Investment
Retail Retracts
While the retail sector did not fare as badly as some had feared as a result of high unemployment, fundamentals continue to founder.
Brookfield Refis Five Multi-Family Properties for $400M
In a deal arranged and closed by HFF, Brookfield Real Estate Financial Partners has secured a $400 million, seven-year, floating-rate refinance loan from M&T Realty Capital Corp. for a 2,600-unit multi-housing portfolio.
Simon Property Group Goes on $3.5B Spending Spree
Simon Property Group, the largest real estate company in the United States, went on a $3.5 billion shopping spree Thursday by acquiring a $2 billion stake in Klepierre, a major European retail and office player, and by buying out its joint-venture partner in The Mills U.S. shopping-center properties for $1.5 million.
Related Aims to Become Brazil’s Biggest Developer, Plans $1B Investment
Related Group and Related Cos. have officially launched Related Brasil, naming Daniel Citron — former head of Tishman Speyer in Brazil — as CEO. The firm plans to invest $1 billion in residential and commercial real estate.
Tryko Partners Makes Two Baltimore-Area Multi-Family Pickups
Tryko Partners L.L.C. is having a busy week, as the firm has just picked up Park Raven, a 253-unit apartment community in Baltimore, and Perrywood Garden, a 184-unit property in nearby Aberdeen, Md.
Economy Watch: EU Recession Spooks Investors
The EU reported on Tuesday that the euro zone is in a “mild recession.” U.S. residential foreclosure sales were up sharply in January, some 29 percent more than in December. And Green Street Advisors’ Commercial Property Price Index didn’t budge in February.
North American Investor Optimism Leads the Way at MIPIM 2012 Despite Uncertainties
Senior industry leaders gathered at the exclusive pre-MIPIM 2012 event hosted by CREOpoint CEO J.C. Goldenstein to share both their expectations for the week and their sentiments on the global real estate environment.
The mood among participants was mostly positive. After sitting on the sidelines for several years, yield-starved investors are eager to find new opportunities. Howard Roth, global real estate leader for Ernst & Young L.P., was “cautious but positive, even in Europe, thanks to the recent stimulus,” he said. “There’s plenty of equity looking for a home this year.”
Demitrios Louziotis, senior vice president of global real estate solutions at ARGUS Software, may have best summarized the mood. “This time last year, the champagne glass was half full,” he said. “When we got to the fourth quarter, we realized the bottle was empty. Now the question is where is the next bottle coming from — and who’s bringing it.”
Mixed-Use Buckhead Place Development in Atlanta Gets $50M Refi
Buckhead Place, a mixed-use development in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, has just seen a $50 million permanent financing arranged by CBRE’s capital markets team, which represented the development’s owner, Buckhead Place L.L.C.
N.S.P. Ventures Purchases 236 KSF U.S. Mint Facility in D.C. for $148M
Japan-based N.S.P. Ventures has acquired 801 Ninth St., N.W., in Washington, D.C., a 236,000-square-foot building occupied in its entirety by the U.S. Mint, from the Netherlands-based Wereldhave USA for $147.5 million.
Cushman: Global CRE Investment Rose 14 Percent in 2011
According to services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc., global property markets saw a stronger-than-expected end to 2011, with all regions experiencing robust demand for well-let assets. Activity worldwide increased by 14 percent, hitting the $808 billion mark — an increase of 83 percent from the lows of 2009.