Finance
Virtus Enters Student Housing Arena
The recession may have emptied out office buildings, but the hallways of campus housing facilities have remained relatively full, and Virtus Real Estate Capital has just positioned itself to capitalize on the sector’s enduring strength. Its new fund, Virtus Student Housing L.P., will invest in excess of $300 million in student housing properties.
RECon Report: Economy Has Hit Bottom
According to Marcus & Millichap’s 2011 national retail report, cautious optimism is the order of the day.
Economy Watch: California Targets Mortgage Fraud, Rooftop Solar, Chicago Fed Index
The state of California has created a 25-member mortgage fraud task force, the aim of which is to investigate all variety of shady mortgages, while a Toys ‘R Us distribution center is soon to sport the largest solar roof in the country, and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index took a dive.
Winning the Competition for Loan Servicing
Given today’s still-limited loan production numbers, competition for third-party commercial loan servicing business can be pretty intense. Providers will need some new tools to get ahead.
CW Hires New Execs to Expand CRE Debt Placement
CW Financial Services is doing its part in the financial services business’s improvement with the hiring of four industry veterans to broaden the company’s menu of financing services, especially its debt placements.
Economy Watch: Fewer Homes in Foreclosure, Housing Sales Drop, Leading Indicators Fall
U.S. mortgage foreclosures dropped during the first quarter of 2011 compared with the last quarter of 2010, while existing home sales declined 0.8 percent to an annualized rate of 5.05 million units in April and the Leading Economic Index also declined.
Economy Watch: Foreign Buyers, Farmland and Mortgage Disclosure
Americans might not be buying U.S. houses like they used to, but foreign buyers are in the market with both hands, according to a survey. Plus, Shiller lauds farmland, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau releases proposed mortgage disclosure forms.
SL Green, Vornado Maintain Majority Stake in Recapitalization of 280 Park
Broadway Partners and Investcorp have announced a recapitalization and redevelopment of 280 Park Ave. in Manhattan that retains their majority stake while placing the total capitalization of the Class A asset at an estimated $1.4 billion.
HEI Acquires Sheraton Dallas North Out of Foreclosure
HEI Hotels & Resorts has acquired the 309-room Sheraton Dallas North out of REO, directly from a lender that foreclosed on the property. It is not the only upscale hotel to have faced foreclosure recently in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, nor in fact the only Sheraton to be bought out of foreclosure in Texas recently.
JLL: Capital Markets Drive Change in San Diego
Jones Lang LaSalle said the market saw a decrease in availability for biotech real estate space as well as an increase in demand over the last two quarters of 2010.