Finance REITs
Compelling Opportunities in International Real Estate
Oct 22, 2009
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Investors in U.S. REITs and other U.S. property companies should consider investing in publicly traded REITs and property companies abroad. Within developed markets globally, the aggregate equity market capitalization of this sector totals $600-plus billion, two thirds of which are outside of the United States. My team and I continue to identify very compelling investment opportunities in international markets and encourage investors to consider “going global” as part of their real estate allocations.
Germany's Promising Discount Retail Market Lures Behringer Harvard
Oct 22, 2009
With the recession having taken a chunk out of consumers' pocketbooks
around the world, the retail real estate market has been struggling for
quite some time, and the situation is no different in Germany. However,
the discount retail sub-sector is thriving in the country, and
Dallas-based commercial real estate firm Behringer Harvard has
positioned itself to capitalize on related development opportunities
with the recent formation of Behringer Harvard German Retail, a joint
venture with Hanover, Germany-based real estate investment and
management company Rahlfs Immobilien GmbH.
Dog Days of Distress
Oct 07, 2009
Long lines of cash-rich investors, including REITs, are forming around what some believe could be the biggest distressed debt sales market since the days of the U.S. savings-and-loan crisis, but Ernst & Young L.L.P.’s latest survey of those investors suggests this market won’t follow quite the same pattern it did in the 1990s.
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.
To Shore Up Balance Sheets, REITs Like Brandywine Look to Divest Non-Core Assets
Oct 06, 2009
With loans still hard to come by, Brandywine Realty Trust is shoring up
its balance sheet, reducing leverage and preparing for investment
opportunities with the disposition of non-core assets, including two
properties in Trenton, N.J. The REIT just completed the sale of the
office buildings at 33 W. State St. and 50 E. State St., totaling
474,000 square feet, to a private investment group.
Apartment REITs See Record Jump in Returns
Oct 06, 2009
While it's probably early to label it a full-fledged resurgence, apartment REITs bounced back in a big way last quarter. The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts reported that the FTSE NAREIT All REITIndex was up 31.52 percent in the third quarter--the index's best-ever quarterly gain--bringing year-to-date total returns to 17.73 percent through Sept. 30.
Behringer Harvard REIT Makes Another Big M-F Splash in California
Sep 30, 2009
Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I recently made what was then 2009’s
largest California multi-family acquisition with an $80 million
purchase of Waterford Place Apartment Homes near the Bay Area. This
week, the REIT topped that with the $96 million purchase of another
property—this time in Los Angeles.
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 - CRE Buying Opportunities: Not as Many as Anticipated
Sep 24, 2009
REIT IPOs may have been the big thing this summer in commercial real
estate finance, but there are signs that the party is cooling off.
Namely, both Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. and Colony
Financial Inc., which specialize in mortgage holdings, cut their IPOs
in half on Wednesday, according to filings with the SEC. Apollo now
plans to sell 10 million shares instead of 20 million, while Colony
reduced its offering from 25 million shares to 12.5 million.
With Prices on the Decline, Behringer Harvard Makes $136M M-F Play
Sep 23, 2009
The gap between buyer and seller pricing expectations on commercial
real estate is closing, and with owners eager to sell properties to
escape debt maturities or just to pocket cash to address financial
demands, it has become a buyers market. Taking advantage of the
appealing prices, Behringer Harvard has just acquired two apartment
properties totaling 746 units in separate transactions valued at an
aggregate $136 million.
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.
RE Shares Continue Positive Run
Sep 21, 2009
Real estate stocks are continuing to rebound, according to a new report by ING Clarion Real Estate Securities.
Safe Haven from CMBS Delinquencies?
Sep 17, 2009
There is a growing concern among economists regarding the $685 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities market and the tremendous risks it holds for the commercial real estate industry as well as the general economy. Real estate investment trusts may provide a relative safe haven from this looming threat.
$80M San Fran M-F Sale Bucks Slow Market
Sep 17, 2009
While multifamily deals decreased significantly in the past year or two
in the San Francisco Bay Area, it isn’t because of lack of buyers – it
is because the sellers don’t like the market correction. In spite of
the sellers’ reluctance to put properties on the market, Waterford
Place Apartment Homes in Dublin, Calif., has sold for $80 million.
Fitch: Obtaining Unsecured Debt Becoming Easier for US REITs
Sep 14, 2009
The grip of the credit crunch has been so tight that U.S. equity REITs
have found it nearly impossible to get their hands on unsecured
debt--until recently. As per a new report by Fitch Ratings, obtaining
unsecured debt is becoming less of a pipedream.
