Finance Institutional Investment
Beyond Banks and Life Companies
Oct 07, 2009
While commercial banks and life companies continue to dominate the limited volume of commercial real estate lending currently taking place, new lending sources are beginning to emerge to replace a portion of the liquidity formerly supplied by the now dormant CMBS market. The three vehicles most often used to raise this new capital are (i) private/non-traded REITs, (ii) publicly traded mortgage REITs and (iii) private equity debt funds.
Economy Watch: MGM Cuts Condo Prices
Oct 06, 2009
In an effort to keep buyers from wriggling out of their deals, and as a
simple acknowledgment that the luxury condo market just isn’t what it
used to be, MGM Mirage and its partner Dubai World are slashing prices
for condos at their City Center development in Las Vegas by 30 percent.
As Gov’t Demand Buoys DC Office Market; ING Makes $73M Sale
Oct 06, 2009
The Washington, D.C., office market may have reached a turning point in
demand as the region experienced improved fundamentals last
quarter—figures propelled by expanded demand for government office
space. And if deals like the recent $73 million sale of an office
building in Falls Church, Va., are any indication, buyers are taking
interest in the area’s strong demographics..
CREW Awards 20 Women Under 40
Oct 02, 2009
The Commercial Real Estate (CREW) Network last night lauded 20 Under 40 women from throughout the commercial real estate industry as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. The awards, unveiled during the organization’s 2009 CREW Network Convention & Marketplace in Boston, honor women age 39 or younger working within a qualified area of the industry and considered a “woman to watch” and likely to be an influential leader in the industry.
New Program Offers $1B for Green Retrofits
Sep 30, 2009
A new program could provide a sizable jolt to the already-popular
practice of retrofitting existing commercial properties to increase
environmental sustainability. The Community Preservation Corp., a
non-profit affordable housing lender, has unveiled a new public-private
partnership that aims to provide $1 billion in funding for energy
efficient upgrades and green retrofits to multi-family properties.
Mergers Continue as Federal Capital Snaps Up ACPT
Sep 29, 2009
Three weeks after American Community Properties Trust formed a special
committee to consider strategic alternatives, the St. Charles,
Md.-based real estate company has entered into a merger agreement with
Washington, DC-based real estate investment entity Federal Capital
Partners' FCP Fund I L.P.
Economy Watch - Retailers Face Flat Holiday Season
Sep 23, 2009
The 2009 holiday sales season (along with the rest of the fourth
quarter of this year) will be bad for retailers, predicts Retail
Forward, in a bit of forecasting that's hard to disagree with. The
retail consultancy is predicting average 4Q09 retail sales will neither
grow nor decline when compared to abysmal 4Q08 retail sales. Zero
percent growth, Retail Forward pointed out, will be the second-worst
growth in more than 40 years--only 2008 being worse.
Jumping on the Bandwagon, LaSalle Forms Partnership to Capitalize on Discounted Real Estate
Sep 23, 2009
As expected, price tags on commercial real estate around the world are
dropping and LaSalle Investment Management is among the minority
presently in a position to take advantage of bargains, the likes of
which may not be seen again in decades. The Chicago-based firm has just
formed a fund with the Austin-headquartered Teachers Retirement System
of Texas to invest an initial sum of $205 million in real estate across
North America.
Economy Watch - Leading Economic Indicators Wax Positive
Sep 22, 2009
The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose again for the fifth month in a row, the longest positive stretch for the indicies in five years, adding more weight to the notion that the recession is over, at least technically. According to the New York-based organization, the index--which forecasts the economic outlook for the next three to six months--rose 0.6 percent in August.
JV Snags 308-Unit Philly-Area M-F Complex
Sep 22, 2009
A joint venture between Behringer Harvard REIT I Inc. and PGGM Private
Real Estate Fund has acquired a 308-unit multi-family community in
Cherry Hill, N.J., about seven miles east of central Philadelphia.
Portfolio Lenders Vie to Win War
Sep 17, 2009
At first glance, it may seem that life insurance companies have resigned themselves to sitting idly by while local and regional banks scour the market with a glass-half-full approach to new originations. On the contrary, at a time when most portfolio lenders are redeploying capital allocated for real estate lending within their existing portfolios, a select--and very bullish--few are vying to win the opening salvo of an impending price war.
