News

The Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds has just completed Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund III with equity commitments totaling $1 billion. The vehicle will make $4 billion accessible for real estate projects in underserved urban areas across the country.CJUF III marks Canyon-Johnson’s largest fund ever, as the previous two accounted for a total of $900 million. Investors included a range of pension funds, endowments, foundations and other entities from across the country. Interest in the fund was very high. “I cut it off at $1 billion because I don’t like to raise too much money,” Bobby Turner, the fund’s managing partner, told CPN today,…

Real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has initiated a more aggressive campaign to further penetrate the Latin American market with the appointment of industry expert Miles Glascock to the role of senior managing director for Strategic Planning and Business Development for Latin America. Glascock spoke to CPN about the firm’s goals in the region: CPN: What areas of Latin America are the hottest for real estate development right now and why? Glascock: Brazil and Mexico. Brazil has the largest GDP in the region with $1.3 trillion, and Mexico has a GDP of $800 billion. Everything else is dwarfed by…

ProLogis has announced it has signed two new build-to-suit agreements with Crate and Barrel for two distribution centers. These will be in Tracy, Calif., approximately 54 miles east of Oakland, Calif. The first, which will be approximately 827,000 square feet, will be used by Crate and Barrel to store its furniture products. The second, with more than 398,000 square feet, will be used as a distribution center for its housewares products. The pair of buildings are being developed both to accommodate growth and to improve efficiencies. The retailer is consolidating three Northern California distribution facilities that it has outgrown. According…

The office building at 2099 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, D.C., has come under new ownership, courtesy of a transaction valued at $172.5 million. Dublin-headquartered Vico Capital snapped up the 206,000-square-foot Class A property from Germany’s Wealth Capital Investments, in what is being touted as the largest office transaction in D.C. this year.Developed by the Kaempfer Co. seven years ago, 2099 Pennsylvania sits on a corner lot about four blocks from the White House, and features 12 above grade floors atop one level of finished below grade space and a three-level parking facility. Wealth Capital subsidiary Blue Capital had acquired…

The newest phase of The Westin St. John Resort & Villas has opened, according to a report from owner Starwood Vacation Ownership Inc., the fractional and vacation ownership division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. The Bay Vista phase overlooks Great Cruz Bay on the island of St. John. This phase will contain 54 new units: 22 two-bedroom, eight two-bedroom lofts, and 24 three-bedrooms. The resort features a spa facility, market and tennis facilities. “The resort is one of the most popular mixed-use resorts in the region, according to Sergio Rivera, president, real estate development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts…

Residential rents are strengthening in much of the country, according to a new report by Investment Instruments Corp. that tracked changes in median apartment rents in 12 major metro areas between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008. But the changes have been quite uneven, and substantial losses have been seen in the Sun Belt, where (except for Los Angeles) rents have stagnated or softened over the past 12 months. Investment Instruments CEO & co-founder Allison Atisknoudas told CPN that the report is based on asking rents, not actual rents, and that one of its strengths…

Noble Investment Group has just acquired AmeriSuites in Schaumburg, Ill., a 126-room hotel just outside of Chicago. Noble made the purchase through its current discretionary private equity real estate fund, Noble Hospitality Fund L.L.C.The 11-year-old property came under the ownership of Global Hyatt Corp. in 2005 when Hyatt Corp. acquired the entire 143-hotel AmeriSuites chain from the Blackstone Group for $600 million. Located at the intersection of Highway 290 and Highway 90, AmeriSuites Schaumburg sits 13 miles from O’Hare International Airport and 25 miles outside of Downtown Chicago. In addition to its guest suites, the property also features a fitness…

Automotive retail and service chain Pep Boys has wrapped up its disposition of 23 properties in a deal valued at $74.3 million. The company’s retail operations will stay put, courtesy of lease agreements with the new owner.As per terms of the lease deals, Pep Boys will continue to occupy the stores for 15 years, with the option of renewing the agreement four times for a period of five years, each. The company will use proceeds from the sale, which is part of a larger disposition program, to pay down debt.The deal marks the third occasion that Pep Boys has closed…

W.P. Carey & Co.’s CPA: 16 – Global non-traded REIT affiliate has provided sale-leaseback financing to Mantsinen Group, a Finnish machinery production firm.  CPA: 16 acquired and leased back Mantsinen’s office headquarters and industrial site, located in Ylamylly, Finland under the $18 million deal. Mantsinen produces material handling machinery and mobile harbor cranes, as well as offering logistics services to clients in the forestry, steel and port industries. “The sale-leaseback transaction with W.P. Carey is enabling us to recapitalize our balance sheet and pursue a number of growth initiatives further down the road, including expansion into Russia,” noted Mantsinen president…

South Asian Real Estate Ltd., or SARE, the Indian residential real estate developer partnered by Topland and Duet Group, has committed almost 70 percent of the $317 million of its funds to buy seven land parcels in India, it has reported. The land totals 800 acresPlans call for the property to contain 31 million square feet of developed real estate, ultimately worth approximately $1.4 billion. SARE has begun the process of permitting for one residential township at this point. Construction on all projects is slated to begin before the end of 2008. According to Rob Clayton, director of structured finance…