Regions

Kor Hotel Group has just taken on a new partner. The Los Angeles-headquartered hospitality company sold a 50 percent stake to Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co. for an undisclosed amount. With the new investment, Kor will expand its Tides and Viceroy brands to major gateway cities and leading resort destinations in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. Kor’s decision to sell part of its company was not a calculated move, but a simple evolution of a partnership. “This relationship has been developed over several months, allowing each party to discuss and strategize the best possible scenarios for cooperation,” a…

Flying in the face of the debilitating credit crunch, Forest City Enterprises Inc. has managed to close on a $250 million construction financing deal for Waterfront Station, a 2.5 million-square-foot mixed-use project underway in the blossoming southwest area of Washington, D.C. Forest City is developing Waterfront Station as a partner in Waterfront Associates, a joint venture involving affiliates of Forest City Washington Inc., Bresler & Reiner Inc. and Vornado/Charles E. Smith. The non-recourse loan will fund the project’s first phase, which includes two office structures totaling 628,000 square feet with ground-level retail space. The group of lenders that provided the…

KOP Capital Pte Ltd. of Singapore has announced the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in Stein Group International. The investment is thought to be worth $250 million and gives KOP an entry into the global hospitality market. Stein Group International is the parent company of a portfolio of companies in the luxury hospitality sector which currently operates in Europe and North America. With the investment by KOP, Stein Group will expand into the Asian market, targeting Singapore, China, Indonesia and Thailand for developments. Plans call for Stein Groups to begin operations in Asia by 2010. Stein Group International operates…

AMB Property Corp. is continuing to make deals for parcels in its 120-acre AMB Pacific Coast Business Park in Oceanside, Calif., with the recent sale of a 6.5-acre site to Pacific Marine Credit Union for a new headquarters. PMCU plans to build a two-story, 60,000-square-foot office building on the parcel located at the intersection of Old Grove Road and College Boulevard, according to an AMB Property news release. The ground floor will include a retail credit union branch and ATM locations with general and administrative offices taking up the rest of the space. The 55-year-old credit union, originally known as…

ProLogis announced that it will develop a new 1.1 million-square-foot distribution facility for Marks & Spencer, a food and home products retailer in the United Kingdom. The facility will be developed at ProLogis Park Bradford, a 90-acre business park located in the county of Yorkshire in northern England. At full build-out, ProLogis Park Bradford will have two buildings comprising up to 1.25 million square feet of space. ProLogis plans to develop additional office and industrial space at the site on a build-to-suit basis, and is currently marketing the park to businesses with local and regional operations.The building will be built…

Trikona Capital Ltd. has taken a third step in its partnership with SachsenFonds Holdings GmbH, based just outside of Munich in Haar, Germany, with the closing of a $156 million deal. The agreement calls for Trikona, a top fund management firm for institutional investment in Indian infrastructure and real estate, and SachsenFonds to invest over $70 million in four new projects involving infrastructure development in the economically blossoming country. Trikona and SachsenFonds have not disclosed extensive details regarding the infrastructure projects, including specific locations. However, according to a report by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, funds that are…

Calling it “this senseless tragedy,” Bill Marriott, chairman & CEO of Marriott International, posted a deeply personal response to the tragic bombing of the Pakistan Marriott on Sept. 20.At approximately 7:00 p.m. local time, he reported, a large truck pulled up to the security checkpoint of Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan and blew up. The blast destroyed the front of the hotel and ruptured a gas line, which caused a large fire to break out.”This senseless tragedy and the profound loss of life has left me greatly saddened. My heart goes out to those who’ve been injured and the families…

SL Green Realty Corp. has announced the refinancing of two properties in two separate transactions: 717 Fifth Avenue with The Royal Bank of Scotland and 28 West 44th Street with DekaBank. Total combined proceeds were $410 million with net proceeds to SL Green of $160 million. The cash-out refinance during such a difficult time for credit underscores the REIT’s clout with lenders. The company now has approximately $$850 million of cash and other immediately available capacity to deploy should opportunities arise in this volatile market, according to Andrew Mathias, president & chief investment officer.The retail condominium at 717 Fifth Avenue…

Equity Office Properties now has full ownership of two trophy buildings in Boston’s Back Bay area after buying out the minority interest in both properties from ownership partner Hines.Terms of the deal for Two Twenty Two Berkeley (pictured) and Five Hundred Boylston were not released. Hines, which developed both buildings, will continue in its role as property manager. “We continue to seek attractive investment opportunities here in the Boston market, both in the repositioning of our currently owned properties as well as new acquisitions,” Greg Shay, president of the Boston region for Equity Office, which is owned by The Blackstone…

Taking another step in its mission of creating value through property management and repositioning, Berkshire Income Realty Inc. has entered into an agreement to sell Westchester West Apartments in Silver Spring, Md., in a transaction valued at approximately $53.4 million. The deal includes the buyer’s assumption of a $37.5 million mortgage debt on the 345-unit apartment community. Berkshire acquired the Westchester West from an affiliate three years ago for $39.3 million. Located at 3212 Hewitt Ave., about 25 miles from Washington, D.C., Westchester West is a garden-style multifamily complex that was developed between 1970 and 1972. The area’s apartment market…