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Distressed real estate specialist Trigild has been chosen to assist in the closing of 37 Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale restaurants in 13 states. The two restaurant chains, both subsidiaries of Metromedia Restaurant Group, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which enables the filer to liquidate its assets. Not all stores under the Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale’s name filed, as many franchisee-owned sites remain open. Both chains were stung by the economic downturn that affected the market for casual dining. San Diego-based Trigild, which specializes in distressed real estate and receivership cases, will now be responsible for securing and…

American Realty Capital L.L.C. has closed on a $53 million deal to acquire 39 bank branches from Wachovia Corp. Under an agreement to purchase Wachovia’s surplus bank branches, American Realty plans to buy more than 70 branch Wachovia locations over the next year.Of the 39 branches, 15 have sold primarily to financial institutions. Four more will be leased to banks. In a prepared statement, Nicholas S. Schorsch (pictured), CEO of American Realty said that many commercial banks are returning to retail banking to build their depository bases, provide fee-based services to depositors, borrow FDIC-insured funds at low rates and lend…

Chicago-based Equity Residential Inc. has closed on $550 million in financing, putting up 15 of its multi-family properties as collateral. Originated by Wells Fargo for repurchase by Fannie Mae, the secured interest only loan has an all-in effective interest rate of about 6 percent and matures in 11.5 years, the first 10.5 of which will carry a fixed rate, with the final year carrying a floating rate. Equity Residential will lump the $550 million with $1.4 billion in unsecured revolving credit and $145 million in unrestricted cash to use for its 2008 and 2009 funding requirements. Details on the properties…

At a technical briefing this week, Shyam Sundar, lead investigator for the federal building and fire investigation of the World Trade Center disaster conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, revealed in detail how fire brought down the 7 World Trade Center building. The reports conclusions were first announced last week. The collapse had been the source of much speculation as no planes hit the building, which appeared to collapse much the same way one would have had charges been set to bring it down in a controlled fashion. According to NIST, “There was damage to the building…

Five X Securities Inc. has just come on the real estate securities scene with industry hotshot Daniel Young at the helm. Young, former president & CEO of NFP Securities of Austin, Texas, will operate the new start-up from Oakton, Va., home base to its first client, multi-family real estate investment and operating company Mission Residential L.L.C. Five X will join forces with leading real estate sponsors like Mission Residential to unearth prospects, predominantly in the apartment sector, for starters. “We’re going to have several different vehicles, private and public,” Young (pictured), who carries the title of Five X principal &…

Taking advantage of a good interest rate, Trumbull Property Fund refinanced six Class A multi-family properties throughout the country as part of a $207 million refinancing effort. The Hartford office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. secured first mortgage financing totaling $206.99 million for six Class A multi-family communities–a total of 2,157 units–located in Chula Vista and Orange, Calif.; Atlanta; Chicago; and Durham, N.C.HFF senior managing director Dana Brome (pictured) worked exclusively with UBS Realty Investors in arranging the five-year, fixed-rate loans through MetLife Real Estate Investments on behalf of the Trumbull Property Fund. “This was a refinance deal and our…

The soaring cost of construction, spurred in recent years especially by the rising cost of inputs into the process–the energy needed, the costs of raw materials and so forth–may be at its peak, according to Robert Bach, senior vice president & chief economist at Grubb & Ellis Co., in his most recent Weekly Market Insight.The most recent such price-spur came early this summer as oil hit record levels, but nevertheless Bach expects that construction prices will level off or even fall in the not-too-distant future. As of mid-year 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Grubb & Ellis,…

The Place/BV Student Housing Fund L.L.C. continues to make investments in student housing facilities across the United States, with two more announced today. The properties will be developed in Texas and Ohio for $44 million with completion set for next summer. La Cantera Place will be the fund’s second asset in the San Antonio, Texas, market and will serve students at the University of Texas, San Antonio. The fund’s first asset, Hill Country Place, opened this month and is 98 percent leased. USTA is one of the state’s largest and fastest growing campuses, with an enrollment increase of 1,500 students…

ConocoPhillips has reveled plans to sell 600 company-owned gas stations across the nation to PetroSun West in an $800 million deal that will mark the firm’s exit from the volatile retail gas business. Houston-based Conoco operates gas stations under the Conoco, Phillips 66 and 76 brands in the West and Midwest. The firm is the latest gas company to divest itself of its service stations. With ballooning crude oil prices, profit margins have shrunk even with high prices at the pump. In June, Exxon Mobil Corp. announced plans to sell off its 2,200 stations, and BP Plc. also plans to…

It isn’t necessarily a trend, but it’s likely more than coincidence that the Kolter Group, West Palm Beach, Fla., is the second largely commercial real estate company in the past couple of weeks to announce a big financial commitment to the distressed residential market. Kolter and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group L.L.C., New York, announced the formation of a $1 billion joint venture that will target residential properties in the Southeast that are at any stage of development. Och-Ziff is a leading global institutional alternative asset management firm, with about $30 billion of assets under management as of late 2007. This…