Macerich Continues Deleveraging, Sells $116M Stake in Denver-Area Mall
Sep 08, 2009
Like so many REITs these days, Macerich Partnership L.P. has instituted
a plan to reduce debt by disposing of assets, and the firm's recent
sale of a majority interest in the FlatIron Crossing Mall in
Broomfield, Colo., to GI Partners constitutes its most recent move. The
two companies have formed a joint venture that calls for GI Partners to
give Macerich $116 million in cash in exchange for a 75 percent stake
in the 1.4 million-square foot super regional mall.
$208M DC Office Buy Not a Shock Despite Industry Malaise
Sep 03, 2009
In Washington, D.C.--which was named the best urban real estate market
in the world by the likes of the Association of Foreign
Investors--Germany-based DekaBank Group’s recent $207.8 million
acquisition of the newly developed 250,000-square-foot 1999 K Street
office building came as little surprise to many, even given the slow
investment market nationwide.
Non-Exchange Traded REITs in Revival
Sep 02, 2009
The decline in share prices experienced by publicly traded real estate
investment trusts and volatility in the broader stock market over the
last two years has significantly increased the attraction and demand
among investors for non-exchange traded REIT offerings. Since 2007,
approximately $25 billion of equity capital has been raised by
non-exchange traded REITs.
ProLogis Continues Risk Reduction Strategy with New Japan Partnership
Sep 01, 2009
A victim of the credit crisis and the global economic downturn,
ProLogis announced nearly 10 months ago that it would take steps to
shore up its balance sheet and reduce risk, and its latest move in
Japan constitutes yet another one of those steps. The Denver-based
global distribution facilities provider has just formed an alliance
with Tokyo-based Japan Logistics Fund Inc. and Mitsui & Co.,
Logistics Partners Ltd. that allows the aforementioned group, JLF, to
acquire assets in ProLogis' development portfolio in Japan.
Economy Watch - More REIT IPOs Hatched
Aug 31, 2009
More REIT IPOs are in the works, with the filing of the necessary
documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Brookfield
Realty Trust and Marathon Real Estate Trust on Friday for entities that
will invest $500 million and $300 million in various kinds of debt.
Brookfield said it will use the money to originate and buy mortgage
loans, and mezzanine loans, and possibly CMBS. As for Marathon, it will
go shopping for MBS, mortgage loans and other real estate-related loans.
2010 Outlook: Accelerating Acquisitions
Aug 20, 2009
Much has been written in 2009 about the continued weakening of commercial real estate fundamentals and the further difficulty that borrowers will have in paying off or refinancing the estimated $1 trillion worth of commercial mortgages coming due between now and 2010. However, we have seen very little positive coverage of a group of well-capitalized investors that have positioned themselves to take advantage and profit from this weakness and carnage: real estate investment trusts.
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.
Fundamentals Continue to Buoy Seniors Sector as SHPT Closes $513M Financing
Aug 17, 2009
With more than 40 percent of the U.S. population currently aged 60 or
older, and the Baby Boomer generation nearing retirement age, the
seniors housing sector is set to benefit from these strong fundamentals
for some time to come. That positive outlook has allowed owners of
seniors housing to continue getting their hands on funding, despite the
sluggish lending market. Case in point: Senior Housing Properties
Trust's recently-closed $513 million credit facility through Citi and
Fannie Mae, the largest seniors financing deal so far this year.
New Hines REIT is Latest to Eye Public Offering
Aug 17, 2009
On the heels of Brookfield Properties Corp.’s announcement of a major
public offering late last week, another REIT is hoping to raise capital
via a stock sale as Hines unveils a new global trust to be seeded by a
$3.5 billion share offering of its own.
Economic Update - Brookfield Looks to Public Offering For Dough
Aug 13, 2009
Brookfield Properties Corp. is the latest REIT--and there have been a
good many of them lately--to turn to public offerings to raise
much-needed capital. On Wednesday, Brookfield priced $900 million worth
of common shares, or 95 million shares at $9.50 each, a discount of
about 7.4 percent compared with the company's closing price on Tuesday.
A Big Splash in Growing Troubled Asset Market
Aug 13, 2009
Numerous funds and investment entities have been cropping up to
capitalize on the growing pool of distressed real estate assets around
the world, and Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management and
Brookfield Properties Corp. are joining the movement--but on a far
grander scale than most. The companies have just launched a $4 billion
investor consortium that will invest in equity and debt in undervalued
real estate companies and portfolios across the globe.
