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Finance
CMBS
paulson A Bailout for Commercial Real Estate?
"Right now, we believe there is insufficient systemic capacity to refinance expiring, performing commercial real-estate loans," reads a letter from a dozen commercial real estate trade groups to Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson, according to the Wall Street Journal this morning. In other words, the commercial side of the business, long perceived as relatively healthy compared with the residential side, is warning of dire straits ahead unless refinancing money is available in the near future.
CMBS Delinquencies Speeding Up: Fitch
Back in January 2008, long before the capital markets took their astonishing twists, Fitch Ratings made a sobering prediction: By the end of the year, its CMBS loan delinquency index would be double or triple the 0.28 percent recorded at the end of 2007. Fitch’s crystal ball turned out to be right on the money. On Friday the ratings agency reported that CMBS delinquency reached 0.64 percent for November. At this pace, Fitch projects that CMBS delinquencies could hit 2 percent by the end of 2009.
ProLogis Buy Eases Debt Squeeze on European Unit
Facing a looming CMBS debt maturity next summer, ProLogis European Properties is getting some much-needed breathing room from its corporate parent. In a deal valued at about 43 million euros, or $61 million, Luxemborg-based PEPR is selling ProLogis a 20 percent share of a private investment fund.
 
Mortgage Banking
Education Realty Nabs $222M
Student housing REIT Education Realty Trust Inc. has closed a $222 million secured credit facility, courtesy of Fannie Mae DUS lender Red Mortgage Capital Inc., and is wasting precious little time making use of the proceeds.
Freddie Mac’s New Chief Credit Officer Brings Strong Credentials to Tough Task
Freddie Mac today named Raymond G. Romano chief credit officer. Romano had been the company’s senior vice president of credit risk oversight since joining Freddie Mac in 2004 and in September also took the position of acting chief credit officer.
Loan-Extension Picture Could Be a Lot Worse
In the first decline since July in the delinquency rate among U.S. commercial real estate loan collateralized debt obligations, that rate fell from 3.13 percent in October to 2.80 percent in November, according to the latest information from Fitch Ratings.
 
Investment Banking
Dollar Retailing Seeing Good Times
The Dow Jones index took something of a dive yesterday, possibly because of ill tidings from the likes of Time Warner and Intel, or the anticipation of bad job market numbers, or maybe because it was time to yo-yo back to roughly where the market started at the beginning of the year. In any case, the Dow was down 245.40 points, or 2.72 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 3 percent exactly and the Nasdaq lost 3.23 percent.
Pending Home Sales, Factory Orders Dip
It isn't clear that the days of yo-yoing equity markets have gone away--just wait until the next international shock or surprise bankruptcy--but for the moment the Dow Jones index seems to have mellowed out. It fluctuated above its starting point yesterday and ended up gaining a modest 62.21 points, or 0.69 percent.
Construction Industry Faces Hard 2009
The equity markets dropped considerably Monday morning, but then yo-yoed around for the rest of the day--small fluctuations, really--and ended up slightly down, for the first time in four trading sessions and the first time this year. The Dow Jones index dropped 76.7 points, or 0.85 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.35 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.49 percent.
 
Institutional Investment
Federal Pension Watchdog Picks Advisors for Shift into Real Estate
The federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has revealed the investment firms that will act as its strategic partners in managing $2.5 billion in assets and supporting PBGC’s in-house investment staff. The firms are BlackRock, The Goldman Sachs Group and J.P. Morgan Chase, all headquartered in New York City.
 
REITs
mcwilliams CNL, Macquarie Plan $1.5B Global REIT
Orlando-based CNL Financial Group and Sydney's Macquarie Group have joined forces for the first time to establish a new global REIT, CNL Macquarie Global Growth Trust Inc., which will pursue opportunities in just about every sector of commercial real estate in various areas around the world. The partners can afford to think big, as the proposed total offering for the REIT is $1.5 billion.
Education Realty Nabs $222M
Student housing REIT Education Realty Trust Inc. has closed a $222 million secured credit facility, courtesy of Fannie Mae DUS lender Red Mortgage Capital Inc., and is wasting precious little time making use of the proceeds.
SL Green Aims to Raise $95M with Sharp Dividend Cut
SL Green Realty Corp. has slashed a planned dividend payment in efforts to pay down debt and conserve funds for future investments. The company set the new dividend payment at $0.375 per common share for the fourth quarter of 2008. The third quarter dividend was $0.7875 per share.
 
Net Leasing
ProLogis Leases 120,000 SF to CommScope near Reno
ProLogis has leased 120,000 square feet of recently completed industrial space near Reno, Nev., to CommScope.
Smaller Net Lease Deals, Patient Approach Mark 2009, Says Hughes
CPN editor-in-chief Suzann Silverman spoke with Jeff Hughes, senior director for Stan Johnson Co., about the outlook for the net lease sector in 2009 and the approach his nine-person team is taking to brokering single-tenant deals.
ProLogis Leases 282,000 SF to Safelite AutoGlass
ProLogis has leased approximately 282,000 square feet at ProLogis Park Ontario Airport in Ontario, Calif., to Safelite AutoGlass.
 
Lending
Education Realty Nabs $222M
Student housing REIT Education Realty Trust Inc. has closed a $222 million secured credit facility, courtesy of Fannie Mae DUS lender Red Mortgage Capital Inc., and is wasting precious little time making use of the proceeds.
Emeritus Closes Refi Deal, Extends $73M Debt
Assisted living and Alzheimer's care facilities provider Emeritus Corp. capped the end of the year by ensuring there would be no material maturities hanging over its head in 2009. The company wrapped up the $36.3 million refinancing of seven properties through Freddie Mac, a move that allowed it to pay down and extend an existing debt with Capmark.
3Q GDP Down, 4Q Expected to Be Worse
The quarterly report by the U.S. Department of Commerce on the national GDP is something of a lagging indicator. The fact that the U.S. economy contracted 0.5 percent in the third quarter--July to September--might be worrisome, but it only raises the further question of how much contraction will happen in the fourth quarter.
 

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