Uncategorized

Southern California office landlord Maguire Properties has decided to extend its “review [of] strategic alternatives,” according to a statement it issued this morning.In December, the Los Angeles-based REIT had formed a special committee of independent directors to explore what to do in light of its difficulties, up to and including selling the entire company, and it seems that the committee will now continue its review.A number of bids were expected early this month from parties interesting in taking the REIT private, include a group led by company founder and long-time CEO Robert Maguire. It isn’t clear from the statement whether…

A collation of more than 100 retailers, manufacturers, trade and groups and advocacy organization called on the U.S. Senate yesterday to pass bipartisan legislation that extends renewable energy and efficiency tax credits that have already expired or will expire at the end of the year, in hopes that the incentives would strengthen the renewable energy industry and expand the market for energy-efficient products. Historically, Congress has extended clean energy tax incentives in only two-year increments, creating a boom-bust cycle that impedes industry development, the collation said, noting that an ideal Senate tax incentive package would extend incentives for wind, solar…

In a boon to Washington, D.C.’s emerging NoMa submarket, National Public Radio has decided to stay in the city and build a new 400,000-square-foot headquarters at 1111 North Capitol St. NE. The broadcast and digital media company will renovate the 165,000-square-foot historic C&P telephone warehouse it acquired from J Street Development into a 10-story office building in excess of 400,000 square feet. The building is currently being used as warehouse space by the Smithsonian Institution. Economic development officials in the surrounding jurisdictions with lower land values have been aggressively courting the organization; to help level the playing field, the District…

A panel of CMBS investors convened by the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association–CMSA–Tuesday in New York said investment opportunities still exist in commercial mortgage-backed securities due to positive sector fundamentals. It concluded that there is a great difference between the commercial and single-family residential sectors, which continues to be rocked by the subprime meltdown. Indeed, widening spreads on CMBS has provided a major investment opportunity, said Kent Born, senior managing director of PPM America. PPM America has been a big buyer of Super Senior AAA bonds, particularly in the last half of 2007 and into this year, and the widening spreads…

Despite consumer spending concerns, Prime Retail plans to start construction later this year on an almost 500,000-square-foot outlet center in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas, which was ranked sixth nationwide in population growth rate for cities of 100,000 or more by the U.S. Census. In October, Grand Prairie city officials approved a contract with Prime Retail. Recently, the development agreement, which also includes off-site improvements such as roadway reconfiguration and revamped traffic patterns for the new 64-acre site, was signed into effect. Financials for the project were not disclosed. Prime Outlets-Grand Prairie will feature 485,000 square feet of…

UDR Inc. has completed its major portfolio sale of 86 apartment properties in 10 states totaling 25,684 units to a joint venture between DRA Fund VI L.L.C. and Steven D. Bell & Co., as previously reported by CPN. The portfolio traded for about $1.7 billion.For UDR, the portfolio disposition represents a strategy to tack against economic winds buffeting the REIT industry. According to NAREIT’s REIT Watch, apartment REITs saw an average decline of 25.43 percent in share prices during 2007. In early March 2007, UDR traded in the low $30s per share, dropping by January of this year to just…

The new international airport in Panama City, Fla., the nation’s first new airport since Sept. 11, 2001, continues under way without interruption, following an appellate court’s denial yesterday of a motion that would have halted construction.  The injunction had been sought from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife and two other environmental organizations.   Randy Curtis, the airport’s executive director, told CPN that the airport authority’s ability to overcome these obstacles (this was the sixth consecutive court ruling in favor of the airport, according to the airport authority) rests…

After nine years of ownership, SL Green Realty Corp. has sold 1250 Broadway, a 39-story, 670,000-square-foot Class A office tower, to Murray Hill Properties for $310 million, or approximately $463 per square foot.The capitalization rate on the deal was 4.5 percent. SL Green, which also managed the building at 31st Street near Penn Station, said today the property value on it had more than tripled. The company paid $93 million for the building in 1999.  In 2001, it sold a 45 percent stake to SITQ for $126.5 million.  In October, 2006, SL Green recapitalized 1250 Broadway to reflect the increase…

A deal has been struck between Lion’s Gate Development and Hilton Hotels Corp.  for the  Waldorf=Astoria hotel and residential property to become one of the centerpieces of The Proscenium, Lion’s Gate’s proposed $1 billion mixed-use project in Sarasota, Fla.Rising 18 stories, the upper-upscale Waldorf=Astoria Sarasota will feature 225 guestrooms, as well as 67 Waldorf-Astoria Residences. The property, which will feature a bridge providing access to the neighboring 800-seat Nederlander performing arts hall, will also offer 38,000 square feet of meeting and event space, a 12,000-square-foot spa and various restaurant options. Beyond the hotel, The Proscenium will encompass 130,000 square feet…

Shadow Creek Ranch Town Center, a 616,400-square-foot shopping center in Pearland, Texas, that is scheduled to reach full completion this spring, has been sold by the property’s developers Transwestern, Buchanan Street Partners and WCF Development. A fund affiliated with AmREIT partnered with JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund to acquire the retail asset, which carries a development price tag of $130 million.Located about off State Highway 288 Shadow Creek sits within a rapidly growing community about 15 miles south of Houston. Already, the center’s anchor, H-E-B grocery store, has opened its doors in a 150,000-square-foot space. Buchanan Street Partners had been…