the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
ProLogis Signs 8 Leases Totaling 946,000 SF in Atlanta
ProLogis has signed new lease agreements in Atlanta in eight transactions totaling approximately 946,000 square feet during the third quarter of 2008. Lennox Industries, a leading provider of customized home comfort systems, residential generators and indoor air quality products, leased approximately 254,000 square feet with ProLogis at Midland Distribution Center #1, located near the intersection of Interstate 75 and McDonough Road, southeast of Atlanta. The agreement marked the fifth lease between the two companies. Lennox currently occupies approximately 590,000 square feet of distribution space with ProLogis in various locations across the United States. Also during the third quarter, ProLogis leased…
Special Report from ULI: Debt Crisis—or Equity?
“I actually think we’re in an equity crisis, not a debt crisis,” declared John Kukral, president of Northwood Investors, speaking on the capital markets session that opened the ULI/Stan Ross Real Estate Trends Conference on Wednesday during the Urban Land Institute’s Fall Meeting. He referred to the lack of equity invested in real estate properties. That lack may become critical as properties come up for recapitalization, with any lender willing to provide new financing insisting on greater levels of equity—which may prove to be in short supply. Kukral pointed to the fact that foreign investors are also having problems. In…
Frank: Bailout Funds Need to Be for Lending, Other Uses Violate TARP
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, Friday warned banks getting money from the $700 billion bailout fund that they must use it for lending and only lending. Other uses, such as acquisitions and bonuses, are in “violation” of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Frank said.“I am deeply disappointed that a number of financial institutions are distorting the legislation that Congress passed at the president’s request to respond to the credit crisis by making funds available for increased lending,” Frank said in a statement. “Any use of these funds for any purpose other then lending–for bonuses,…
JLL Survey: As Values Fall, Players Plan to Pump Up the Volume in ’09
Plunging commercial property values this year could lead to a flurry of investment sales activity in 2009, according to a study by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Almost two-thirds of the property owners, development firms, service firms and consultants polled for the biannual study said they intend to bump up their activity next year. Jones Lang LaSalle surveyed professionals who planned to attend the Urban Land Institute’s fall conference this week in Miami. The findings reflect a big jump in the percentage of real estate players that are eyeing increased opportunities for 2009. Jones Lang LaSalle’s most recent poll, taken in…
Financial Market Update-Fri., Oct. 31
What’s that gurgling sound? According to First American CoreLogic, a real estate research firm, some 7.5 million homeowners nationwide are underwater–that is, they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are current worth. They suffer from “negative equity,” to use the uninteresting and pointlessly euphemistic technical term. Another 2.1 million are nearly in that situation, with their homes worth less than 5 percent more than their mortgage totals. These totals don’t mean that all of the homeowners involved with face foreclosure, but it puts them at greater risk of it. A whopping 47.8 percent of the outstanding mortgages in…
Mexican Real Estate Market Continues to Thrive
The real estate market in the U.S. is taking a bit of a beating due to the financial crisis, but the property market in neighboring Mexico appears to be escaping any negative consequential effects, according to a Global In-Sights webcast by CB Richard Ellis Inc. Bolstered by solid economic fundamentals, $75 billion in Central Bank reserves and the absence of a housing crisis, Mexico has been able to maintain a strong real estate market. The office and industrial sectors continue to perform well in major metropolitan areas in Mexico. In such leading office markets as Mexico City, the overall average…
Guardian Nabs 111,000SF Suburban D.C. Office for $55M
Ownership of Quincy Crossing, a fully-leased 110,900-square-foot office building in Arlington, Va., less than five miles across the Potomac River from the White House in Washington, D.C., has changed hands. Normandy Real Estate Partners sold the Class A property to Guardian Life Insurance Co. in a transaction valued at $55.5 million. The deal marks a short-term hold for Normandy. The company came into possession of Quincy Crossing with the $538 million acquisition of a group of 13 office properties from Morgan Stanley Real Estate in late 2006. Morgan Stanley sold the 2.4 million-square-foot East Coast portfolio to Normandy immediately after…
Ashford Reaches $437M in Asset Sales, 2008 Goal is $600M
With $148.2 million in asset sales for the third quarter, Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. brought sales for the year to $437 million. The company plans to dispose of assets valued at approximately $600 million during 2008, through outright sales and joint ventures. Last year, the company sold 21 assets for $312 million. The $437 million total covers the sale of 10 properties and represents a price of approximately $133,000 per key, a 6.6 percent 12-month NOI cap rate and a 12.0x trailing 12-month EBITDA multiple. In a prepared statement about AHT’s asset sales strategy, president & CEO Monty Bennett…
Chartwell Completes Acquisition of Remaining JV Interests in Quebec Property Manager, Properties
Chartwell Seniors Housing Real Estate Investment Trust and Groupe Melior has announced that Chartwell has completed the acquisition of the remaining 50 percent interest owned by Residences Melior (an affiliate of Groupe Melior) in seven retirement properties in the Province of Quebec, as well as Melior’s 50 percent interest in the joint venture property management company managing all of Chartwell’s senior housing communities in Quebec. Under the terms of an agreement with Melior, Chartwell paid approximately $63.3 million for the 50 percent interest in the seven properties and the management company. The price was determined by independent appraisers. The closing…
Lee & Associates Launches National Investment Group
The investment sales market has hit a rough patch due to the credit freeze-up, but despite this, Lee & Associates announced today it is launching an investment sales arm, to be dubbed Lee Investment Services Group. The new group will work in all product types, including office, industrial, retail and multi-family, and will be headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles. Patrick Benton (pictured), former managing director of corporate real estate for Countrywide Financial, will serve as president of the new entity, while Matt Sullivan, formerly of Colliers, will join Lee ISG as founding principal and managing director. Benton said despite the…