Top Stories

Dockerty Romer & Co. Arranges $105.3M Acquisition of Aventura Corporate Center in Suburban Miami

by Katie Sloan May 10, 2016

AVENTURA, FLA. — Dockerty Romer & Co. has arranged the $105.3 million acquisition of Aventura Corporate Center, a 242,244-square-foot office complex located in Aventura, roughly 18 miles outside of Miami. The Class A property, located along Biscayne Boulevard, comprises two five-story buildings, one six-story building and three parking garages with additional development rights. Major tenants at the complex include Morgan Stanley, South Broward Hospital, Regus and Serendipity Labs. Buildings I and II, located at 20801 and 20803 Biscayne Blvd., were constructed in 1987 and 1988, respectively, and underwent renovations in 2005. Building III, located at 20807 Biscayne Blvd., was built in 2007. Bob Dockerty of Dockerty Romer & Co. arranged the transaction on behalf of the 1031 exchange buyer, Renaissance Aventura LLC. HFF represented the seller, ACC/GP Development LLC and ACC/GP Investment LLC, in the transaction. The 1031 exchange buyer, which is affiliated with investors Kenneth and Robert Fishel, sold an asset located in Manhattan before acquiring Aventura Corporate Center. The investors primarily own multifamily and office assets across the New York City metro area. Dockerty Romer also secured a seven-year, $50 million acquisition loan on behalf of the buyer through Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. Since its inception in January 2000, …

May 10, 2016

Features Hospitality Industrial Multifamily Office Retail Top Stories

U.S. Commercial Property Values See 7 Percent Annual Growth, According to Ten-X

by Haisten Willis May 10, 2016

IRVINE, CALIF. — Commercial real estate values in the United States increased by 7 percent from April 2015 to April 2016, according to Ten-X, an online real estate marketplace. The company has released its latest Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Nowcast. The pricing index, which combines Google Trends data, Ten-X’s proprietary transaction data and investor surveys to forecast CRE pricing trends in real time, reveals that commercial valuations increased by 0.6 percent month-over-month in April and are back above their year-end 2015 level. The Ten-X CRE Nowcast (formerly the Auction.com CRE Nowcast) is a price index covering the entire U.S. commercial market, including individual price trends for the office, apartments, retail, industrial and hotel sectors. “Even though the April all-sector increase is significantly stronger than the prior month’s slight gain of 0.2 percent, this still is the slowest annual growth rate from pricing for the cycle,” says Ten-X chief economist Peter Muoio. “April’s uptick in growth was seen across all major CRE sectors except hotel, where that segment’s fundamentals, as well as its pricing, continue dwindling. Meanwhile, the multifamily sector displayed the strongest pricing trends with a 1.8 percent gain in April.” The Ten-X Hotel Nowcast dipped 1 percent from March …

May 10, 2016

California Healthcare Multifamily Seniors Housing Top Stories Western

HCP to Spin Off HCR ManorCare Portfolio of Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living Assets Into Separate REIT

by Christina Cannon May 9, 2016

IRVINE, CALIF. — HCP (NYSE: HCP), one of the largest healthcare real estate investment trusts in the United States, will spin off its HCR ManorCare portfolio of skilled nursing and assisted living assets into an independent, publicly traded REIT. The company’s board of directors approved the plan today. The newly formed REIT, SpinCo, will be composed of more than 320 properties operated by HCR ManorCare. The portfolio has an expected in-place annual rent of approximately $485 million. “Post spin, HCP will own a stable, private-pay portfolio that has a track record of delivering consistent, attractive returns,” says Lauralee Martin, president and CEO of Irvine-based HCP. “HCP will be able to sharpen its focus on high-growth healthcare sectors.” This is the second major REIT to spin off its skilled nursing portfolio in the past year. In August, Ventas created Care Capital Properties as a way to spin off its skilled nursing assets. “We need to eliminate the overhang that exists from the current challenges facing HCR ManorCare so the rest of our business can flourish,” said Micheal McKee, executive chairman of the board, on the company’s first-quarter earnings call this morning. “As we reviewed our options, for many reasons it became clear …

May 9, 2016

Features Top Stories

April Jobs Report Falls Short of Expectations, But Office-Based Hiring Surges

by Matt Valley May 9, 2016

A modest pullback by U.S employers in April doesn’t signal an end to the recent trend of strong job creation, but it adds to a string of subpar economic reports, says Robert Bach, director of research for the Americas at brokerage firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a net gain of 160,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April, well below the 200,000 jobs projected in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. What’s more, the increase in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised from 245,000 to 233,000, and from 215,000 to 208,000 in March. That means the U.S economy added 19,000 fewer jobs in February and March than first believed. The nation’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of only 0.5 percent during the first three months of 2016, Bach points out, the weakest quarterly pace in two years. Weaker than expected retail sales, softness in business capital expenditures and a pullback in corporate earnings also have raised some red flags. “Taken together, these data points confirm the economy is navigating a soft patch that merits close observation in the months ahead, particularly with the added uncertainty created by the November …

May 9, 2016

New York Northeast Office Top Stories

Construction Begins on $380M Tech and Innovation Building in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard

by Christina Cannon May 6, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — Construction is underway on Dock 72, a $380 million project that will bring 675,000 square feet of tech and innovation space to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The 16-story building is currently slated for delivery in late 2017. Dock 72 is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to spur job growth around Navy Yard, a 300-acre modern industrial and office park. With this project, Navy Yard has over $700 million of construction activity underway or in the planning stages. The new projects at the Brooklyn Navy Yard are expected to increase the number of permanent jobs at the Navy Yard from 7,000 to 16,000 by 2020. Boston Properties Inc. and an affiliate of Rudin Management Company Inc. (Rudin Development) are developing the building in conjunction with Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. (BNYDC). S9 Architecture designed the building, which is centrally located within the Yard on a 60,000-square-foot strip of land that juts out into the East River between two active dry-docks. WeWork, a provider of collaborative co-working office spaces, is also involved in the development process and will anchor Dock 72. WeWork will occupy 222,000 square feet, and the remaining floor plates will range from 40,000 …

