WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose $51.9 billion, or 1.5 percent, in the second quarter over the prior quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). At the end of the first half of 2019, total commercial and multifamily debt outstanding was $3.5 trillion. Multifamily mortgage debt alone increased $24.4 billion (1.7 percent) to $1.5 trillion from the first quarter. Commercial banks continued to hold the largest share (39 percent) of commercial and multifamily mortgages at $1.4 trillion. Agency and government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) portfolios and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) were the second largest holders of commercial and multifamily mortgages (20 percent) at $703 billion. Life insurance companies held $539 billion (15 percent), and CMBS, collateralized debt obligation (CDO) and other asset-backed security (ABS) issues held $471 billion (13 percent). “Strong borrowing and lending, coupled with relatively low levels of loan maturities, are helping to boost the amount of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding,” says Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. “All four major capital sources increased their holdings during the quarter. With strong demand expected to continue, debt levels are likely to climb even more and end the year at a new …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has sold Kimpton Hotel Madera, an 82-room hotel in Washington, D.C., for $23.3 million. The property is located at 1310 New Hampshire Ave NW, three blocks south of Dupont Circle and one mile north of The White House. Amenities include free Wi-Fi, complimentary coffee and tea service, electric car charging stations and a yoga mat in each room. The buyer was not disclosed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Paramount Group Inc. (NYSE: PGRE) has sold Liberty Place, a landmark office building in Washington D.C., to an undisclosed buyer for $154.5 million. The 172,000-square-foot office building is located at 325 7th St. NW in the East End submarket of Washington, D.C., less than a mile from Capitol Hill. The property comprises two incorporated buildings: the historic Fireman’s Fund Building built in 1882, and a 12-story glass and limestone office tower constructed in 1991. In 2014, Hickok Cole designed an interior repositioning of the office entrance and lobby. Paramount intends to use a portion of proceeds from the sale to partially fund its $722 million purchase of Market Center, a 753,000-square-foot Class A office building in San Francisco’s South Financial District. “We continue to execute on our capital recycling strategy by selling stabilized assets at attractive prices and redeploying that capital into higher-growth opportunities, such as Market Center,” says Albert Behler, president, CEO and chairman. Recent tenants at Liberty Place include electric service company PPL Corp., market consultant Sonecon, Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien and Teneo Hospitality Group. Paramount originally acquired Liberty Place from Beacon Capital Partners in June 2011. Though Paramount did not disclose the price, the …
WASHNIGTON, D.C. — JLL has arranged a $181.5 million refinancing loan for Portals III, a 510,157-square-foot office building in southwest Washington, D.C. ACORE Capital provided the loan, which will be used to refinance existing debt, lease up the asset and fund capital improvements throughout the property. Portals III marks the third phase of the Portals mixed-use development, which comprises more than 1.5 million square feet of office space, more than 370 residential units, a 400-room Mandarin Oriental hotel and retail space. Andrew Weir, Cary Abod, Rob Carey, Drake Greer and Jay Graham of JLL represented the borrower, Washington, D.C-based Franklin L. Haney Co., in the loan transaction.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Normandy Real Estate Partners has sold 950 L’Enfant Plaza, a 315,726-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C., for $104.6 million. The nine-story building was 86 percent leased at the time of sale. I.M. Pei designed the property, which is situated within the 2.5 million-square-foot L’Enfant Plaza mixed-use development. The asset overlooks the Southwest Waterfront and has access to the L’Enfant Metrorail Station and is two blocks from the Virginia Railway Express Station. Matt Nicholson, Jim Meisel, Andrew Weir, Stephen Conley and Dave Baker of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in August, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday morning. The job gains fell short of Wall Street’s expectations of 150,000. A closer look at the data shows the private sector added 96,000 jobs, while government added 34,000 jobs, including 28,000 at the federal level and 6,000 at the state level. The growth in federal government jobs largely reflected the hiring of temporary workers for the 2020 U.S. Census. In the private sector, notable job gains occurred in professional and business services (+37,000), healthcare (+24,000) and financial activities (+15,000). Retail trade employment declined by 11,000 in August, while mining employment fell by 6,000. Employment gains in June and July were 20,000 fewer than previously reported as a result of revisions to the data, according to the BLS. In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $28.11, following 9-cent gains in both June and July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Calkain Cos. has arranged the $15 million sale of a triple-net-leased CVS property in Washington, D.C. The 8,754-square-foot building is located at 3323, 3325-3329 Connecticut Ave. NW, three miles north of downtown Washington, D.C. The building first served as a pharmacy in the 1950s before being converted to a CVS in 1990. Jonathan Hipp and Rick Fernandez of Calkain represented the seller, an undisclosed family trust, in the transaction. The buyer was a private investor completing a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ponte Gadea has acquired 815 Connecticut Ave. NW, a 216,786-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C., for $231.3 million. The sale was recorded with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds on Thursday, Aug. 29. The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) was the seller. According to multiple media reports, Blackstone bought the building in late 2016 for $190 million. The asset was built in 1964 and is situated across the street from The White House. In 2011, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton visited 815 Connecticut Ave. as part of Obama’s Better Building Initiative, according to the Washington Business Journal. Under the initiative, the building’s owner at the time, an affiliate of Swedish pension fund Alecta Real Estate Investment LLC, and general contractor Forrester Construction Co. completed a $30 million renovation. That project included an extensive update to the building’s mechanical systems, common areas and exterior facade that earned the building a LEED Gold certification, the Business Journal reported at the time. Ponte Gadea also purchased an 800,000-square-foot office building in Seattle for $740 million in March. Miami-based Ponte Gadea is led by Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, a fashion mogul whose company is parent to retail brand Zara. Ortega’s net …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has reported that construction employment rose in 71 percent of U.S. metro areas from July 2018 to July 2019. Construction employment rose in 255 out of 358 market areas, declined in 56 areas and was unchanged in 47. Washington, D.C.-based AGC collected the data through a survey conducted with Autodesk. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metro area added the most construction jobs during the past year (12,100 jobs, up 8 percent), followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (11,900 jobs, 9 percent). The largest percentage gain occurred in Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash. (23 percent, 3,500 jobs), followed by Auburn-Opelika, Ala. (19 percent, 500 jobs). The largest job losses between July 2018 and July 2019 occurred in Baton Rouge, La. (negative 4,900 jobs, 9 percent loss), followed by Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C. (negative 3,100 jobs, down 5 percent). The largest percentage decrease took place in Watertown-Fort Drum, N.Y. (10 percent drop, minus 200 jobs).
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Census Bureau reports that retail sales in July were up 0.9 percent from June and 5.6 percent year-over-year. The numbers exclude restaurants, gas stations and automobile sales but include e-commerce sales. July’s results build on gains of 0.6 percent month-over-month and 2.2 percent year-over-year seen in June. Specifics from key retail sectors during July include: Online and other non-store sales were up 19.3 percent year-over-year and up 2.8 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted, likely boosted by Amazon’s Prime Day promotion, which the company said had more sales than its 2018 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined; Health and personal care stores were up 6.1 percent year-over-year but down 0.2 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted; Grocery and beverage stores were up 4 percent year-over-year and up 0.6 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted; and General merchandise stores were up 2.1 percent year-over-year and up 0.6 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted.