Uncategorized

A brewing proxy fight between Arbor Realty Trust Inc. and CBRE Realty Finance has been averted, according to the two parties.As previously reported by CPN, Arbor Realty, in a move widely seen as part of a takeover bid, had been planning to field a slate of its own candidates at CBRE Realty Finance’s still-unscheduled 2008 annual  stockholders meeting. Arbor Realty is currently a majorshareholder in CBRE Realty Finance.Under the terms of the agreement, Arbor will not only withdraw its alternate slate, but it will vote as a shareholder for all of the CBRE Realty Finance board’s director nominees at the…

Seeking to capitalize on the current turmoil in the credit markets, Strategic Capital Solutions L.L.C. has created a program to invest exclusively in hospitality properties.The firm’s dedicated hospitality financing program will fund up to $300 million of debt and equity investments, targeting developers and owners of hotel and resort properties who are currently having difficulty obtaining financing given the current condition of the credit markets. The program is targeted at properties in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, with a particular emphasis on the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy.While Strategic Capital did not…

The prospective deal under which life-sciences company MPI Research would occupy two downtown Kalamazoo buildings that were vacated last year by Pfizer would no doubt be a huge boost for the southwestern Michigan city. But a pharma industry observer cautions that bioscience is probably a long way from being a force that will revitalize Rust Belt cities in Michigan or across the Midwest.  MPI Research, which is based in Mattawan, Mich., just outside Kalamazoo, has begun negotiations with the City of Kalamazoo about taking over two laboratory buildings that were left vacant after Pfizer, a successor to Kalamazoo-based Upjohn, closed…

With a location in a supply-constrained market, Trademark Property Co. has formed a partnership with RP Partners and local investors to snap up seven acres along Interstate 30 and the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas, with plans to start construction in less than 90 days on a $100 million mixed-use project. The 350,000-square-foot project (pictured), called WestBend, will offer 100,000 square feet of specialty retail and restaurants, 30,000 square feet of Class A office space above retail, a 135-room hotel above retail and the fully renovated 120,000-square-foot River Plaza office building. The first phase of WestBend will open in…

CalEast Global Logistics L.L.C. and Florida CommerCenters are teaming up to develop industrial warehouses, distribution centers and flex-space throughout central and northeast Florida.Rebecca York, president of Florida CommerCenters in Orlando, declined to release the dollar amount of the joint venture with CalEast but said the company would be Florida CommerCenters’ “primary and preferred partner” for developing industrial properties. Florida CommerCenters, an affiliate of NAI Realvest in Orlando, was formed in February as a commercial real estate development group to seek out and build industrial opportunities in the state. York told CPN today the regions both the firm and the joint…

Atlanta is on the rise, and now is the time for the commercial real estate industry to jump on the opportunities that are coming with the city’s growth, according to real estate experts at CPN’s annual Atlanta Property Opportunities Conference. Over 150 market executives attended the panel discussions, held this morning at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead. “Atlanta had experienced a big decline beginning in the ‘70s into 2000, but the city is back,” said Cheryl Strickland, managing director of tax allocation districts for the Atlanta Development Authority, who opened the conference as the keynote speaker. “And there is…

The 622,500-square-foot 515 N. State Street building in Chicago, also known as the AMA Building after its lead tenant, is for sale. The property is just north of Chicago’s Loop and west of North Michigan Ave.Completed in 1990, the building (pictured) has 29 stories of office space and is about 94 percent occupied. Besides the American Medical Association, which occupies roughly 60 percent of the building under a lease running for another seven years, much of the rest of the property is leased by the Accredited Council for Graduate Medical Education.Word of the offer broke late yesterday and by this…

Roberts Realty Investors Inc. of Atlanta has agreed to sell Addison Place, a 403-unit apartment community in Johns Creek, Ga., for $60 million or $148,883 per unit. The complex, constructed in 2001, consists of 118 townhouses and 285 apartments. The buyer was not disclosed. After closing, expected at the end of June, the company intends to distribute approximately $17 to $19 million of the transaction’s $29 million in net proceeds. Stockholders will receive approximately $2.50 per share. “We’re holding $10 or $12 million as operating capital,” Charles S. Roberts, CEO of Roberts Realty told CPN today. “We’re going to use…

The B.S.R. Group has announced plans to build the tallest tower in the European Union in Warsaw, Poland. Initial plans for the Lilium Tower, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, call for the building to be approximately 800 feet tall, comprised of 70 stories. Plans for the building call for half the units to be residential and the other half to be condominium hotel units. Restaurants and retail units will make up the ground floor of the building and below.The Lilium Tower, upon its completion, will become the European Union’s largest structure, The B.S.R. Groups’ chairman Kalman Sufrin, noted in a…

Morgan Stanley Real Estate has announced the closing of the third offering for its Special Situations Fund III; the offering raised $2.5 billion of equity commitments, bringing the fund to a total of $5.9 billion.  In all, 63 percent of the third offering came from investors based outside the United States, according to a prepared statement, and Morgan Stanley itself represents 23 percent of the total commitments.  Structured as an open-ended fund, Special Situations III primarily targets “non-controlling investments in an array of real estate securities in growth/emerging, developed and distressed markets around the world,” according to the statement. As…