Shunning Bankruptcy Rumors, Maguire Continues Disposition Program with Park Place Deal
Aug 12, 2009
General Growth Properties did it. Opus East and Opus South did it. More
than a few REITs have filed for bankruptcy due to ramifications of the
tumultuous economy and frozen credit market, but Maguire Properties
Inc. says that option is just not up for consideration. While shaking
its head at bankruptcy rumors, the financially troubled Los
Angeles-based REIT continues its non-core asset disposition program
with the completion of a deed in lieu transaction of the 1.7
million-square-foot Park Place I office property in Irvine, Calif.
With an Eye on US Distressed Market, JV Buys Half of NYC's 485 Lexington Ave
Aug 11, 2009
It is unclear if those highly anticipated, absolute rock-bottom prices
on commercial real estate in the U.S. are upon us yet, but for at least
one foreign investor, the time is just right to snag a piece of a
premier New York City office property. Mazal 485 L.L.C., a joint
venture involving Herzliya, Israel-based Optibase Ltd. and Gilmore USA
L.L.C., has committed to acquiring 49.5 percent of the
900,000-square-foot office tower at 485 Lexington Avenue in Midtown
Manhattan from a subsidiary of SL Green Realty Corp.
Economic Update - Maguire Vows to Avoid Bankruptcy
Aug 11, 2009
The question of what to do with commercial buildings weighed down by
mid-2000s vintage securitized debt is one that's going to have to be
worked through building by building and loan by loan, it seems. But
there are going to be some bellwether cases, such as Maguire Properties
Inc., which is the process of relinquishing ownership of a portfolio of
prominent Los Angeles-area office buildings.
CBRE Investors: The Time to Buy is Now
Aug 05, 2009
For the most part, the investment community has been holding back on
commercial real estate acquisitions, waiting and waiting for the market
to hit bottom. But according to a new report by CB Richard Ellis
Investors, while the bottom may not be at hand just yet, it's close
enough.
Economic Update - Disney Weighs in on the Economy
Jul 31, 2009
Is Disney a major lagging indicator for the U.S. economy? Maybe. In any
case, Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger sounded like a central banker on
Thursday during the company's second-quarter conference call: "We do
see signs of economic stabilization, but the pace and strength of
recovery remain uncertain, and we are managing accordingly," he said.
ProLogis Continues to Pay Down Debt, Remains Active in Chicago
Jul 21, 2009
Like all commercial property players, industrial REIT ProLogis has had
to deal with the challenges of the sagging economy and sluggish leasing
market. Despite the tumultuous environment though, the firm is still
getting deals done—including some very sizable transactions, like a
250,000-square-foot lease the firm recently inked with Roosevelt Paper
Co. near Chicago. That deal was the largest splash made by ProLogis in the region during
the second quarter, during which it racked up a total of nearly 600,000
square feet in leases.
16-Property Healthcare Portfolio Snapped Up in $162M Cash Deal
Jul 21, 2009
Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc., currently among the minority of
real estate investment concerns that have the cash on hand to make big
purchases, has signed an agreement to acquire a 16-building healthcare
property portfolio in metropolitan Greenville, S.C., from Greenville
Hospital System. The $161.6 million deal will allow the hospital to
lease back the portions of the 855,000-square-foot portfolio of medical
office and healthcare related facilities it currently occupies.
Despite Improvements, Negative Overall Outlook for U.S. Equity REITs
Jul 16, 2009
The slightly less hostile financial market during the second quarter
cracked open the window for many equity REITs to begin making a bit of
progress in easing monetary woes, but according to Fitch Ratings' new
REIT Report Quarterly, a few significant obstacles continue to encumber
the sector.
ProLogis to Develop 554,000-SF BTS Project in the Netherlands
Jul 15, 2009
Like so many real estate companies, ProLogis isn't developing spec
projects these days, but build-to-suits are a different story. The
Denver-based global industrial REIT just agreed to develop a
554,000-square-foot distribution center in The Netherlands for
Hi-Logistics, and if ProLogis has anything to do with it, more
build-to-suit transactions will materialize.
Economic Update - ProLogis Sells in Big Way to Deleverage
Jul 01, 2009
The difficult year 2009 is half over, and recent deals by one of the
world's largest landlords show two things about the current climate.
First, deleveraging is in. Second, there are buyers out there to help
sellers who want to raise some cash to do that deleveraging.
