News

With plans to mine the still relatively solid multi-family market, Thompson National Properties L.L.C. has teamed with Morgan Management L.L.C. to form Thompson/Morgan Properties L.L.C., a joint venture that will acquire apartment properties in Texas, as well as areas east of the Mississippi River.Thompson National was launched just five months ago by former Triple Net Properties L.L.C. CEO Tony Thompson to provide value-added real estate investment opportunities and asset management services to high net worth investors from the U.S. and abroad. The joint venture allows the company to expand its multi-family platform and maintain a balanced portfolio. The formation of…

Less than two weeks after acquiring an $82 million real estate portfolio, Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust has extended its agreements for its joint ventures with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System(CalSTRS), the second-largest public pension fund in the nation with a $160 billion portfolio. CB Richard Ellis Investors is the advisor to CalSTRS on the ventures. First Industrial and CalSTRS have extended the terms of all five joint ventures through December 2018: the $1.6 billion Development and Repositioning JV (FirstCal 1), the $1.6 billion Strategic Land and Development JV (FirstCal 3), the $475 million FirstCal Europe JV, the $285…

South Florida may have dodged some of the recent hurricanes, but it is still experiencing turbulence, especially in the condo market. Has it hit bottom yet? CPN associate editor Amanda Marsh spoke with Peter Fitzgerald, COO of the The RADCO Cos., about what in the sector’s forecast. CPN: Where does South Florida’s condominium market stand right now? Have you seen any recovery, or is it still very volatile? Fitzgerald: The South Florida condominium market remains in a state of flux with values continuing to fall and a demand/supply imbalance that will take years to correct. Miami, obviously, has the biggest…

General Growth Properties Inc., one of the country’s largest public REITs and a major shopping center owner/manager, is considering a wide range of alternatives as it prepares for a November mortgage offering to lenders and pursues funding for its near-term maturing obligations. The company has announced that options such as “core and non-core asset sales, the sale of joint venture or preferred equity in selected pools of its assets, a corporate level capital infusion, and/or strategic business combinations” are all on the table as it seeks to reduce debt. At the close of today’s trading on the New York Stock…

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson obviously recognizes that huge problems require huge solutions. This morning, he announced that in contrast to the federal government’s piecemeal approach to the growing financial crisis of the past couple of weeks, “We must now take further, decisive action to fundamentally and comprehensively address the root cause of our financial system’s stresses,” that root cause being illiquid mortgage assets.“The federal government must implement a program to remove these illiquid assets that are weighing down our financial institutions and threatening our economy,” Paulson said. He acknowledged that the plan, to be hashed out in rough form over…

With activity from coast to coast in the past few days, Houston-based Hines sold its interest in two Boston properties, as reported by CPN earlier today, and now is earning multiple LEED certifications on two California projects and acquiring Citigroup Center from Broadway Partners in Los Angeles Thursday. The Hines U.S. Office Value Added Fund II, L.P. (HVAF II) acquired the 48-story, 891,000-square-foot, Energy Star-labeled office tower is located at 444 Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles. The seller was represented by Eastdil Secured. Hines represented itself in the transaction. Hines will lease and manage the property. Terms of the…

The two giant government-sponsored entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, always had the implicit backing of the U.S. government. But that unspoken backing gained official status in September when the government placed the two troubled giants into conservatorship.The new agency that oversees the two GSEs, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, released a statement on Sept. 12 emphasizing its commitment to the multi-family market.“FHFA recognizes the importance of all aspects of the enterprises’ multi-family businesses–including the LIHTC (low-income-housing tax credit) area and liquidity facilities for remarketed mortgage revenue bonds–for a healthy secondary market and housing affordability. In particular, support for multi-family…

When the word non-profit comes up, the idea of deep pockets is rarely the first thing that springs to mind. Yet, in a real estate market marred by economic downturn and a credit crisis, these organizations in New York City are engaging in an activity that the great majority of businesses are avoiding–expanding. According to the New York Nonprofit ViewPoint, a report by the non-profit practice group of real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis Inc., these entities are pouncing on certain opportunities presented in a down market. Tough economic times or no, leasing office space in New York City…

Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers’ filing for bankruptcy protection this weekend is unlikely to thaw the year-old credit freeze-up that has plagued lending for commercial real estate. “This is bad news, of course,” said Lawrence Longua, clinical associate professor at the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University. He said that the news adds another layer of uncertainty to the market. “Lehman’s bankruptcy means that there will be $40 billion of real estate that they are going to be unloading. There are no buyers out there, there are only sellers.” “Lehman provided equity,…