Uncategorized

Retail sales were down in November, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, but not as much as in October. The November drop was 1.8 percent, compared with an October drop of 2.9 percent, the worst drop on record. Still, there was a meager bright spot for retailers, except for auto dealers: take out cars and car parts, sales of which fell 1.6 percent in November, and retail sales actually rose in November by 0.3 percent. Electronics stores and sporting goods stores led the way with a 2.8 percent increase each in sales last month.Curiously, in the face of all…

Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. purchased a 606,027-square-foot industrial/R&D portfolio located in Tucson, Ariz., from a joint venture of the Muller Co. and GE Real Estate for $46 million. The transaction is the largest investment sale completed in Tucson so far this year. Ryan Gallagher, senior vice president, and Kelly Rohfeld, vice president, with Grubb & Ellis’ Institutional Investment Group represented the buyer and the seller in the transaction along with local market brokers Russ Hall and Steve Cohen of Picor Commercial. The six-building portfolio consists of Tucson Technology and Commerce Center I, II, III, IV and Medina Business Center I & II…

SK Properties has secured more than $170 million in construction financing for three multi-family properties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.The portfolio includes a high-rise building situated along New Jersey’s Hudson River as well as garden-style apartments located in Pennsylvania suburbs.The company secured a $107 million loan for 225 Grand, a 12 story rental building situated in  Jersey City.  SK Properties is developing the building in partnership with Applied Development Co.  The financing was for a three-year term and placed with PNC Bank, TD Banknorth, Capital One and Commonwealth Bank Group.  PNC Bank served as the lead lender in the transaction.Additionally,…

Despite all of the bad news, there is at least one bright spot amongst it all with Palo Alto, Calif.,-based Accel Partners closing on two new funds totaling more than $1 billion, according to VentureBeat.com. Best known for backing Facebook, the growth fund is significant because it’s an expansion of Accel’s core practice by broadening its scope with the fund investing in information technology, internet, digital media, mobile, networking, software, and services startups, according to the report.On yet another positive note, CNNMoney.com reported that foreclosure filings dropped 7 percent from October to November, according a report released Thursday. While the…

Almost 27 years ago, in early 1982, Ronald Reagan was fairly new in the White House, the Internet was embryonic and a lot of Americans were drawing unemployment benefits. In fact, that was the last time more people were receiving benefits than they are now, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which pegs the current figure at 4.43 million. The number of first-time filers last week jumped by 58,000 to 573,000, also a 26-year high, and to surpass the increase last week in continuing claims, one has to go back to 1974. As if that wasn’t enough, the quarterly…

More than two years after it was initially proposed, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts and a Puerto Rico-based developer are moving forward with the construction of a $172 million luxury resort at Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico. As reported June 1, 2006, by CPN, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. entered into an agreement with BBP Partners L.L.C. of Puerto Rico to develop the 483-acre site into a community of high-end hotel rooms and suites, estate homes and golf villas. BBP Partners is comprised of Interlink Group and Munoz Holdings Inc. Originally expected to open this year, the St. Regis Resort…

Industrial property REIT ProLogis has closed $121 million in financing on behalf of one of its Japan Properties Fund II. The financing is with two separate banks: The Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and The Chiba Bank Ltd., both in Japan. Prologis has had a tough go of things lately; as of September, the company has seen its stock price plummet, and recently ousted president Jeffrey Schwartz. The firm also announced a plan to take at least $2 billion of debt off of its balance sheets. The outline includes refinancing, renegotiations of debt maturities, in particular with property funds like the…

On behalf of its value-add CASA Partners IV fund, Henderson Global Investors, an independent investment manager, has acquired Reading Commons, a 204-unit multi-family complex located 10 miles outside Boston, for $48.5 million. The property marks the fund’s first luxury acquisition in the Northeast.The community was originally developed by Archstone Properties and completed in 2006. “This acquisition is a result of our belief in the long term growth and stability of the Boston apartment market, the excellent product developed by Archstone and changing credit market conditions that provided Henderson the opportunity to acquire a tax-exempt bond financed property, consistent with our…

Early morning indicators show preliminary numbers going up on the Standard & Poor’s 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones industrial average futures, according to CNNMoney.com. The $15 billion automaker bailouts continue to dominate the financial news as plans, so far, are for General Motors and Chrysler to receive the funding in order to maintain operations through the end of the year. Ford Motor Co. has indicated it only wants access to the funding as a backstop for its operations, the report added. A number of reports are slated for release today including the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly mortgage market index for…

American Land Lease Inc., a Clearwater, Fla.-based real estate investment trust, has agreed to a $438 million buyout offer tendered by Green Courte Partners L.L.C., a Chicago-based private equity investment firm. The price, which includes the assumption of debt and preferred stock, works out to $14.20 per share, a $2.00 or 16.6 percent premium over this morning’s $12.00 opening price. The transaction will occur in two steps beginning with a cash tender offer by Green Courte for all outstanding shares of ANL’s common stock. The second step is a cash-out merger in which ANL shares not acquired in the offer…