News

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels has opened its doors in São Paulo, Brazil, completing the firms BRIC strategy of having dedicated hospitality experts in Brazil, Russia, India and China.Executive vice president Ricardo Mader Rodrigues and senior vice president Manuela Gorni, along with seven hotel specialists, have joined the new team, bringing the firm’s strategic advisory and asset management team to 80 hotel professionals globally. Previously, they were partners of Hotel Investment Advisors, an advisory and asset management consulting group in São Paulo, and were the first in Brazil to offer specialized consulting services for the hotel industry, including asset management, operations…

ProLogis has leased approximately 205,000 square feet in Dalian, China to Nittsu Sinotrans Logistics Dalian Ltd., a joint venture between Sinotrans Liaoning Co. and Nippon Express.ProLogis Park Dalian Free Port is a 1.4 million-square-foot master-planned distribution park located in Dalian Free Port area, adjacent to the Dalian container yard and to land that will be used to accommodate a planned, two-phase expansion of the port taking place through 2010. Nittsu Sinotrans will occupy distribution space at the park, providing third-party logistics and transportation services to Canon Inc. “We are pleased Nittsu Sinotrans has selected ProLogis Park Dalian Free Port as…

Skyline International Development Inc. has completed the acquisition of Horseshoe Valley Resort, one of Ontario’s largest year-round recreation properties. The purchase price was $37 million. Skyline plans to retain all existing employees and current management at the properties. When reached this morning, Gil Blutrich, Skyline founder & president explained that, “The benefits of having two resorts in close proximity offers Canadians and foreign residents a four-season master planned waterfront community along with Horseshoe Valley ski hills, trails and pair of world-class golf courses.” Horseshoe Valley Resort includes 688 acres of land, 23 ski runs, 35 kilometers of cross country trails,…

The unfavorable lending market is not holding everyone back. The Macerich Co. recently closed $895 million in financing on five retail properties and secured a commitment for a $150 million loan on a sixth asset. The properties, save for one, are all located in California. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Macerich has been hard at work over the last couple of months. Just last week, the REIT closed a $170 million loan on Fresno Fair, a super regional mall in Fresno, Calif.; completed a $300 million construction/permanent loan on super regional mall The Oaks in Thousand Oaks, Calif.; and entered into an…

United Capital Corp. announced today that its board of directors received a letter from A.F. Petrocelli, its chairman, president & CEO, proposing to acquire all of the company’s outstanding common stock at a cash purchase price of $23 per share, which represents about a 15 percent premium over the average closing price of the company’s common stock on Friday. The total value of the transaction, including contributions of the existing equity of Petrocelli, his family members, and certain senior executives of the company, is expected to exceed $270 million, including the assumption of the company’s outstanding indebtedness. The company’s hotel…

With construction slated to start in November on the master-planned 3,000-acre Woodforest Development  in the Houston suburb of Conroe, the Conroe Independent School District has purchased 16.16 acres of the project for an elementary school. “It will be very beneficial to have an on-site school within walking distance to neighborhoods. We are thrilled to announce the school site before we even have rooftops,” Kristi Steward, director of marketing for Woodforest, told CPN. Woodforest has been working with CISD for the past 12 months to examine a variety of sites within the development. CISD also reserved the option to purchase an…

Continuing the expansion of its Global Multi-Manager business, CB Richard Ellis Investors has appointed three new senior managers, two in London and one in Boston. Established in 2006, the GMM manages segregated accounts and three funds of funds investing in unlisted property funds, with $5 billion of assets under management, and a client base that has been predominantly European. A CBRE spokesperson told CPN that all three positions are new ones. In London, Ian Gleeson joins CBRE Investors as chief investment officer, with overall investment responsibility for the GMM investment programs. He has more than 15 years of industry experience…

Oyster Point Business Park and Oyster Cove Marina in South San Francisco have just come under new ownership, courtesy of a deal valued at a reported $85 million. Shorenstein Properties L.L.C. partnered with SKS Investments to acquire the property, which consists of 404,200 square feet of flex/industrial space and a 235-berth marina, from Shelton Corp. Oyster Point sits along 1,650 feet of waterfront on Oyster Point Blvd., just 1.5 miles from San Francisco International Airport. The marina was developed in 1982, the same year that the two-year construction period kicked off for the business park’s six buildings. Presently 88 percent…

Marriott Vacation Club International, the vacation ownership division of Marriott International Inc., broke ground yesterday on Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve at Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla. The 500-acre Grande Lakes campus is already home to a JW Marriott hotel and a Ritz-Carlton, the latter including a golf club and a spa. The resort is proposed to eventually include 340 villas and townhomes, with the first phase slated for occupancy by summer 2010. Sales will begin tomorrow, with initial prices ranging from $26,000 to $40,000/week, depending on season and floor plan selected. Planned amenities at the property on build-out will include a…

The apartment community known as Plantations at Haywood in Greenville, S.C., has just come under new ownership. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors L.L.C., acting on behalf of tenant-in-common investors, snapped up the 562-unit property from Simpson Housing. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors relied on Wachovia Bank to finance its acquisition of Plantations from Simpson, which turned to real estate services firm Apartment Realty Advisors for representation in the transaction. Carrying the address of 135 Haywood Crossing Dr., the complex, formerly known as Haywood Crossing & Station, is sandwiched between I-385 and I-85 about two miles form Greenville’s Central Business District….