the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
$420M Waldorf Coming to Philadelphia
A 58-story Waldorf=Astoria Hotel and Residences has been announced for Philadelphia, set to open in 2012. The $420 million mixed-use project will be co-developed by Mariner Commercial Properties Inc. and Gatehouse Capital Corp. The hotel–to be managed by an affiliate of the Hilton Hotels Corp.–will be located at the northeast corner of 15th and Chestnut Streets. Tim Mahoney, president & CEO of Mariner, and Brook Lenfest acquired the site in 2000. The 670-foot-tall structure (pictured) will be the city’s sixth-tallest building, and will contain 175 guest rooms. The hotel lobby, on Chestnut Street, will feed into a sky lobby 155…
Financial Market Report-GDP Shrinks, Jobless Claims Stay High
It’s official: the economy is contracting. U.S. GDP shrunk at an annualized rate of 0.3 percent during 3Q08, mostly as consumers decided that they needed to do less shopping. How long will the contraction continue? It’s anyone’s guess, but if it continues at the current pace through 1Q09, that would be the worst recession since the mid-1970s. At this point, the nation might be lucky if the current slump were merely as bad as the ’70s, and not like that grim period of time nearly 80 years ago that rhymes with “recession.” Still, the GDP numbers were better than expected–economists…
Historic Houston Office Buildings Trade Hands
Despite the tanking investment market nationwide, Houston continues to see action with investors spending more than $1.6 billion so far in 2008 throughout 53 transactions, according to Real Capital Analytics. Along these lines, a local developer purchased two historic office buildings for an undisclosed amount in the city’s Museum District. Houston real estate developer Fred Sharifi bought 1150 and 1128 Bissonnet for a “record price,” according to CB Richard Ellis Inc. senior vice president Micheal Palmer, which represented the seller, Moriarty Family Partnership LTD, along with John Simons and Susana Rosas. Tony Pour represented Fred Sharifi. Both buildings were designed…
Adler Group Forms $100M Fund, Acquires Tampa Property
Adler Group formed its first discretionary $100 million fund to have capital available for the purchase of income producing commercial properties. The fund is named Helios AR Real Estate Fund I, and is being managed by Adler Helios MMI L.L.C., an affiliate of the Adler Group, with Assos Capital USA L.L.C. acting as co-manager. The Fund has already made two acquisitions, including Breckenridge Park in Tampa, Fla., which closed on October 15. The Helios AR Real Estate Fund I will invest in multi-tenant office, flex, industrial and retail properties and other real estate related investments in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic…
Bridgepoint Education Leases 250,000 SF at Sunroad Centrum in San Diego
Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial, Grubb & Ellis Co.’s San Diego affiliate, represented Bridgepoint Education in its 11-year lease for office space totaling nearly 250,000 square feet at Sunroad Centrum in San Diego’s Kearny Mesa area. Bridgepoint Education has leased 10 of Sunroad Centrum’s 11 floors at the new office tower built by Sunroad Enterprises. The company leased the space in preparation for its continued expansion and will occupy the building in two phases. The company will move into 149,660 square feet of space in March 2009 and will occupy the remaining 98,391 square feet in January 2010. Chris Hobson, senior office sales…
Financial Market Update-Fed Cuts Rates
The Fed came through with an expected interest rate cut today, anticipation of which seems to have inspired yesterday’s 890-point advance of the Dow Jones index. Despite the slashing of the federal funds rate–from 1.5 percent to 1.0 percent–stocks remained relatively unchanged in the immediate wake of the announcement. Investors may have been cowed by the Fed’s accompanying statement, which acknowledged a drastic decrease in consumer spending. Or maybe the increasingly bi-polar market’s reserves of optimism have simply become tapped out for now. Yesterday’s gain was the largest point gain in the history of the index, and in ordinary times…
San Diego-Area M-F Trades for $69M
Three R&V Management Corp.-sponsored partnerships–Hillcrest Montecito L.P., VLD Bonnie Brae L.P. and Vista Bella Terra L.P.–have scooped up Bella Terra, a 460-unit apartment community in Vista, a city in northern San Diego County, from RREEF for $69.5 million. Located at 365 Pomelo Drive, just south of Highway 78 and west of Melrose Drive, Bella Terra comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 700 square feet to 1,160 square feet. Among the amenities included are two swimming pools and spas, an on-site clubhouse, private patios or balconies/storage facilities, a meeting room, a fitness center and a playground. Ed Rosen, John…
Centerline Closes $131M Loan Package with Fannie Mae
Centerline Capital Group, a subsidiary of Centerline Holding Company has announced it closed the last of nine multi-family housing loan transactions. All loans were done with Fannie Mae under its DUS program on behalf of a single borrower for a total of $131 million. Centerline provided the refinancing for a portfolio of eight South County apartment properties that allowed the borrower to pay off first and second mortgages on those properties and free up equity to acquire and complete the rehabilitation of a ninth apartment complex. The original eight multifamily housing developments included: 149 units in Torrance for $23.9 million,…
Historic 194,300-SF Minneapolis Office Trades, Preps for Makeover
For those who can secure financing in the currently chilly lending climate, there are good deals to be had, and a joint venture involving Alex Brown Realty and Hempel Properties was able to take advantage of the real estate market’s declining price tags with the acquisition of the 194,300-square-foot Rand Tower in Downtown Minneapolis. The partners shelled out $10.2 million to acquire the 26-story office building (pictured) from Gaughan Cos., which had owned the building since purchasing it in 2004 for $11.2 million. Carrying the address of 527 Marquette Ave. South, the Art Deco-style Rand Tower was originally developed in…
CBRE Realty Trust Takes U.K. Retail
CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust has announced the acquisition of Maskew Retail Park, a 144,400-square-foot high-quality retail center in the city of Peterborough, U.K., for $51 million, the firm reported. CBRE Realty Trust’s management team worked with the acquisitions team from CBRE Investors in London to acquire the property. Maskew Retail Park is a recently completed development, located at Soke Parkway and Bourges Rd., the major thoroughfare north from the town center, and situated within the major retailing district of Peterborough with street frontage along Maskew Ave. The property consists of two retail blocks and is fully leased on a long-term basis to…