News

CIP Real Estate and Alex Brown Realty Inc. have taken three business parks totaling approximately 600,000 square feet, thanks to $40.7 million of funding arranged by Buchanan Street Partners. The flex-industrial-office space is in the Charlotte, N.C. area. Buchanan Street was able to structure and secure a four-year, fixed-rate loan. “This transaction provided us the opportunity to leverage our relationships and secure financing for the CIP/ABR venture to close on this portfolio in a tight lending market.” Timothy Hawthorne, executive vice president of Buchanan Street, said in a statement. The portfolio encompasses three business parks, 87 percent leased, located in…

The 215-acre Orchard Town Center in Westminster, Colo., under construction since the fall of 2005, has opened amid a rather different economic and consumer environment than during its ground breaking.The open-air retail project is one of a number of developments in the Denver area being undertaken by Cleveland-based Forest City, including the massive redevelopment of the former Stapleton International Airport.According to the company’s fourth quarter report, as of the end of January the 983,000-square-foot Orchard Town Center project was 59 percent leased. JC Penney, SuperTarget and Macy’s are anchors, along with a 12-screen AMC movie theater. Other tenants include Aeropostale,…

Brass Funds has just acquired 25 acres of land off I-10 in San Antonio to accommodate the development of a new office project that will encompass 400,000 to 500,000 square feet. Laredo Westover Hills was the seller.Brass Funds has already taken another big step toward getting its project underway, having secured the rezoning of one acre of the property from residential to multi-family, thereby allowing for the development of office space. Specific details of the project have not yet been ironed out; however, in addition to office space, the tentative plan calls for several outdoor conference rooms.Magi Real Estate and…

Highwoods-DLF Forum L.L.C., a joint venture between Highwoods Properties Inc. and German fund DLF, has just purchased The Forum, a 635,000-square-foot office complex in Raleigh, N.C. The partnership paid approximately $113 million for the Class A property.Sited on a 19-acre parcel, The Forum boasts a location in the coveted Six Forks submarket of North Raleigh. The office park encompasses five structures, the first four of which are 92 percent leased. Forum V, which is not quite one year old, is 82 percent leased. Highwoods will oversee leasing and management of the buildings. The company’s portfolio of owned and partially owned…

The office buildings at 1000 and 1010 Vermont Ave. in Downtown Washington, D.C., rating Class B and Class C, have just come under new ownership. Pembroke Real Estate Inc. acquired the properties, totaling 141,800 square feet, from Guardian Realty Investors L.L.C.Consisting of nearly 78,400 square feet, the structure at 1000 Vermont was developed in 1950 and submitted to a comprehensive renovation in 1985. Its sister building at 1010 Vermont features approximately 63,400 square feet of space. Originally constructed in 1921, 1010 Vermont was most recently upgraded in 2001. Together the buildings have an average leasing level of 96 percent. Occupying…

After almost five years in the firm’s London office, Cushman & Wakefield Inc. executive Jeff Cushman has relocated to the New York world headquarters and has been promoted to executive managing director, CPN learned exclusively today. Cushman will be responsible for cross-border client development strategies, as well as initiatives for current and prospective global clients across the firm’s service lines. He reports directly to global COO John Santora. As Cushman (pictured) returns home, he brings both a global perspective and external and internal relationships created while overseas, all made with knowledge that he would eventually bring them back to the…

Though plans by Investment Corp. of Dubai to buy Spanish real estate giant Inmobiliaria Colonial SA have been given the deep-six, there are apparently other bidders eager to get a piece of Madrid-based Colonial or its assets. Colonial CEO Mariano Miguel, speaking on Bloomberg Television earlier today, alluded to messages “on my Blackberry” about interested investors, but did not name them. Thompson Financial, citing reports in the Spanish publication El Economista, said this morning that Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC) had devised a plan under which a consortium of six investors would each buy the 15 percent stake…

Plans for a $4 billion Crown casino and hotel in Las Vegas have hit a big snag and development group LVT1 L.L.C.–which includes Crown Ltd., IDM Properties and York Capital Management–has decided to walk away from the project.As per news from the Wall Street Journal, the developers have put the property up for sale, having found themselves unable to meet lenders’ growing equity demands. Located on a 27-acre parcel near the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Sahara Ave., the Crown development is designed to feature 300 guestrooms and 4,700 condominium residences in a 142-story skyscraper, as per a December…

Approximately three months after having formed a special committee to explore options for enhancing stockholder value, including a potential sale, Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc. has announced that no desirable offers have come to the fore and that the pursuit of a buyer will no longer be part of its consideration of possible alternatives.Within the last year, more than a few real estate companies have initiated the process of evaluating strategic alternatives for bolstering shareholder value, and mergers are frequently the outcome. Last May, Herndon Va.-headquartered Republic Properties Trust formed a special committee to review its options and five months…

Canada’s Fengate Property Management is moving to Yardi’s browser-based Voyager software, it has announced. Voyager will handle the property manager’s $2 billion mixed portfolio. Fengate properties are located throughout Ontario and in the United States. Fengate has been in the Canadian real estate management business since 1974, and began using Yardi software in 1996, when they bought Yardi Advantage. In 2002 they switched to Yardi Enterprise, which Voyager will be replacing. C.J.C. Consulting Services has begun to implement the new software application, and the employees at Fengate will be converting data to Yardi’s ASP hosting service.Fengate was included as one…