News

Taking another big leap in its international expansion plan, Hilton Hotels has formed a strategic alliance with HLH Property Ltd. for the development of as many as 30 new hotels in the United Kingdom over the next five years. The properties, which will encompass a total of approximately 4,000 guestrooms, will be delivered over the next five years. For the most part, the lodging facilities will carry the flag of Hampton by Hilton, Hilton’s modern economy hotel brand. HLH has already pinpointed sites for consideration in the U.K. and Ireland. Areas chosen for the new hotels are predominantly located in…

Ponce Circle Developers L.L.C., a joint venture between Ralph Sanchez and Mas Group, has begun work on Old Spanish Village, a $350 million mixed-use community in Coral Gables, Fla.Upon completion the development will consist of three mid-rise condominiums and 38 villa residences. It will also include the 16-story Ponce de Leon Towers at 2801 Ponce de Leon Blvd., to be developed by The Allen Morris Co. Located outside the city’s Central Business District, Old Spanish Village is four blocks south of Miracle Mile. The village’s mid-rise condominiums, along with the Ponce de Leon Towers, will border Ponce de Leon Boulevard. …

Targeting the growing demand for healthcare properties in Europe, ING Real Estate launched the ING European Healthcare Property Fund today. The investment vehicle, which will ultimately have an anticipated total of about €800 million, or approximately $1.2 billion to play with, will focus on cure, care and commercial healthcare real estate. As is the case in the U.S., the mushrooming population of aging individuals and the general increase in demand for healthcare, are spurring the growth of Western Europe’s healthcare property sector, currently valued at approximately €400 billion. “We have the same demographic issues of double aging and more senior citizens;…

The New York State Supreme Court has issued a ruling that the Town of Oyster Bay, on the north shore of Long Island, must issue a long-delayed special-use permit to Taubman Centers Inc. for The Mall at Oyster Bay. The mall, an 750,000-square-foot, roughly $500 million regional center to be anchored by Barneys New York, Nordstrom and what will be Long Island’s only Neiman Marcus, has so far spent more time in court than under construction. “The court has now definitively ruled that there is no legal basis for the town to further delay the mall,” Steve Kieras, Taubman’s senior…

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will soon debut two new upscale resort condominium properties just outside of Breckenridge, Colo., about 80 miles from Denver. Mesa Homes Development Co. is behind the development of the projects, Fairmont Residences Shock Hill and Fairmont Residences on the River, which carry a total price tag of approximately $270 million. Shock Hill will sit within close proximity to Mt. Baldy and the White River National Forest, and will feature 87 condominium and penthouse residences, as well as a luxury spa. About two miles away is the site of On the River, which will encompass 60 condominiums…

Despite the sputtering economy, credit crisis and sagging dollar, the commercial real estate market is growing–unlike other investment areas. Commercial property for the four quarters ended March 31, 2008, showed a total return of 13.6 percent, according to the NCREIF-NPI index, which serves as the gauge of the sector’s investment performance. The TIAA-CREF Weekly Market Monitor for June 2 reported that the total return includes income of 5.41 percent and capital appreciation of 7.86 percent. All four major property types shared in the strong performance, continued the Monitor. Office produced a returns to 17.5 percent, with industrial at 13 percent,…

A new research report by industrial landlord ProLogis posits that China’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Economic and Technological Development Zones (ETDZs) have been, and even continue to be, catalysts in that country’s economic transformation. The report, called “China’s Special Economic Zones and National Industrial Parks–Door Openers to Economic Reform,” credits the zones with attracting foreign companies to invest in China and thereby nurturing China’s economic revitalization in the last 30 years or so. Currently there are five SEZs and 54 ETDZs in China. Foreign enterprises establishing operations in these zones are granted tax breaks, the ability to repatriate profits…

Marking yet another failed Las Vegas property trade in recent months, plans for 155 East Tropicana L.L.C. to sell its Hooters Casino Hotel to Hedwigs Las Vegas Top Tier L.L.C., an affiliate of the investment group led by NTH Advisory Group L.L.C., have disintegrated. The $95 million deal was declared null and void on June 6 due to the buyer’s failure to make a previously agreed upon payment. It was on April 30, 2007 that 155 East Tropicana entered into an asset purchase agreement for the sale of Hooters Casino to Hedwigs, which made an unsolicited offer for hotel. The…

In an effort to catch up to demand for its frozen meals, the Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz Co. will develop a new 225,000-square-foot factory in Florence, S.C. The food and condiment company, known around the world for its ketchup, will spend $105 million to complete the facility. Heinz’s new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant will occupy a 49-acre parcel within the 700-acre Pee Dee Touchstone Energy Commerce City, one of the state’s top business and industrial parks. Heinz considered locations in various states before settling on Florence as the manufacturing site to accommodate its Southeast and Northeast distribution centers. Ground is scheduled to…

The $760 million expansion at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is under way as Morgans Hotel Group announced today it closed on the financing needed for the major facelift with its equity and joint venture partner, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. The financing calls for a construction loan of up to $620 million under the Hard Rock’s existing loan facility. Hard Rock has already drawn $96 million and will draw additional amounts as needed, according to a Morgans press release. Under an amended joint venture agreement, DLJ agreed to make additional capital contributions of up to $144…