Regions

The green movement continues. Following on the heels of new environmental sustainability programs at the Empire State Building and Sears Tower, the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the Sports & Exhibition Authority picked Earth Day to announce their goal of working toward LEED Gold Certification at the new $321 million Consol Energy Center, which is slated to be the first NHL arean to receive the Gold stamp from the U.S. Green Building Council.One other NHL arena is LEED certified, but it has elected to remain confidential, the Green Building Council’s Marie Coleman told CPN. “To date, there are now…

Apartment demand continues to hold strong in metropolitan San Diego, and with the government-controlled mortgage lenders actively doling out multi-family financing and cap rates showing signs of coming down, more than 30 potential buyers recently set their sights on two Oceanside, Calif., apartment complexes being sold by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The Prime Group emerged victorious, snapping up the assets, which encompass a total of 658 units, for an aggregate $84 million. Prime acquired the 424-unit The Villages of Monterey and the 234-unit Montecito Village from Northwestern Mutual in two separate transactions. Developed in 1988 at 3901 Mesa Dr.,…

Shopping center development plans in Europe have done an about face, according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield’s latest European Shopping Centre Development report. The recession and the scarcity of financing have forced projects to be placed on the back burner or scrapped altogether, which, come 2010, will have caused the first decline in new shopping center space in five years. Approximately 10 million square meters of new space–most of which was planned two or so years ago when demand was high and financing free flowing–is presently on target to come online this year, denoting a 1 million-square-meter…

Despite the challenging lending market and financial hurdles that led to a recent lawsuit, MGM Mirage has soldiered on in its pursuit to rake in financing to continue construction of its $8.8 billion CityCenter project (pictured) on the Las Vegas Strip. The firm has secured an amendment of its credit facility, thereby paving the way for the company to pay the $70 million in construction costs due for the 18 million-square-foot mixed-use development no later than April 17. “Payment is due on Friday and the waiver allows the payment to be made,” a company spokesperson told CPN. Amendment of the…

Detroit has been edging back into the news lately, as the U.S. Department of Treasury is reportedly sidling the auto giant GM toward a late springtime bankruptcy. For Detroit real estate markets, that might actually be a positive of some kind, since it would clear away some of the uncertainty that’s been hanging over the market since the Big Three were double-punched by the oil-price bubble and the recession. For the Detroit industrial market, conditions have been surprisingly stable lately. According to Grubb & Ellis’ most recent report on the market, industrial vacancies stood at 13.5 percent marketwide in 4Q08,…

Fox Rothschild L.L.P., a tenant at 2000 Market St. for three decades, has wrapped up its search for a new home, having found just the right space right under its nose. The law firm signed a new lease for nearly 104,500 square feet of premier space on three floors in the 665,600-square-foot building. Located in the Market Street West area of Philadelphia’s Central Business District, 2000 Market St. is a 29-story tower that was developed in 1972. The Class A building consists of 648,800 square feet of office space, 5,900 square feet of ground-level retail and 10,800 square feet of storage…

Capital Health System Inc. has just broken a record with its obtainment of a $756 million construction loan from the Federal Housing Administration for the development of its new hospital on a 165-acre site in Hopewell Township, N.J. The financing, arranged through FHA’s Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program, is being funded by TIAA-CREF and marks FHA’s biggest loan yet.Ground broke in October 2008 on the new state-of-the-art hospital (pictured), which will consist of a 540,000-square-foot six-story hospital structure connected via an atrium to a six-story medical office building with 320,000 square feet of space.  TIAA-CREF will buy high-quality, low-risk…

Retail giant Target Corp.’s 1 million-square-foot lease renewal in Downtown Minneapolis would be a major deal in any kind of real estate market. But given the industry’s current malaise and the slumping economy, the news is especially encouraging–for the Minneapolis market and beyond. Target inked its renewal for headquarters space at Minneapolis’ 50-story City Center tower last week, committing to occupancy of 970,000 square feet through 2023, with options through 2038. The firm’s existing lease was due to expire in portions in 2013 and 2015. The retailer has had a presence in the tower since 1983, and houses 4,000 employees…

Condominiums in greater New York City aren’t exactly reasonably priced compared to the rest of the country, but they’re going for a little less these days. According to a report released by the Real Estate Board of New York, the average condo sales price in the city during the first quarter of 2009 was about $1.16 million, a 10 percent drop from first quarter 2008 prices. “The declines were to be expected given the economy,” REBNY president Steven Spinola noted in a prepared statement. “However, we must keep in mind that for a time New York City remained insulated from…

The first quarter of 2009 is on the books, and a wide range of reports published this week agree on at least two things. First, bright spots remain scarce in the Manhattan office market, and second, that situation is unlikely to change much for the next few quarters. Among the reams of data released this week, no indicator is more striking than Manhattan’s investment market. During the first three months of the year, just $1.1 billion in office investment sales valued at $10 million or more closed in Manhattan, estimates Cushman & Wakefield Inc. That marks a half billion-dollar drop…