Uncategorized

“Prudence Took a Vacation, and Then She Came Back” is what moderator Shekar Narasimhan, managing partner of Beekman Advisors Inc., nicknamed the multi-family session “The Music Stopped: Who Has a Chair?” at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multi-family Housing Convention & Expo, and it was a fitting title. Generally, the speakers agreed that while the commercial and multi-family markets can expect some pain, especially given a number of unknowns to come, the credit crunch and single-family fallout have proven to be more of a much-needed wakeup call than anything else. That’s not to say there won’t be some…

The global commercial real estate market is on a roll, while the U.S. holds with bated breath and New York City takes a pause, noted experts at NAI Global’s Global Market Outlook 2008, held this morning at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. Jeffrey Finn, president & CEO of NAI Global (pictured), began the presentation, noting the unusual dichotomy the market is experiencing with solid fundamentals, high construction and land costs, and the credit market’s impacting the financial markets and trading. Although cap rates have increased 50 basis points across in all categories, the strong fundamentals should continue throughout…

According to CBRE Realty Finance Inc., a slate of candidates for its board of directors proposed by stockholder Arbor Realty Trust Inc. will stand for election at the company’s as-yet unscheduled 2008 annual stockholders meeting. Previously there was some question as to whether Arbor had filed the slate in time, with Arbor eventually filing suit about the matter. Hartford, Conn.-based CBRE Realty Finance has apparently decided that the matter isn’t worth going to court over. In a statement released late yesterday afternoon, company president and CEO Kenneth J. Witkin, noted, “Our board of directors decided we have better things to…

Rawcliffe Resorts Inc. adds four Myrtle Beach, S.C. resort properties to its holdings with its purchase of Sands Resorts Holdings L.L.C. The oceanfront destinations account for a total of over 1,600 guest rooms and suites. The assets involved in the deal include the 400-room Ocean Dunes Resort & Villas, the 400-room Sand Dunes Resort Hotel, the 157-room Ocean Forest Villas and the 127-room Ocean Forest Plaza. Together, the properties feature an total of 25,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.All four will undergo substantial renovations in an effort to compete with the onslaught of new resorts that have sprung…

Late yesterday, in an SEC filing, entities controlled by Sam Zell reported that they had taken a 7.72 percent stake in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. According to a Reuters News report, some market watchers think that this may signal the end of the slide in real estate that came following his astute sale of Equity Office Properties at the turn of the year.According to the report, Zell has 14.75 million shares that were bought from October 2007 through January 2008. Share costs were from $39.63 to $62.37 per share. All told Zell has put about $737 million into…

Parkway Properties Inc. has acquired Desert Ridge Corporate Center on behalf of its Parkway Properties Office Fund L.P. in an $81.6 million deal. Parkway will own a 26.5 percent share of the property and receive a commensurate share of income. The property will carry a $49.2 million first mortgage.  The complex consists of two, four-story Class A office buildings totaling 275,000 square feet and one 18,000 square foot multi-tenant specialty retail building. Completed in phases between 2006 and 2007, the property is part of a 5,700-acre master-planned community called Desert Ridge. It includes a 765-space parking structure and a 596-space…

InterContinental Hotels Group said its new 386-room, 31-story Crowne Plaza hotel, set to open in 2010 in Las Vegas, will have an Asian theme. The hotel will include a casino, three restaurants, three lounges, a full-service spa and swimming pool, as well as a fitness center, business center and retail. The hotel will also feature 16,000 square feet of meeting and banquet room space. The hotel is owned and managed by Andrew Lai, under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group. The hotel, located in central Las Vegas, will have an Asian-themed interior and exterior, due…

It’s an all–Garden State deal: Two well-established commercial real estate companies based in New Jersey have just completed the sale of three Class A office properties there for a total of 500,000 square feet. Financial information on the deal was not disclosed.  Advance Realty Group, based in Bedminster, N.J., sold the Park Place campus in Florham Park, 310 Madison Avenue in Morris Township and the Branchburg Centre in Branchburg to Normandy Real Estate Partners, based in Morristown, N.J.  A prepared statement said that Advance had “achieved their investment objectives” and will redeploy the capital into the company’s pipeline of development…

Ventas Inc. has completed the sale of more than 4.48 million shares of its common stock in an offer that was announced last week, as reported by CPN.  All together, the company has received net proceeds from the sale of about $191.1 million.According to the company, it plans to use the proceeds to pay down outstanding debt under its revolving credit facility, and for possible acquisitions. The shares were sold to UBS Investment Bank, as sole underwriter, at a price of $42.78 per share. The 4.48 million share total also included 585,000 shares sold under UBS’s overallotmentoption.Though a time-honored strategy…

Construction on the $125 million first phase of GoldTown Hotel and Casino Resort near Carson City, Nev., should start in the second quarter of the year after county officials gave the go-ahead for specific issues with the project ranging from a variance on the height of the building to zoning map amendments. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved Phases I and II of the planned GoldTown Hotel and Casino Resort (pictured) project being developed by American Vantage Cos. and its subsidiary, Brownstone GoldTown CV L.L.C. The GoldTown Hotel & Casino Resort project was announced on July 2. The two-phase…