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With a nearly 80 percent drop in hotel transaction volume compared to last year, many industry observers wonder when hotel sales volume will begin to rebound. Bob Eaton, addressing a conference sponsored by Hospitality Advisors in Honolulu recently, called on the hotel finance industry to “reinvent the wheel.” The executive managing director of PKF Capital, Inc., which provides real estate investment advisory services to the hospitality and leisure industries, recently talked about the environment for hotel financing, and what it will take to break the logjam. CPNHospitality: You have said the hotel finance industry must “reinvent the wheel.” What should…

Assisted living services provider Emeritus Corp. will soon bring a new group of seniors housing properties under its umbrella now that it has signed an agreement with affiliates of HCP Inc. to lease 11 communities accounting for an aggregate 1,462 units in six states from California to Massachusetts. The lease carries a 10-year term and allows Emeritus the option to acquire the assets during the period commencing with the close of the fifth year of the lease until its expiration. If the company decides to acquire the portfolio, the price tag will be a minimum $300 million. California, Connecticut, Massachusetts,…

Faced with a sluggish economy, tight credit environment and softening office leasing market, tenant representation brokers say their roles have been changing in recent months. Several brokers on both coasts told CPN they are increasingly taking on advisory roles as they help clients manage their space needs and expenses.“There has been a significant amount of what I would call hand-holding and advisory services in guiding our tenants on the choices available should they need to make a decision,” said Marc Miller, executive vice president at Winoker Realty Company, a privately-held, mid-size commercial real estate management and leasing firm in Manhattan.Miller…

Winthrop Realty Trust, acting with joint venture partner Sealy & Co., has acquired a 470,000-square-foot office-flex complex in Northwest Atlanta. The price tag on the six-structure campus was $47 million, including the assumption of a $37 million mortgage loan at 6.12 percent with a scheduled November 2016 maturity date. Winthrop and Sealy will own the property jointly, and Sealy will handle the daily operations for the joint venture. Winthrop and Sealy did not disclose the exact location of the new asset; however, it sits adjacent to the 12-structure, 472,000-square-foot office-flex complex the partners purchased in 2006 for approximately $35.9 million….

It’s probably the biggest grave Sam Zell has ever danced on: the Tribune Co., with its newspapers, broadcast media, the Cubs and other interests. Strictly speaking, it isn’t a grave — plenty of the company’s properties make money — and it isn’t a real estate play. Still, real estate promises to play an important role by providing some of the much-needed liquidity that the company will use over the next few years to pay down parts of its debt, which totals about $12.5 billion. As one “Sam-ism” puts it: “Liquidity equals value.” But will selling off Tribune Co. assets, including…

Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind., is reportedly on the block again, but not necessarily to Eldorado Resorts L.L.C. Earlier this year, Casino Aztar owner Tropicana Entertainment L.L.C. agreed to sell the property to Eldorado for $220 million, but Tropicana filed for bankruptcy before the deal was closed. The Indiana property–the first casino opened in the state–is a riverboat gaming facility located an 841,800-square-foot area at Riverfront Park on the Ohio River in Downtown Evansville, which is in the southwest corner of the state. All together, Casino Aztar includes a 2,700-passenger riverboat casino, 250-room hotel, 1,660-vehicle parking garage and Riverfront Pavilion…

Touting it as the largest apartment deal in Austin’s history, Northland Investment Corp.’s Northland Fund III has acquired a portfolio of nine Class A communities with 2,985 apartment units for $270 million from Equity Residential Properties Trust.The portfolio includes River Stone Ranch, Sedona Springs, The Arboretum at Stonelake (pictured), Madison at the Arboretum, Village Oaks, Madison at Scofield Farms, Madison at Walnut Creek, Madison at Wells Branch and Madison at Stone Creek. The acquisition increases Massachusetts-based Northland’s Austin portfolio to 4,500 units, making the firm the largest multi-family owner in the Texas capital.”The Austin market has been attractive to a…

BH S&B Holdings L.L.C. will acquire retailer Steve & Barry’s after being named the high bidder in an auction for the company’s assets. BH S&B Holdings, a new affiliate of Bay Harbour Management, was the winning bidder in an auction that ended on Aug. 21 with a bid of $168 million. BH S&B will reportedly look to close around 100 stores, with more possible if the firm cannot reach acceptable lease concessions from landlords. The deal is expected to be completed on Aug. 25. Terms of the purchase encompass all of Steve & Barry’s existing leases, inventory and intellectual property…

Show me a CEO with a bad attitude and I’ll show you a poor leader. While this sounds simple enough at face value, I have consistently found that one of the most often overlooked leadership attributes is that of a positive attitude. As a CEO, how can you expect to inspire, motivate, engender confidence, and to lead with a lousy attitude? The simple answer is that you can’t. It just won’t work. CEOs with bad attitudes will not only fail to engage their workforce, but they will quickly find themselves shown the door as their attitude’s impact on performance becomes…

On the heels of bankruptcy filings for Mervyn’s and Steve & Barry’s, as well as Walgreens’ scaling back of its expansion plans and Starbucks’ closing of 600 U.S. locations, Gap Inc. is the latest retailer to be hit by the struggling economy. The clothing chain plans to reduce its 40 million square feet across the country by 10 to 15 percent over the next three to five years.“Our second quarter total sales were $3.5 billion, down 5 percent versus last year. Given the volatile macro environment and recent economic indicators like housing and unemployment, which don’t seem to point to…