News

Kilroy Realty has just locked Bridgepoint Education Inc. into two leases for an aggregate 289,800 square feet of space at the REIT’s Kilroy Sabre Springs Campus in San Diego. Presently consisting of two structures totaling approximately 300,000 square feet, Sabre Springs sits in San Diego’s I-15 corridor near the intersection of Ted Williams Parkway and I-15. The first lease agreement allows Bridgepoint to expand its occupancy at the building at 13500 Evening Creek Drive by over 22,000 square feet to a total of 142,200 square feet. A second lease will give the school sole occupancy of Phase III of the…

Banco Santander announced on January 25th that it made a deal with the consortium led by the U.K. property investor Propinvest for the sale of the Grupo Santander City and its simultaneous lease-back for a period of 40 years. The deal includes a purchase option for the Bank at the end of the lease. Plans call for the deal to be done by the end of March.Selling the city is part of the bank’s plan to sell and lease-back a portfolio of properties owned by it in Spain, of which this is the last part. The price for the deal…

Valad Property Group of Australia is expected to expand its investments into North America following the announcement of a strategic alliance with Kimco Realty Group, one of the United States’ largest shopping center owners and operators.The alliance will be focused on creating funds management and joint venture opportunities.  As a sign of its commitment to the new relationship,  Kimco bought $182 million, or A$200 million, in a convertible note issued by a subsidiary of Valad.Kimco said the convertible note had a coupon rate of 9.5 percent payable semi-annually and an option to convert the note at any time into Valad…

The development of the Amsterdam at Harborside gets a shot in the arm from Herbert J. Sims & Co., which recently underwrote a bond issue valued at approximately $296.4 million for Amsterdam Nursing Home Corp. Inc.’s seniors housing project in North Hempstead, N.Y.  Sited on a nine acre parcel, the Amsterdam will encompass all sectors of seniors housing, featuring 226 apartments for independent living residents, 32 assisted living units, 18 special needs assisted living units, and 56 skilled nursing beds. The all-encompassing property will be final piece that completes a planned unit development that will also feature an 18-hole championship…

“A set of very powerful forces” is making urban rental housing a great investment over the next five years or more, says Phil Angelides. And the Canyon-Johnson Urban Communities Fund he’s helping to launch will be a significant player in that sector. Continuing urban population growth across the United States, driven in part by immigrants and minorities, Angelides said, but also by “echo Boomers” aged 20–35, will make urban rental residential redevelopments increasingly profitable and increasingly attractive to investors. “The financial fundamentals are very strong,” he said, pointing out that the average American family is now spending $3,500 a year…

According to Moody’s Investor Services, the commercial real estate finance market showed signs of positive change during the last quarter of 2007. Among the conclusions reached in the firm’s recently released Structured Finance Special Report is that an upturn in loan quality is playing a role in offsetting the weaker fundamental outlook.  “Last year, Moody’s was prompted to start requiring higher subordination levels because we saw that credit quality within commercial real estate was deteriorating,” Sally Gordon, senior vice president with Moody’s, told CPN today. Gordon and colleagues Tad Philipp, Nick Levidy and Paolo Obias co-authored the report. But, Gordon…

Just a few months after a 134-acre land sale in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, the General Land Office (GLO) of the state of Texas sold another 152 acres on behalf of the Permanent School Fund to LRI Partners Ltd. Financials on the deal were not disclosed.The tract, located 22-miles southwest of Houston near Sugar Land, is situated in Fort Bend County between Grand Parkway, also known as State Highway 99, and Farm-to-Market Road 1464. The subject property has approximately 3,850 feet of frontage along Grand Parkway on the west, 1,150 feet along FM 1464 on the east, and…

Taubman Asia, a Hong Kong–based subsidiary of Taubman Centers Inc., will be acquiring a 25 percent stake in The Mall at Studio City, the retail component of Macao Studio City, a $2 billion mixed-use project under construction in Macao, on China’s southern coast.Subject to conditions that are expected to be satisfied within the first half of this year, Taubman’s investment will consist of an initial cash payment of $54 million, as well as allocation of construction debt and additional payments anticipated in years two and five after opening. The investment, expected to total approximately $200 million, is in a joint…

A federal court ruling on eminent domain handed a major victory today to the controversial $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, Forest City Ratner Co.’s master-planned development in Downtown Brooklyn. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower-court decision that Atlantic Yards does not violate the public use clause of the Fifth Amendment. A group of fourteen homeowners, business owners and tenants had challenged the legality of New York State’s efforts to take their property under eminent domain. The case is one of the biggest tests yet of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo decision, which broadened…

Recession? Market correction? What’s that? Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s just-released summary of their current expansion plans shows anything but pessimism. The chain, owner of such high-profile brands as Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis and Le Meridien, currently has in the pipeline 500 hotels totaling 120,000 rooms. Its 900th hotel will open this year, and the company expects to increase its portfolio by 50 percent over the next five years. Part of that growth will come from the opening this year of Starwood’s first hotels in its Aloft and Element brands. Built in a high-ceilinged loft style, the Aloft properties are…