Economy Watch - Bernanke Says Recession Over--Technically
Sep 16, 2009
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking at the Brookings
Institution on Tuesday, said that the recession is "very likely" over.
Or, to quote the chairman more fully: “From a technical perspective,
the recession is very likely over at this point.”
Economy Watch - Lessons Learned from Lehman?
Sep 15, 2009
A year after the failure of Lehman Brothers, President Obama came to
Federal Hall in New York--the literal Wall Street--to push for reform
of the financial sector, including a "resolution authority" that would
let the federal government deal with companies that pose "systemic
risk" for the economy. Such as Lehman or other even bigger institutions
that were not allowed to fail last year. Unlike other audiences
recently, the president was reportedly met with mostly silence by the
gathered financial executives, members of Congress and other assorted
non-nattering nabobs at the speech.
Automating Investment Management
Sep 10, 2009
Facing demands for bottom-line results and return on investment, intensified competition for capital, numerous regulatory requirements and an increasing need for transparent reporting, real estate investment managers are finding solutions through technology. And new automation capabilities promise a better, more efficient way to manage real estate investments than traditional spreadsheets.
Capital Markets Showing Some Signs of Life
Aug 25, 2009
Strong interest in public markets and the slow but steady return of
securitization provide some indicators that relief in the commercial
real estate market may be on the way, according to the latest capital
markets report by Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman.
With Bargains to Be Had in US, Kuwaiti Government Gets Back into M-F Game
Aug 18, 2009
With the total amount of distressed properties in the United States
valued in the high billions, scores of investors are laying the
groundwork to capitalize on the accompanying cut-rate,
once-in-a-lifetime price tags on these assets. And investment entities
abroad with deep pockets are no exception. Safat, Kuwait-based Kuwait
Finance House, 49-percent owned by the Kuwaiti government, has just
formed a joint venture with Denver-headquartered multi-family REIT UDR
Inc. to invest as much as $450 million in multi-family properties
across the country.
SL Green Lands $145M for Refinancing of NYC Office High-Rise
Aug 06, 2009
Flying in the face of the still chilly credit market, SL Green Realty
Corp. has managed to get its hands on a $145 million leasehold mortgage
for the refinancing of the 1.2-million-square-foot office tower at 420
Lexington Ave. in Midtown Manhattan.
Economic Update - MIT/CRE Index Takes Hit in 2Q09
Aug 05, 2009
Commercial real estate took a drubbing in the second quarter, according
to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate, whose
index tracking commercial properties sold by institutional investors
dropped 18.1 percent during 2Q09. The index is down 32 percent from the
end of 2Q08, and 39 percent from its mid-2007 (that is, bubble) peak.
Prices Drop in Second Quarter, MIT Index Finds
Aug 03, 2009
Prices for commercial real estate dropped at a record level in the second quarter despite an increase in sales, according to an index developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate. In a report released on Monday and first appearing on Reuters, the center quoted its index as finding that property sold by major institutional investors dropped 18.1 percent, to a level that is down 22 percent for the year, 32 percent from a year ago and 39 percent from its mid-2007 peak, despite transaction volume that increased for the first time since last summer. The decline is greater than the 27 percent drop in the late 1980s/early 1990s and even with it when adjusted for inflation, which brings both periods to a 41 percent drop.
Cadillac Fairview Buys 49% Interest in NY Macerich Center
Jul 31, 2009
Cadillac Fairview Corp. purchased a 49 percent interest in Macerich's Queens Center in the New York City borough of Queens for $150 million in net cash. The eighth joint venture between the two firms, the venture gives Canadian Cadillac Fairview, wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, entree to New York City. Queens Center is the top-performing asset in Macerich's portfolio: The 966,499-square-foot urban retail center, which at year-end 2008 was 97.5 percent occupied, was at that time producing annual mall sales of $876 per square foot. Macerich purchased it in 1995 and redeveloped and expanded it in 2004.
NYPPEX Report Finds Significant Reduction in Prices Paid by Secondary Buyers
Jul 31, 2009
Global secondary private market advisory, trading and research firm NYPPEX released a report finding that secondary buyers have been acquiring interests in commercial real estate partnerships at 20 to 40 percent below replacement cost and at 40 to 60 percent below net asset value relative to private equity partnerships, with median secondary bids continuing to decline. Primary concerns, the entity found, include refinancing risk for mortgage loans originated during the 2005 to 2008 period, as well as loan size risk and risks associated with property type.
