building is adjacent Sam Houston Parkway. The building features a two-story atrium complete with marble walls, wood accents, and both cove and pendant lighting. Additionally, it has open floor plans, card key access, two electric vehicle fueling stations and security cameras…
HP Communities Takes Over $243M Air Force Housing Redevelopment
HP Communities–a joint venture of Hunt Development Group and Pinnacle AMS Development–has negotiated a contract with the U.S. Air Force under which HP will take over the construction, development and management of 3,689 family homes at four military bases in the United States. The four bases, called The Falcon Group, are: Moody Air Force Base in Georgia; Patrick Air Force Base in Florida; Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts; and Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. Hunt Development Group, a family owned company founded in 1947 and headquartered in El Paso, Texas, is currently building and developing more than…