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Economy Watch: Construction, GSEs, Prospects for a Shutdown
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, construction spending took a dive in January, with a 0.7 percent decline from December that took the aggregate value of U.S. construction projects down to a $791.8 billion annualized rate. Commercial real estate construction projects led the decline.
Blackstone Pays $9.4B for Centro Portfolio
The company is about to beef up its presence in the retail market by 588 properties and a million square feet.
Ventas Buys Nationwide Health in $7.4B Transaction
The stock-for-stock merger will create the industry’s largest healthcare REIT.
Economy Watch: Spending, Sales, Optimism
Incomes were up in January, mainly because of the cut in Social Security taxes approved in December, but consumer spending didn’t quite match, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Incomes were up 1 percent, the largest increase in about two years, while consumer spending inched up only 0.2 percent.
Water Levels Delay $347M Casino
Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. was on schedule to complete development of the Baton Rouge, La., project, but low Mississippi River water levels have forced the company to push back the gaming property’s debut to the first quarter of 2012.
Economy Watch: GDP Estimate Pared Down
U.S. GDP wasn’t quite as robust in the fourth quarter of 2010 as the U.S. Department of Commerce had previously estimated. Growth was recalibrated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis to an annualized rate of 2.8 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 3.2 percent.
Pebblebrook Buys Argonaut Hotel for $84M
The REIT recently acquired the Argonaut Hotel, a 252-room upper-upscale property in San Francisco, from Maritime Hotel Associates L.P.
CoStar Turns Profit on D.C. Headquarters
Exactly one year after acquiring a 169,500-square-foot office building in a $41 million deal, CoStar Group Inc. closed the disposition of the property in a $101 million sale-leaseback transaction with GLL L-Street 1331 L.L.C., an affiliate of GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH. CoStar walks away from the transaction with all cash in its pocket.
New Owner for 1.1-MSF Distribution Center
A bevy of investors was hoping to acquire the fully leased property at the Rockefeller Group Foreign Trade Zone/Charleston in Charleston, S.C., but USAA Real Estate Co.’s U.S. Industrial REIT III emerged victorious.
Economy Watch: Home Prices at Double Dip?
The latest S&P/Case-Shiller indexes on U.S. housing prices confirm that home valuations are still on the slide. In fact, almost all of the small pricing uptick experienced in 2009, which probably was a result of the long-gone federal homebuyer tax credit, has been erased. A continuing influx of distressed properties put further pressure on prices.