News

Buffets Holdings Inc., through a number of its subsidiaries, has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking to reject a master land and building lease for 129 of the company’s restaurants. The motion also seeks court authorization to close 127 of these locations by the end of August (two have already closed). In Eagan, Minn.-based Buffets Holdings’ motion, the company claims a number of issues with the master lease, including above-market rents, mandatory annual rent increases of 2 percent or more and provisions that provide little recourse when restaurants perform poorly. New York-based…

Baltimore Land Holdings has sold an industrial distribution facility outside of Baltimore. The 612,900-square-foot property is located in Jessup, Md., along the Baltimore-Washington corridor.CB Richard Ellis Inc. acted as executive leasing agent on the property, which sold for $40 million. The buyer of the building is Exeter Property Group, a real estate prove equity firm based in Pennsylvania. Exeter will use the property to attract clients with needs for 40,000 to 400,000 square foot areas. The property is located at 7605 Dorsey Run Road, a road which is currently being improved and extended and is conveniently located proximal to major…

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will be bringing the St. Regis brand to the United Arab Emirates Dubai, it has reported. The opening is slated for 2012. The St. Regis Hotel Dubai will be close to the commercial and main shopping centers of the city, in the Starhill Towers & Gallery, a high-rise and multi-use development owned and developed by ETA Star Property Developers. The Starhill is part of the multi-billion dollar Business Bay Development, a 21-million square foot mixed-use project of Dubai Properties that will include retail, office, hospitality and residential. Dubai development has been much in the news…

Pharmacy chain Walgreens has announced plans to curb its expansion beginning in 2009. The company’s future plans involve cutting its expansion from 9 percent in 2008 to 8 percent in 2009 to 6 percent in 2010 and ultimately to a level of 5 percent expansion in 2011. The new expansion goals reveal a deviation from the company’s previous plans of annual long term expansion of 8 percent. Because of stores already on the development track, the firm cannot decrease its openings through 2009. The company expects that the current year will yield approximately 500 new stores, a net figure factoring…

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. has just revealed that it will develop an upscale outlet shopping center in suburban Phoenix. The 330,000-square-foot project will mark the company’s entrée into Arizona. The new Tanger Outlet Center will occupy a 30-acre parcel that Tanger recently committed to acquiring with the signing of a purchase and sale agreement with HWWCC Development L.L.C. Located at the intersection of 101 Loop and Camelback Rd. in Glendale, the site is near leading sports venues the University of Phoenix Stadium and Jobing.com Arena. Ultimately, the retail destination will offer 80 stores in an open-air environment. Tanger is…

Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPT) has provided a $60 million financing package for three Southern California hospital campuses acquired recently by Prime Healthcare Services Inc. of Victorville, Calif. Prime acquires distressed hospitals and turns them around. The financing package provided for 100 percent of the price of the hospitals. It is expected that the transaction will be converted into a sale-leaseback within 30 days. Under the terms of that transaction, MPT will take back the loans, allocate the $60 million among the three facilities and issue triple net leases on each–calling for rents equivalent to 10.5 percent of the $60…

Sacramento County has approved plans for a mixed-use developmental project by GenCorp Inc. GenCorp’s plan for the site includes 4,883 residential units of varying sizes to go along with 4.2 million square feet of commercial and office space. The project will be situated on about 1,400 acres in the eastern part of Sacramento County, and is a part of GenCorp’s broader vision for its 600 acres of excess land in the area. Included in plans for the development are 480 acres of open space and parks. The plan will also incorporate new green technologies in the construction and operation of…

As part of its commitment, announced in late 2006, to invest more than $1 billion in slum redevelopment in Mumbai, India, Trikona Capital Ltd. of New York City has signed up for a 4-acre, $40 million middle-class housing project in Bandra, a residential area adjacent to Mumbai’s Central Business District. The deal is a co-investment with SachsenFonds, a German fund manager, and the developer is Keystone Constructions Pte. Ltd. Though Trikona has more than 15 urban redevelopment projects in Mumbai totaling 20 million square feet, this is its first investment that involves the renovation of middle-class housing. According to a…

Pharmacy benefit management firm MedImpact has just broken ground on its new corporate headquarters campus in San Diego. The 320,000-square-foot complex will be located in the city’s Scripps Ranch submarket. MedImpact’s new home will sit near the intersection of I-15 and Mercy Rd., just two miles north of its current location. Consisting of two multi-story structures, the development will be designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. In the currently challenging economy, many companies are freeing up capital through real estate sale-leaseback deals. However, some firms are moving forward with the development of their own headquarters properties either for investment purposes,…

New Jersey-based Hill International has been awarded a contract by Sorouh Real Estate PJSC of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to handle project management for Gateway Towers 3 through 8 at the firm’s Shams Abu Dhabi development. The four-year contract will be worth about $35 million to Hill. The total cost to build the six mixed-use towers, which will encompass about 11.8 million square feet, is expected to be about $1.6 billion, and construction is scheduled to be completed by May 2012. Overall, the Shams Abu Dhabi development will include residential, office, hotel, retail, entertainment and parking facilities, including the…