Economic Update - Home Price Uptick? Sort Of
Jul 29, 2009
On the heels of news Monday that new home sales were up a little, home
prices inched up as well--at least, those measured by the Standard
& Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index in its raw form. In May, the
index, which measures prices in 20 metropolitan areas, rose 0.5 percent
over April, following a 0.6 percent drop the month from March to April.
The movement is notable as the first time the index has moved up in
three years.
Economic Update - Panning for Gold in CRE Debt
Jul 22, 2009
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, high oracle of the U.S. economy,
began two days of testimony before Congress on Tuesday, and said that
things will slowly get better, eventually. He also noted that he and
his banking brethren are watching developments in the commercial real
estate industry--that ticking time bomb--with all the attention that a
ticking time bomb deserves. Meanwhile, down in the trenches, there's a
gold rush of sorts going on to find profits in real estate debt.
Economic Update - CalPERS Takes Rating Agencies to Task
Jul 16, 2009
Another California trend? CalPERS, the nation's largest pension fund, has filed suit against the three largest credit-ratingsagencies, essentially asserting that the agencies gave away highratings like gold stars to kindergartners back in the days when realestate only went up. Or to use the language of the lawsuit, "wildlyinaccurate and unreasonably high" ratings on various structuredinvestment vehicles caused the pension fund to lose a cool billiondollars.
MBA: Outstanding Mortgage Debt Remains Unchanged in First Quarter
Jun 19, 2009
The level of commercial mortgage debt outstanding remained relatively unchanged in the first quarter, at $3.48 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association analysis of the Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. The $3.48 trillion in commercial/multi-family mortgage debt outstanding recorded by the Federal Reserve was a decrease of $33 million from the fourth quarter of 2008. Multi-family mortgage debt outstanding grew to $908 billion, an increase of $5 billion, or 0.6 percent from the fourth quarter.
Economic Update - Recovery or Continued Slowdown?
Jun 17, 2009
Is the economy picking up or continuing to struggle? It seems to depend upon who you talk to and when you talk to them. While many reports gave a variety of accounts Tuesday, most supported bets that the pace of the recession is slowing.
Rockwood Latest Investor to Close Fund, Raising $964M
Apr 29, 2009
Hoping to capitalize on an unsettled real estate environment that could ultimately lead to the "best investment period in the last 20 years," private real estate investment firm Rockwood Capital L.L.C. has closed an investment fund with some $964 million in capital commitments.
Economic Update - Bear Stearns' Bum Real Estate, Revealed
Apr 24, 2009
Bear Stearns Cos. was in the news again Thursday, in case anyone
remembers back far enough to recall the last time it was big news--a
time when the disappearance of that company into JPMorgan Chase seemed
unfortunate, but not necessarily a harbinger of vast financial problems
ahead. Which, in fact, it turned out to be.
Economic Update - Credit Woes Put Kibosh on $2.5B Midway Deal
Apr 21, 2009
Citi Infrastructure Investors--a joint venture of Citigroup Inc., John Hancock Life Insurance Co. and Vancouver Airport Services-- will be unable to go through with a deal that would have seen the group buy Midway International Airport in Chicago for $2.5 billion. After previous extensions, the City of Chicago decided not to give the group any more time to close on the deal.
U.S. Infrastructure at Crossroads: Report
Apr 21, 2009
With $132 billion having been set aside in the stimulus package for road, highway and various other transit related projects across the United States, the issue of the country's outdated infrastructure is at the forefront. The Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young note in a new report that while the funding will certainly boost the job market, what is of even more vital importance is a long-term infrastructure plan for digging the nation out of an economic slump and shoring up the country to be competitive on an international level in the future.
In Wake of CityCenter Suit, Another Vegas Project Looks to Move Forward
Mar 25, 2009
As one Las Vegas mega-project hits a snag, the site for a possible new
development is set to go up for auction. Just a day after the
announcement of a lawsuit brought by a co-developer of the massive
CityCenter project against its partner comes word that a 22-acre parcel
for a proposed Asia-themed casino resort will be sold at a bankruptcy
auction in May.
Discover Commercial Development and Investment Opportunities
Despite the competitive nature surrounding real estate investing,
those involved in commercial development understand the potential for
growth. Commercial Property News delivers the latest institutional
investment news and how it affects the entire commercial real estate industry.
|
|
Subscribe to this blog's feed
