News
More Upbeat ULI Summit Finds Big Finance Players ‘Back on Offense’
Only a year ago, the atmosphere at the Urban Land Institute’s spring summit in Atlanta was dour, even fearful, recalled the organization’s CEO, Patrick Phillips. This week, the ULI’s national meeting in Boston revealed an unmistakable change.
Brandywine Leases 1M SF Over First Quarter
Commercial real estate owner, developer and manager Brandywine Realty Trust on Thursday said that it has inked more than 1 million square feet in new and renewed leases during the first quarter of this year, including more than 197,000 square feet of leasing activity commencing through March 31, 2010.
Economy Watch: Foreclosures Still on the Rise
Foreclosure data specialist RealtyTrac reported on Thursday that U.S. foreclosure filings, a category that includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were up 7 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the previous quarter, and 16 percent higher than during the first quarter of 2009.
Tropicana Las Vegas to Go Tropical with $165M Makeover
The U.S. gaming market has yet to rebound, but Toronto, Ontario-based Onex Corp., owner of Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, is preparing for the recession-weary public’s impending return to the tables with the commencement of its massive transformation of Tropicana Las Vegas.
SL Green to Shell Out $193M for Manhattan’s 600 Lexington
SL Green Realty Corp. is about to pump up its enviable Manhattan office portfolio with the addition of the 303,500-square-foot tower at 600 Lexington Ave. While not one of those highly anticipated “fire sale” deals that never quite materialized in the commercial real estate market, it is still a good buy.
Zell, Linneman Offer Unsparing Views in ULI Keynote
Sam Zell and Peter Linneman kicked off the Urban Land Institute’s spring conference Wednesday with frank, witty and frequently caustic perspectives on the state of the industry and of the nation.
Economy Watch: COP Says HAMP Remains FUBAR
According to the U.S. Treasury Department and HUD on Wednesday, 2,879 modified loans under the government’s mortgage modification program (HAMP) were “cancelled” in March.
Grubb & Ellis Buys Parkway Medical Center
Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II, Inc. on Wednesday announced that it has acquired Parkway Medical Center, an 88,000 square-foot, two-building medical office portfolio in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood.
Simon Offers $2.5B to Match Brookfield Bid for General Growth
In a continuation of the bidding war for bankrupt retail REIT General Growth Properties, Simon Property Group, Inc. on Thursday sent a letter offering to invest $2.5 billion in a General Growth reorganization at the same per share price as the reorganization plan proposed by Brookfield Asset Management.
Economy Watch: Bankers Tell Congress They Don’t Like Mortgage Modifications
A variety of bankers–mortgage execs from Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, for instance–put on their best Milton Drysdale faces on Tuesday and told the U.S. House Financial Services Committee that principal reduction for underwater mortgages is a bad idea.