Nicholas Ziegler
Strategic Hotels Closes $120M Refi of Loews Santa Monica
Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. continues to stagger maturities on its balance sheet with the $118.3 million refinancing of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel on Los Angeles County’s Westside.
Economy Watch: CPI Shifts into Low Gear, Consumer Sentiment Drops, Bright Spot for the Debt Ceiling
According to a BLS report on Friday, the U.S. Consumer Price Index dropped in June by 0.2 percent. The Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 63.8 during the first half of July, compared with 71.5 at the end of June. But a plan to raise the debt ceiling gained traction with the president and in Congress.
Dees Stribling’s Economy Watch Weekly
Economy Watch reporter Dees Stribling offers insights on CPE Radio into the top economic news for the week ending July 15, 2011: “An 800-lb. gorilla called Default would beat up the economy pretty badly if it gets loose.”
307,700-SF Orange County Building Trades for $70M
Office property values are ticking up, but steal-of-a-deal transactions have not disappeared entirely. Case in point: The approximately 307,700-square-foot office tower at 2600 Michelson Drive in Irvine, Calif., just sold for $70 million.
Scottsdale’s Promenade Trades for $110M, Marking One of Arizona’s Largest Shopping Center Deals
The Promenade, a 730,000-square-foot shopping center near Phoenix, has come under new ownership in a $110 million transaction that marks one of the largest shopping center sales in Arizona’s history.
Economy Watch: Congress Still in Debt Morass, Retail Sales Inch Up but PPI Falls
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday used the word “calamitous” to describe the prospect of default by the United States. Retail sales were up in June a small hiccough, only 0.1 percent. And the PPI decreased 0.4 percent last month, following declines of 0.2 and 0.8 percent in May and April, respectively.
Harrison Focuses on Healthcare Facilities, Goes JV with Bickford Senior for $62M
In another sign of life for an up-and-down economy, especially in the healthcare sector, Bickford Senior Living and Harrison started a JV for six assisted-living facilities in a deal worth approximately $62 million.
Sperry Van Ness, Promus Merge San Diego Operations
The San Diego market is a small beacon of light for a national economy still mostly in the dark. Capitalizing on that opportunity, Irvine, Calif.- based Sperry Van Ness merged its local operations with Southern California firm Promus Commercial.
Exclusive: Fannie, Freddie Reform Moving at Sluggish Pace
The focus in Congress for the moment might be the debt ceiling, but not too far in the background the effort to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chugs along–though not necessarily at a rapid pace.
L.A. Apartment Property Paragon Trades for $58.6M
Cornerstone just acquired the mixed-use Paragon at Old Town, a suburban Los Angeles asset, from Urban Housing Group for $58.6 million.