Uncategorized

Captivate Network Adds Another City, Another Language

Captivate Network has added Montreal to the list of cities where office building tenants and visitors can view both news, from stock updates to sports, and building-specific messages on Captivate’s system of flat-screen TVs in elevator cabs. A total of 40 such screens are now live in the office buildings at 1250 Rene Levesque, 1100 Rene Levesque and 600 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, adding to Captivate’s growing presence in Canada. And a French-language news editor has been added to Captivate’s staff specifically to provide live, bilingual support. A Captivate spokesperson reported that property managers used the technology to give building…

Dubai Firm Take Half of Mexican Luxury Resort for $315M

One&Only Palmilla, an upper-upscale resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, will soon get a new co-owner, courtesy of a transaction valued at $315 million.  A group of funds affiliated with the New York City-based Goldman Sachs & Co.-managed Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds has agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in the property to Dubai’s Nakheel Hotels.  A beachfront fixture since 1956, One&Only Palmilla sits at the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula near the San Jose del Cabo International Airport. In addition to its 172 guestrooms, the property features a 22,000-square-foot spa, a 7,000-square-foot conference center, a 27-hole golf…

Behringer Harvard Sells Premier Denver-Area Office Property

The 153,000-square-foot office building at 9100 Mineral Circle in Englewood, Colo., has just come under new ownership with Behringer Harvard’s disposition of the Class A office property four years after having acquired it. Sited on an eight-acre parcel in the Panorama Business Park and surrounded by the city’s largest concentration of executive housing, 9100 Mineral was originally developed in 1988 as the world headquarters for Cyprus Minerals. Behringer Harvard acquired the four-story structure in December 2004 for $19.8 million. Today the building is fully leased to United Launch Alliance, a joint venture entity involving Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Behringer Harvard…

Hertz Taps CB Richard Ellis as Global RE Services Provider

Hertz Corp., the world’s largest general-use rental car company, has chosen existing partner CB Richard Ellis Inc. to provide a greatly expanded slate of real estate services on a global level. In addition to facilities management, CBRE will now handle transaction, construction and project management for nearly 3,000 Hertz locations worldwide, including office space, reservations centers, data centers, equipment rental locations and car rental facilities. John Maher (pictured), CBRE’s executive managing director of global corporate services, declined to provide any dollar figures, but told CPN that the expanded relationship will more than double CBRE’s annual revenues from Hertz. For almost…

As Uncertainty Rules Office Sector, Seattle Takes Top Spot in Marcus & Millichap Index

The national office market is on uncertain footing today, as many decision-makers delay their plans for investment and leasing. “The risk, at least in the immediate term, is more to the downside than the opportunity is to the upside,” Alan Pontius (pictured), national director of office and industrial properties for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc., told CPN this morning. “Right now, there clearly is a weakness on the demand side of the equation.” Many tenants and investors are putting decisions on hold in light of economic worries that are compounded during a presidential election year. Nevertheless, market…

Colliers International Predicts Global Industrial Market Slowdown

“Downshift” is the operative word in industrial real estate worldwide according to a newly released report by Colliers International.”With the global economy anticipated to decelerate in 2008,” the report said, “trade and the movement of goods is expected to show a corresponding downshift.”With fewer goods moving around the world, demand for warehouse/distribution space will decline this year, according to Colliers. The declines in demand will not be catastrophic, however, and so most markets will probably see stable industrial rents, with a few still-in-demand places able to command modest rent growth–such as Beijing and Hong Kong, some European markets, and all…

Bridgepoint to Fork Over $678M for Stake in U.K.-Based Sandwich Chain

London-based Bridgepoint, a European private equity firm, will become majority owner of sandwich shop company Pret A Manger via an acquisition deal valued at approximately $678 million.  As Bridgepoint takes a chunk of the U.K-based chain, McDonald’s will make its exit as a minority owner after seven years with the disposition of its 33 percent share of the company.  Pret A Manger was established in 1986 and today, has a 200-store portfolio that includes 175 shops in England and Scotland, 14 in the United States (all located in New York City) and 11 in Hong Kong. The sites typically range…

GE Refinances N.J. Office Portfolio for $105M

Showing that sound assets can get refinanced even in today’s cautious lending environment, Denholtz Associates has obtained $105 million from GE Real Estate to refinance an office portfolio in New Jersey. The 1 million-square-foot portfolio encompasses nine Class B assets ranging in size up to 166,000 square feet. Located in six different submarkets, the portfolio is more than 84 percent occupied. A representative of GE could not be reached by today’s deadline, but a statement today said that the refinancing will enable Denholtz and its partner, Rothschild Realty, to pursue plans to refinance or sell assets in portfolio. The refinancing…

$200M Senior Living Project Breaks Ground in Arizona

With a three-year waiting list at their first continuing care retirement community in the Scottsdale, Ariz., area, Classic Residence by Hyatt and The Plaza Cos. partnered again to build a more than $200 million lifecare community less than three miles from the first development. Classic Residence at Silverstone (pictured), a continuing care retirement community and luxury living community for older adults, is the encore development from the partnership. Ten years ago, the two entities partnered to build their first community for older adults at Grayhawk. Due to the great success of that community, the joint venture continues with Classic Residence…

Will Fortunoff Buy Bring Good Fortune to NRDC?

News about the retail market is mixed these days, but NRDC Equity Parters L.L.C. apparently sees significant upside in its $100 million acquisition of Fortunoff, the venerable but vulnerable Northeast retailer. Earlier this month, NRDC Equity Partners L.L.C. confirmed plans to buy the struggling Fortunoff chain from Trimaran Capital Partners and Kier Group. Since its founding 86 years ago in Brooklyn, Fortunoff has grown to include 20 jewelry and home furnishings stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. But in recent years Fortunoff has lost ground to newer chains and discount retailers. “Fortunoff is great in this market,…