Regions

Despite the economic downturn, Manhattan’s retail market is showing surprising strength, as least as evidenced by current asking rents, according to a survey released by the Real Estate Board of New York. Although the retail market has been slowing over the past several months, overall asking rents for Manhattan retail space as of Sept. 30 were down only 3 percent from a year ago. In addition, asking rents in some corridors and submarkets were up dramatically. On the East Side, for example, the overall average asking rent for retail was up 11 percent from a year ago, to $190 per…

The Chicago office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has arranged a total of $145.3 million in construction financing and joint venture equity for Corbin Park, a regional, open-air retail village being developed in Overland Park, Kan., by Cormac Co. The co-lead providers of the funding were Bank of America and US Bank. INVESCO Real Estate provided joint venture equity on behalf of an unnamed institutional client. Under construction on a 96-acre site at the southeast corner of 135th St. and Metcalf Ave. near State Route 69 in Overland Park, the 1.1 million-square-foot Corbin Park will be anchored by Von Maur,…

Interstate Hotels & Resorts has signed a contract to manage the hotel component of a 3 million-square-foot indoor resort to be built outside Moscow.The mixed-used retail and entertainment complex to be named Freestyle Park will feature an indoor ski slope, apartments, bars, restaurants, movie theaters, an aqua park, a science museum and a shopping center. The project is being developed by MT Development, with the hotel portion expected to open Spring 2011. It is Interstate’s tenth hotel management contract in Europe, eight of which are open and operating.“The scale of this exciting new project surpasses anything being developed in Russia…

The Los Angeles office of Hines announced that Union Bank of California has signed a lease extension for approximately 345,000 square feet of office and retail branch space in Union Bank Plaza. The 39-story, 627,000-square-foot office tower has served as the bank’s Los Angeles headquarters since the building was constructed in 1967.  The long-term lease includes a two-floor expansion of the firm’s existing premises and represents the largest office lease transaction in Downtown Los Angeles since 1989. Union Bank Plaza is located at 445 South Figueroa St.  The 3.5-acre site is situated along the 110 Freeway between 4th and 5th…

Juster Development has acquired 100 and 120 White Plains Road in Tarrytown, N.Y., from SL Green in a $48 million deal.120 White Plains Road, also known as the Christiana Building, is a six-story Class A office containing 205,000 square feet. 100 White Plains Road contains 6,000 square feet on four stories. Both buildings are within easy access to Interstate 287, Downtown White Plains, the Metro North Railroad, hotels and local amenities.The Christiana Building was built in 1984 and is nearly 100 percent occupied. The property contains a 5,000-square-foot dining facility and includes an enclosed parking garage.100 White Plains Road is…

A joint venture between URDANG and Onyx Equities L.L.C. has sold the 320,000-square-foot Parker Corporate Center in White Plains, N.Y., for $81.8 million, a gain of nearly 20 percent over the November 2006 purchase price of $68.5 million. The fully leased, multi-tenant building was part of the URDANG Value-Added Fund L.P. portfolio. During the two years that the fund owned the property, Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based URDANG and Woodbridge, N.J.-based Onyx Equities upgraded the landscaping and signage, while overhauling the leasing strategy. Current tenants include Acadia Realty and OrthoNet. While the national office market has struggled this year, tenants in Westchester…

As part of a new $184 million hospital campus in Waco, Texas, Seavest Inc., a White Plains, N.Y.–based investment management firm focused primarily on healthcare real estate assets, recently broke ground on two medical offices (pictured) totaling 166,000 square feet and together valued at $40 million.In addition to office space, the two office buildings will house the Hillcrest Breast Screening Center, an outpatient surgery center and outpatient imaging centers. The 74-acre campus at I-35 and Highway 6 will include two new hospitals, Hillcrest Community Hospital and Hillcrest Women’s & Children’s Hospital, and will partially replace the current facility on Herring…

ProLogis has signed seven new lease agreements in New Jersey representing a total of approximately 490,600 square feet during the third quarter of 2008.“New Jersey remains a prominent distribution location for companies looking to support regional or national supply chain networks,” Paul Loosmann, senior vice president and northeast regional director for ProLogis, said in a release. “The region offers exceptional highway access and proximity to a number of population centers in the northeast, which is key in attracting and retaining customers.” The third quarter transactions include leases with: Packaging and Distribution Resources, a third-party packaging and distribution provider, which leased…

Continuing its search for high-quality multi-family properties despite the tanking economy, private equity real estate fund manager BPG Properties Ltd. acquired a suburban Atlanta multi-family community for $52.8 million from Atlanta-based Post Apartment Homes, L.P.Post Woods is a 494-unit Class B+ multi-family community located in suburban Atlanta. The community will be managed by BPG’s multi-family operating arm, Madison Apartment Group, L.P. The purchase was made on behalf of BPG Investment Partnership VIII & VIIIA, L.P., a fully discretionary private equity fund with total equity commitments of $850 million.  “The location of this property is very appealing,” Steve Pogarsky, vice president…

The Northern/Central New Jersey office market experienced strong lease renewal activity during this year’s third quarter as tenants opt to stay in place in the midst of turbulent economic times, according to a report by CB Richard Ellis Inc. But questions hover over New Jersey office market in general, the major one being the effect of the Wall Street meltdown on office leasing in the Northern and Central parts of the state. It was thought that the market would benefit from corporate tenants seeing Northern and Central New Jersey as a relative bargain, compared to the rising rent and lower…