Uncategorized

The latest venture by media and entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman, FX Real Estate and Entertainment, has unveiled plans to develop the acreage it holds at Las Vegas Blvd. and Harmon Ave. in Las Vegas, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 17.72-acre parcel, known as the Park Central Property, is located at the southeast corner of that intersection, across Harmon from the Planet Hollywood resort and casino complex. FX Real Estate, according to the filing, plans to pursue a “hotel, casino, entertainment, retail, commercial and residential” development project on the Park Central Property. Currently the site…

The City Council of Westlake Village, Calif., has approved plans for Opus Corporate Center at Westlake Village, a $180 million, 435,000-square-foot mixed-use development by Opus West. The development (pictured) will feature two Class A, four-story office buildings totaling 361,000 square feet, three free-standing restaurant pads, a 45,000-square-foot fitness facility and 8,000 square feet of service retail on the 21.5-acre site. With the city council’s approval, the project is slated to break ground in April with completion anticipated in first quarter 2009. “This is a terrific site in a market with strong demographics,” Stuart Morkun, Opus West director of real estate…

Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc. has just kicked off its new healthcare practice group. The group’s eight-person team will focus on providing a range of services to clients involved in the rapidly growing healthcare industry across the United States and Canada. Cushman, which already had a foothold in the healthcare industry–its senior housing and healthcare group has been incorporated into the new practice group–has designed the healthcare practice group to incorporate experts from its various divisions, be it the company’s business consulting group, capital markets group, investment sales group or any number of other service teams….

The historic office structure at 208 South LaSalle Street in Downtown Chicago is about to get more than a facelift, now that owner The Prime Group Inc. has secured an aggregate $393.6 million financing package for the building’s reincarnation as a hotel and office property. Approximately $271.6 million of the funding–orchestrated by real estate services firm Holiday Fenoglio Fowler L.P.– will be used for construction activities, and the remaining $123 million served as equity for the capitalization of the joint venture vehicle that is redeveloping 208 LaSalle. The partnership, UST Prime III Joint Venture Ltd., consists of Prime affiliate Reschke…

New York City-based investment firm W. P. Carey & Co.’s publicly held non-traded REIT affiliate CPA:16-Global has purchased four manufacturing facilities from Best Brands Corp. for approximately $50 million. Each of the facilities contains a combination of manufacturing, warehousing and refrigerated warehousing. The properties total approximately 665,000 square feet and are located in Colton, Calif.; Dallas; Bonner Springs, Kan.; and Eagan, Minn. The facilities will be leased back to Best Brands, a baked goods company, on a long-term basis. “We really like the company and we think Best Brands is a leader in the bakery industry,” Gino Sabatini, executive director…

Illustrating the dramatic new attitude of commercial real estate owners toward sustainable building practices, TIAA-CREF has reduced energy use in its office portfolio and slashed approximately 37 million pounds from its carbon dioxide emissions. With the overall goal of reducing energy use by 10 percent by 2010, TIAA-CREF has also begun working to improve the energy performance of its 12,000-unit apartment portfolio. “Any time we replace an appliance it will be with an Energy Star appliance,” Nicholas Stolatis, the director of strategic initiatives with TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate, told CPN today. “We will also replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents…

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton said former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economic heavyweights should recommend whether or not the U.S. government should buy up homes to help solve the housing crisis. The government should be ready to buy, restructure and resell failed mortgages to buttress the economy, Clinton said in a speech today in Philadelphia, according to a report from Reuters. Clinton has endorsed legislation from Democrats Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut that would increase the government’s capacity to stand behind mortgages that are reworked to be more affordable. Under…

Vornado Realty Trust has closed a construction loan that will provide up to $290 million for the REIT’s renovation and expansion of Bergen Town Center, a 900,000-square-foot shopping center in Paramus, N.J. The interest-only loan has a rate of LIBOR plus 1.50 percent and matures in March 2011, with two one-year extension options. In addition to the renovation, the center will be expanded by 250,000 feet of space to be built on 27.5 acres adjacent to the mall. The center is currently anchored by Filene’s Basement, Century 21 and Marshalls; the renovation and expansion will add Whole Foods and Target….

Asia Properties moves forward with plans to develop a multi-resort destination in The Philippines, with the completion of the acquisition of a parcel of beachfront land. The transaction marks the Bellingham, Wash.-headquartered company’s second land purchase for the project. The site of Asia Properties’ project is on an island just off the shores of Camarines Norte, a province in Luzon. Ultimately, the company will erect a bevy of upscale resort properties ranging in class from four to six stars. While specifics of hotel brands have not been disclosed, Asia Properties asserts that many hospitality companies have already expressed interest in…

A 2,300-acre parcel in Rancho Cordova, Calif., has been given a clean bill by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, thereby paving the way for owner GenCorp Inc. to reclaim the property for commercial and residential use. Known as the McDonnell-Douglas Inactive Rancho Cordova Test Site, or IRCTS, the land was purchased by GenCorp. subsidiary Aerojet in 1984 from McDonnell Douglas Corp. The transaction was not the first between the two entities. Aerojet first took ownership of the property, part of a 3,900-acre site, in 1956 and then leased 1,700 acres of it to McDonnell Douglas the same year….