Research Facility in Boston's Healthy Life Science Market Attracts $350M Loan
Jul 01, 2009
Flying in the face of the frosty credit market, BioMed Realty Trust
Inc. has just gotten its hands on a $350 million loan secured by its
successful new 700,000-square-foot Center for Life Science | Boston.
John Hancock Life Insurance Co., TIAA-CREF, and Westdeutsche
ImmobilienBank AG stepped up to the plate to provide the financing.
New Firm Aims to Help M-F Industry Weather Storm
Jun 15, 2009
In the apartment market, job losses are starting to exact a high cost in terms of declining rents and rising occupancy levels, and for holders of multi-family debt and equity, there's more bad news on the horizon as loan maturities on overvalued assets begin to take hold over the next few years. In an effort to assist those facing the impending challenges, two industry veterans have just launched apartment consulting firm Caldera Asset Management, based out of Denver and Atlanta.
Amid Continuing Market Decline, First Industrial Nabs $154M in Financing
Jun 08, 2009
Despite the ongoing weakening of industrial market fundamentals, banks are warming up to certain players like First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., which has just managed to get its hands on $154 million in the form of three loans secured by assets encompassing a total of 6.3 million square feet.
Lack of Leverage Lends Strength, REIT Week Panel Maintains
Jun 05, 2009
The bad news is, the United States is in a Great Recession and the commercial real estate market is likely to feel continued pain during the next two years as corporate cutbacks result in weaker fundamentals. The good news is, the public equity markets have been improving in the past few months, with returns bouncing back substantially and multiples back down to more reasonable levels as the market has responded to REIT success at raising capital through secondary offerings.
Economic Update - CRE Buyers Looking for Deals
Jun 04, 2009
Turns out that the recession is still on, at least if the latest
numbers from payroll firm ADP accurately reflect the state of hiring
and firing in the nation. According to ADP on Wednesday, U.S. companies
cut an estimated 532,000 employees from their payrolls last month, with
goods producers laying off 267,000 workers, and service providers
shedding 265,000 positions.
Signs of Life in 2Q as Sales Volume, Capitalization Jump
Jun 03, 2009
Despite overall sales figures down double digits from last year, transactions are still move forward, albeit in smaller amounts. Another good sign of real estate activity is the re-equitization of the REIT industry that continued in May as more companies deleveraged their balance sheets with equity capital raised in the public markets.
Moody's: Outlook for M-F REITs Stable for Now
Jun 02, 2009
During the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009, the fundamentals of the apartment industry steadily eroded, and the forecast for rental demand remains uncertain. Still, the overall outlook for the multi-family REIT sector is stable, according to a report by Moody's.
Financing Keeps Rolling in for Colonial
Jun 02, 2009
Despite the fact that widespread job losses have begun to take a toll
on the multi-family market, owners of this asset type are still able to
secure financing in what remains a frigid lending environment. Just
three months after having wrapped up a $350 million secured credit
facility, Colonial Properties Trust has landed another major financing
deal with the closing of a new $156.4 million secured credit facility.
In Slow Central Valley Market, 685,000-SF Sale Makes Splash
May 29, 2009
Industrial property sales in San Joaquin County in California's Central Valley have been practically nonexistent this year, but USAA Real Estate Co. just broke the monotony with the acquisition of a 658,000-square-foot distribution facility in the city of Tracy, about an hour east of San Francisco.
Fitch: General Growth Chapter 11 Ruling a Mixed Blessing for Bondholders
May 26, 2009
The special-purpose entity structure that has helped to power real
estate finance in recent years remains intact after recent court
decisions tied to the General Growth Properties Inc. Chapter 11
bankruptcy filing. However, the rulings may turn out to be less than a
total victory for bondholders in the long run.
Pocketing $387M, SL Green Becomes Latest REIT to Raise Equity Via Public Offering
May 19, 2009
SL Green Realty Corp. has jumped on the bandwagon of REITs that, facing credit markets that are frozen like a block of ice, have opted to raise funds through public offerings. The company, which is still New York City's largest office landlord, just walked away with net proceeds of approximately $387.4 million after selling 19.55 million shares of common stock.
Commercial Real Estate Magazine- Learn about the Profit Potential of REITs
Commercial real estate lending is in a state of constant fluctuation. Commercial Property News reports that commercial real estate loans are increasingly difficult to obtain. For extensive coverage on this and other important topics, professionals turn to CPN.
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