Uncategorized

ProLogis has leased 545,000 square feet of industrial space in the United Kingdom to Willis & Gambier, a British furniture supplier, it has announced. The lease is for 100 percent of an inventory facility at ProLogis Kingston Park, a 1.45 million-square-foot master-planned industrial park being developed in the city of Peterborough, U.K. Willis & Gambier is consolidating from three existing facilities into the new, larger building, which will serve as its nationwide distribution center for various lines of its bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture. ProLogis Kingston Park is within a one-hour drive of four major airports–London Stanstead, Luton, Birmingham International…

Multi-family fundamentals are very healthy, but economic uncertainty and the difficulties in the debt financing market have bogged down investment sales in many markets. That was the general consensus of a panel of multi-family executives held yesterday at the National Multi-Housing Council’s annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. Bob White, president & CEO of Real Capital Analytics, illustrated some figures as to the multi-family market’s performance in 2007 as compared to previous years. According to White, while U.S. multi-family sales volume actually increased from 2006 to 2007 (from $91 billion to $93 billion), the majority of that uptick was the…

Artery Plaza, a 276,000-square-foot office structure in Bethesda, Md., has just come under new ownership. Building tenant the Artery Group L.L.C. sold the Class A property to The JBG Cos. in a $135 million transaction. The 11-story Artery Plaza (pictured) carries the address of 7200 Wisconsin Avenue, placing it on a highly coveted stretch in Bethesda just a few minutes outside of Washington, D.C. Accompanies by an 800-space parking facility, the office building was developed in 1986 and today, is 94 percent leased to a roster of tenants that includes law firm Linowes & Blocher, PNC Financial, University Research, commercial…

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., is boosting its capital markets platform by launching a HUD-FHA-insured multi-family and health care lending initiative in its multi-housing group. The firm also announced today that it was adding two industry veterans to the team to expand the offerings. “This new initiative will significantly strengthen CBRE’s capital markets platform, enabling us to offer our clients the full range of HUD-FHA-insured mortgages for new construction, substantial rehabilitation, refinancing or acquisition loans on apartments, senior housing and health care facilities,” Ron Halpern, managing director of CBRE’s multi-housing group, said in a release. A CBRE spokesman told CPN…

Carlson Hotels Worldwide, acting through its Singapore-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide-Asia Pacific division, has formed a strategic partnership with Beijing’s Sunshine100 Group for the development of 10 hotels in thriving markets across China. The new properties will carry Carlson’s Radisson, Park Plaza and Park Inn flags. “There’s a transformation in China and all predictions indicate it is going to be a huge growth area for the hotel industry,” Tom Polski, vice president of global communications and external relations for Carlson Hotels Worldwide, told CPN today. Carlson and Sunshine100 have identified a bevy of cities–including Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Yantai, Changsha, Nanning, Liuzhou…

Chicago-based Laramar Group has acquired two multi-family properties in different parts of the country totaling 664 units. The properties are the 356-unit Memorial Club Apartments in Houston and the 308-unit Hampton Court Apartments in Alexandria, Va.Nationally, the relative weakness of the for-sale housing market over the last year or so seems to be driving investors to multifamily properties. For example, total sales volume for US multifamily properties in the first three quarters of 2007 alone was roughly $52 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics — about $1 billion more than the entire multifamily investment sales volume in 2004.The two properties…

The Atlanta market is making positive strides towards stability as tenant demand continues to have a positive effect on overall market conditions, a Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. report has found. Overall absorption for the fourth quarter was approximately 220,000 square feet, for a total net absorption of 1.9 million square feet. Vacancy rates hovered near 19 percent, which was relatively unchanged compared to fourth quarter 2006. While the overall activity is slightly off-pace from historical experience, the firm expects stable leasing activity throughout this year, noted David Demarest, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s tenant representation group (pictured). Construction continues…

Santa Clara’s city council voted 6-1 Tuesday to accept city staff’s recommendation that city financing for a 49ers stadium is feasible, clearing one more hurdle for the NFL franchise to have its $916 million stadium up and running for football season in 2012. “The next step is for the team, city and the Cedar Fair, which has parking rights on the proposed site to move into serious negotiations to come together on a term of agreement,” Peter Hillan, spokesman for the 49ers, told CPN. The foot print for the proposed stadium is located on city-owned property in a parking lot…

Philadelphia-based BPG Properties Ltd. has taken a big chunk out of its $850 million private equity fund to pay for the $260 million acquisition of Boston Capital Real Estate Trust and the 11 apartment communities in the REIT’s portfolio.As reported Oct. 24 by CPN, shares of the publicly-traded REIT were valued at $13.30 each in the all-cash transaction, which closed Tuesday. Boston Capital REIT was a division of Boston Capital Corp., a real estate investment and advisory firm, and focused solely on apartment communities. The deal gives BPG 11 multi-family properties with a total of 3,098 units in the Seattle,…

Brookfield Asset Management has closed a deal to buy the balance of a property it previously co-owned with an affiliate of RREEF Alternative Investments, a member of Deutsche Bank Group. According to a report in the Boston Globe this morning, Brookfield paid about $477 million for 49 percent of the officer towers at 53 and 75 State St. in Boston, finalizing the transaction as 2007 drew to a close. All together the properties total about 1.87 million square feet, along with parking space. The transaction came in spite of recent sluggishness in the Boston-area real estate investment market. The third…