Regions

Business closures and slowing trade will negatively affect the office and industrial sectors well into 2009 in Southern California, according to a report released today by the Casden Forecast at the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate. The report found that the pendulum has swung from landlords to tenants for the first time since 2003. The combination of an abundance of office space and slackened demand has put downward pressure on rents throughout the region, and the report sees high vacancy rates and reduced demand through the end of next year. In Los Angeles County, the large…

ProLogis has leased approximately 118,500 square feet near Columbus, Ohio to Health Care Logistics, a distributor of unique and hard-to-find healthcare products.Capital Park South Distribution Park is located near the intersection of Interstate 270 and Highway 62 in Grove City. Current ProLogis customers at the distribution park include FedEx, Office Depot, Nippon Express and Workflow One.This is Health Care Logistics’ second lease with ProLogis in Ohio. The company currently occupies a 108,470-square-foot facility in a neighboring distribution center. a “Columbus’ location in the heart of the Midwest remains one of the most attractive attributes of the industrial market here,” Brian…

Serota Properties has submitted a proposal to develop a $300 million mixed-use community on 136 acres at the corner of Sunrise Highway and Veterans Memorial Highway in New York’s Islip, Long Island.Coined Islip Pines, the proposed development includes plans for more than 200 residential units, a Class A office complex, a cluster of retail stores, an upscale hotel and a movie theater. Moreover, the company has requested that half of the proposed space be allocated toward industrial purposes in an attempt to draw corporations to the area and spur an upsurge in employment opportunities in Islip.”Our objective is to create…

The Indianapolis office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arranged $70 million in financing for Duke Realty Corp. to redevelop a former General Motors manufacturing plant in Linden, N.J. The redevelopment project will receive a two-year adjustable rate loan with HSBC Bank USA, with  US Bank and The Private Bank as participants.HFF senior managing director David Keller (pictured) and associate director David Ross both worked to establish the financing and secure the loan, on behalf of a joint venture between Duke and also Stockbridge Real Estate Funds. Duke Realty specializes in the construction, development and management of office industrial and health care…

ProLogis has leased approximately 489,000 square feet of distribution space to a pair of customers in California’s Central Valley. One of the food and drug retailers in North America has leased approximately 445,000 square feet from ProLogis at Central Valley Distribution Center, Building 4, located in West Sacramento. Positioned near the intersection of Interstates 5 and 80, the park features quick highway access throughout the region. The retailer will use the facility to distribute slow-moving, non-perishable items throughout the western United States. Additionally, the Complete Logistics Co., a third-party logistics provider, has leased approximately 44,000 square feet from ProLogis at Patterson…

Cabot Properties has purchased a 788,000-square-foot industrial portfolio, comprising assets in Chicago and Baltimore, from TIAA-CREF. The portfolio consists of one 111,191-square-foot property in Baltimore and eleven properties in Chicago totaling 676,898 square feet. TIAA-CREF was represented by CB Richard Ellis Inc. “Contrary to popular opinion, the capital markets are open for business,” CBRE vice chairman Jack Fraker, one of those representing TIAA-CREF, said in a prepared statement. “We had strong interest in this deal, represented by over 10 competitive offers in the first round.  Both buyer and seller should be commended for staying the course during due diligence when…

Duke Realty Corp. has completed the sale of a 16-acre parcel in its Mark Center business park in Alexandria, Va., to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will develop the land as a two-building office complex that will house 6,400 Department of Defense employees. The sale price was $105 million. The project (pictured) arises out of Recommendation 133 issued by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission ; the recommendation involves relocating various DoD personnel from leased space in Northern Virginia. The 1.7 million-square-foot BRAC 133 project will comprise two office towers, of 15 and 17 stories, that…

Despite the careening economy, average asking rental rates throughout New York State and New England notched moderate gains in the third quarter compared with the levels recorded in the first quarter, according to a recent report.The study, conducted by third-party property management specialist Sunrise Management & Consulting, assesses rental conditions in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York (excluding New York City), New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The fall survey, which was conducted from September to November, does not include actual rent rates. Much of the increase in average rental rates can be attributed to the supply-and-demand situation in New York…

When the city of Boston signed off on a pair of high-profile developments last week, officials may have been sending a message about the need to kick-start development. On Thursday, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved two major projects that  developers want to add to the site of the 3.2 million-square-foot Prudential Center. Boston Properties Inc. plans to build a 17-story, 422,000-square-foot office tower at 880 Boylston St. Nearby, AvalonBay Communities is planning a 188-unit, 27-story apartment complex. That the projects won approval despite community reservations about their size shows how urgently the city wants to move projects forward. “Boston has…

International theme park operator Six Flags Inc. will be extending its overseas reach with a park in Qatar, according to the terms of an agreement between Six Flags and Oryx Holdings, a diversified Qatar-based holding company. The 500,000-square-foot Six Flags-branded park will be part of Qatar Entertainment City, a mixed-use development in Lusail, Qatar, and is scheduled to open by mid-2012. Six Flags will provide concept development and planning services to Oryx Holdings for the park’s creation, after which the two companies will collaborate on the park’s design, development, construction and management. “The partnership will help further establish and push…