News

Kuwait-based M.A. Kharafi Group has launched a new company to invest in hotel and resort properties in the United States and worldwide. As part of Kharafi, the new company–dubbed Sovereign Hospitality Holdings–already has assets of $800 million due to its parent company’s existing portfolio of 21 hotels and resorts located in Egypt, South Africa, Gambia, Syria, Lebanon and Albania. The new company is developing projects in Libya, Senegal, Ethiopia and Mauritania and has management agreements in place with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Hyatt International, Rotana Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Six Senses Spa….

Taking the next big step in the development of a new corporate headquarters for Canon Americas, leading imaging solutions provider Canon U.S.A. has revealed that it will file site plans with the Long Island town of Huntington, N.Y., for the project tomorrow. The planned 650,000-square-foot building (pictured) will ultimately be home to an estimated 2,500 employees. Canon has called Long Island home for 37 years and after 20 years of searching for a place to expand, decided to stay put on the island. “We looked in New York on Long Island and several other places off Long Island, as well…

Red Lion Hotels Corp. has not been on the hunt for a buyer, but that has not stopped Columbia Pacific Opportunity Fund L.P. from making an offer. Columbia Pacific, a 12.7 percent shareowner in the Spokane, Wash.-headquartered hospitality company, has made a non-binding and conditional preliminary proposal to acquire Red Lion’s outstanding shares for a total of $173 million. Columbia Pacific submitted a letter dated June 27 to Red Lion’s Chairman of the Board with an offer of $9.50 per each of Red Lion’s outstanding shares, which, as of April 30, totaled 18,228,271; the figure constitutes a 35 percent premium…

Spanish real estate powerhouse Inmobiliaria Colonial SA has reaffirmed its commitment to selling its 15 percent stake in Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC), Spain’s third-largest construction company, according to a Bloomberg report. At the end of March, CPN had covered press reports that FCC was trying to pull together a plan under which a consortium of six investors would jointly purchase Colonial’s stake in FCC. Colonial, which is laden with 8 billion to 9 billion euros of debt, has for some months been both working to sell off individual assets and entertaining various suitors for the company itself….

Kennedy Wilson has agreed to purchase a 16-story office tower in Los Angeles. The building, 6100 Wilshire, is located adjacent to Beverly Hills at the southwest corner for Wilshire and Fairfax. Financial details of the deal were not revealed.The 214,000-square-foot property is currently 85 percent occupied by tenants including CBS, Ovation, World Link, Fulfillment Fund, Idea Asylum and City National Bank. Upon purchase, Kennedy Wilson plans to redevelop the building by undertaking a comprehensive modernization of the property, which was originally built in 1986. Kennedy Wilson is confident that the building will retain its value because of the low supply…

Nearly two years after its first shares were offered for sale, KBS Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. has closed. The non-traded REIT raised $1.67 billion and bought $1.65 billion in income-producing commercial real estate and other assets, bringing the total acquisitions to more than $2.1 billion. With KBS Capital Markets Group as its dealer manager, KBS REIT used the proceeds to buy 61 properties with more than 20 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space primarily in large U.S. cities and metropolitan areas. KBS REIT also bought $543 million of strategic debt real estate-related assets. Charles Schreiber, CEO…

Roadside Development, the company behind the planned CityMarket at O mixed-use redevelopment endeavor, is on track to get a helping hand from the District of Columbia for the funding of the $260 million project. Mayor Anthony Fenty just revealed today that the city has facilitated an agreement with Roadside that calls for the District to provide a $35 million tax increment financing package to assist the development of the project. CityMarket at O will sprout up at the site of the historic O Street Market located just two blocks from the 2.3 million-square-foot Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Shaw,…

Potranco Limited L.P. has purchased 174 acres about 20 miles west of San Antonio from the General Land Office of the state of Texas on behalf of the Permanent School for an undisclosed amount. Potranco Limited is a mix of several partnerships from Dallas to San Antonio. The firm has a large retail development underway adjacent to this property, Cody Persyn, a senior associate with CB Richard Ellis Inc., the broker for the deal, told CPN. The property, known as Redbird Ranch, is located 18 miles to the west of Downtown San Antonio with frontage on Potranco Road and the…

A joint venture including Stonebridge Realty Advisors Inc. will erect a $90 million, 220-key select service hotel in Midtown Manhattan on W. 37th St. between 8th and 9th Avenues. The project is currently being contemplated as a boutique hotel or a primary select-service brand. The hotel will be strategically located near the redeveloping area around Penn Station, the Jacob Javits Convention Center, the West Side Rail Yards project, and is also within walking distance to Times Square. The project marks Stonebridge’s first venture into the Manhattan hospitality market; the company said it plans to partake in additional projects in the…

SL Green Realty Corp’s bid to develop Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y., will include a $28.5 million Equine Development Plan. The plan, which has won the support of upstate New York agricultural leaders, is part of SL Green’s efforts to revitalize the raceway in Queens. The plan will create jobs by linking the gaming and developing franchises at Aqueduct with various farming programs statewide, and also aims to share the proceeds derived from raceway operations with upstate communities. The plan, which Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairman William Magee has endorsed, will disburse the $28.5 million over the initial term of the…