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By its very nature, commercial real estate is an opportunistic business. So it is really not surprising that a growing number of U.S. investors are forming funds, positioning themselves so that as soon as they perceive a bottom to the market, they can buy. And the funds are sizable: At press time, for instance, Rockwood Capital L.L.C. had just closed an investment fund at $964 million.Nor are Americans alone or the deals to consider only domestic. “Everywhere you look, there are opportunities for investors,” observed Louis Armstrong, CEO of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, better known as RICS, during…

The green building revolution is hitting its stride just as the recession challenges corporations to prop up their bottom lines. Thus some green development has had to take a back seat to economic reality, said Commercial Tenant Real Estate Representation president Marisa Manley.As of nine months ago, one of her clients intended to include plenty of green features in a 180,000-square-foot suburban office building planned for Connecticut’s Fairfield County. Economic concerns, however, led the corporation to first scale back its green commitment and later cancel the entire project. It is difficult to pay a premium for green if companies cannot…

Where many investors may see nothing but trouble in condominium properties, one company is busily scouting the Western United States in search of these types of assets. Newly formed Sycamore Urban Properties wants to acquire new and converted condominium properties that have fallen into distress.The company recently made its first acquisition, a 41-unit, newly constructed town home development in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Sycamore Urban purchased the note for the asset in September 2008, navigated the bankruptcy process and took title to the property via foreclosure in early March.The firm is working with financial institutions to acquire notes for distressed multi-family…

While the hospitality sector downturn has forced many firms to put expansion plans on the back burner, LaQuinta Inns & Suites is not one of them. The company opened 11 hotels in seven U.S. states, and added more than 800 rooms in the first quarter of this year. The select service brand, which had 719 hotels and 75,000 rooms open at the close of the quarter, is aggressively targeting growth opportunities in foreign markets, particularly in Central and South America. “The economies of these countries are pretty strong,” said Rajiv Trivedi, (pictured), LaQuinta’s chief development officer & executive vice president…

Hoping to capitalize on an unsettled real estate environment that could ultimately lead to the “best investment period in the last 20 years,” private real estate investment firm Rockwood Capital L.L.C. has closed an investment fund with some $964 million in capital commitments. The value-added fund, dubbed Rockwood Capital Real Estate Partners Fund VIII, will primarily invest in hotel, retail, office and residential properties in the United States. Fund VIII has a diverse investor base consisting of public and private pension funds, foundations and endowments, insurance companies and high net worth individuals, the company said. More than half of Fund…

Just days after Opus South Corp., a division of Opus Corp., filed for bankruptcy, one of the firm’s sister companies is reportedly some $160 million in debt.According to a report in the Arizona Republic, Phoenix-based Opus West Corp. reportedly owes banks more than $160 million in unpaid construction loans, interest and legal fees. An association of backers led by Bank of America issued a complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court on April 15, where the Valley’s largest developer is accused of failure to pay off the 10 loans in a timely matter. On April 23, CPN reported that Opus South–another…

Although we hold out hope for the best outcome and outright survival of General Growth Properties, Inc., the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of this real estate titan was a devastating event for the Bucksbaum family and the REIT’s employees. Further, it is a terribly disheartening account for those who have long admired and truly respected the story of how Martin and Matthew Bucksbaum expanded their family grocery store business in 1954 with the building of Town and Country Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of the earliest retail centers in the Midwest. I personally was saddened by the events and hold…

Curtailed expansion plans and store closures seem to be the most common trend in the retail sector, yet a pair of large-scale retail projects marked milestones just a few miles and hours apart from each other. Muss Development L.L.C. disclosed that a 121,000-square-foot BJ’s Wholesale Club will open this November at Sky View Center in the Flushing section of Queens, N.Y. The 800,000-square-foot shopping center is part of Muss’ Sky View Parc redevelopment project, which will also include six high-rise condominium towers. The developer also announced that a 6,500-square-foot Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill is scheduled to open there next…

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels recently published a five-year forecast for average daily rates, occupancy and RevPAR for the United States and the six major markets of Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. This forecast was based on an analysis of economic indicators that show strong correlation to hotel performance, including gross domestic product, gross metro product, per capita income, non-farm payroll, the S&P 500 Index and room supply.Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels projects that U.S. RevPAR will decline 12.1 percent in 2009, the result of a 7.4 percent average-daily-rate decline and a 5.1 percent decrease…

Lou Plasencia, president & CEO of hotel brokerage and consulting firm Plasencia Group stated that the lodging market is the worst in 25 years, calling the industry’s recent performance “deplorable.” Many institutional lenders like banks and insurance companies that have hotel loans on their books have lodging assets in their portfolios that have suffered severe declines in net operating income, which will likely translate to an increased number of foreclosures.The firm’s hospitality advisory services group, which consults with lenders on its troubled hotel assets, reported a 400 percent increase in business over the past 90 days. Plasencia cited some hotels…