May 6, 2016

Mixed-Use Restaurant Retail Texas Top Stories

Dallas Cowboys Unveil Plans for Retail Block at Team’s $1.5B Mixed-Use Development

by John Nelson May 5, 2016

FRISCO, TEXAS — The Dallas Cowboys have unveiled plans for a 200,000-square-foot retail block at The Star in Frisco, a $1.5 billion, 91-acre mixed-use development that will include the NFL team’s new headquarters. In addition to the retail space and corporate headquarters, The Star in Frisco will feature the Cowboys’ training complex, a 12,000-seat multi-use event center and an Omni hotel. “The retail area will allow visitors to enjoy The Star whether there’s an event happening or simply a Friday night out with friends and family,” says Jerry Jones Jr., executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer for the Dallas Cowboys. Storefronts will line The Star Boulevard, Winning Drive and Cowboys Way at The Star, and will provide shoppers and diners with a Dallas Cowboys brand experience. The restaurants that will be opening locations at The Star include City Works, Dee Lincoln Prime, Liberty Burger, Mi Cocina, Neighborhood Services, Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip and Tupelo Honey Café. The retail space will be located south of the Cowboys’ headquarters and The Ford Center, which will house the event center and the team’s training complex. Neighborhood Services will be located inside the Omni hotel. Next Step Dance, a …

May 5, 2016

Features Retail Top Stories

How Smartphones, Showrooming Impact Property Taxes and More

by Jeff Shaw May 5, 2016

The battle between physical stores and online retail rages on, but the recent explosion in smartphone usage is blurring the battle lines. Using smartphones, consumers in a store now can simultaneously shop and compare pricing and product availability at competing stores or online. The practice is sometimes referred to as “showrooming.” Increasingly, retailers must simultaneously invest in a combination of brick-and-mortar stores, websites, digital marketing and merchandise delivery to sell goods. Only the real estate component of that infrastructure is subject to property tax. If property owners identify the portion of store sales attributable at least partially to online shopping, they can argue for taxable property values more accurately based on the remaining sales volume attributable to a store’s physical location and condition. Retailers that think mobile is a channel use the wrong metrics to measure the smartphone’s impact on retail. Smart retailers focus on the impact on overall business rather than trying to measure only app downloads or channel sales. Extrapolating a retail property’s value from base rent is relatively easy, but what happens when rent is based on sales? How do sales that take place in the store via smartphone, or online transactions that stem from a store …

May 5, 2016

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Retail Top Stories

Aéropostale Inc. Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Will Close 154 Stores

by Haisten Willis May 4, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — After losing money for 13 consecutive quarters, teen apparel retailer Aéropostale Inc. (OTCQX: AROP) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Aéropostale will close 113 U.S. locations, as well as all 41 stores in Canada, and could announce more store closures at a later date. Of the 154 stores closing, 117 lost money last year, and the rest generated little profit. Click here to see a complete list of planned store closures. Store closing sales are scheduled to begin in the United States during the weekend of May 7-8, and in Canada during the week of May 9. The company plans to “emerge from the Chapter 11 process within the next six months as a standalone enterprise with a smaller store base, increased operating efficiencies and reduced SG&A [selling, general and administrative] expenses,” according to a press release from the company. Any sale of the company would be announced within the next six months. “While initiatives such as the implementation of our two-chain Factory and Mall strategy and our merchandise repositioning have started to gain traction, the ripple effects of an ongoing dispute with our second-largest supplier put substantial strain on our liquidity while also preventing …

May 4, 2016

Florida Retail Southeast Top Stories

Whitman Family Development Submits Plans for $400M Expansion of Bal Harbour Shops Near Miami Beach

by Katie Sloan May 3, 2016

BAL HARBOUR, FLA. — Whitman Family Development has submitted updated plans for a $400 million expansion of Bal Harbour Shops, an upscale, 450,000-square-foot, open-air shopping center located in Bal Harbour Village near Miami Beach. Expansion plans include the addition of the first Barneys New York flagship store in the Southeastern U.S., as well as significant upgrades to longtime anchor tenants Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The expansion will also include the addition of new luxury boutiques and restaurants, expanded vehicle entryways and exits with improved traffic signals, and wider sidewalks with increased landscaping and tree canopy around the shops on 96th Street and Collins Avenue. The new plans are the result of a Bal Harbour Village Council meeting on April 13 during which all council members expressed support for the expansion, but deadlocked 2-2 on the sale of the current Village Hall site that was central to the proposal. The revised plan reduces the proposed footprint by approximately 19 percent, according to reports by the Miami Herald, and will be built entirely on land already owned by Whitman Family Development. “The updated plan meets all of our goals, albeit in a different configuration,” says Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of …

May 3, 2016

Dodge Data New Construction Starts Index

Features Top Stories

Pace of New Construction Retreats Slightly in March after February Spike, Dodge Data Shows

by Jeff Shaw May 3, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — After a 13 percent jump in February, the pace of new construction starts in March across all real estate sectors fell by 1 percent, according to New York-based data firm Dodge Data & Analytics. The data is based on groundbreakings nationwide and uses the estimated construction costs of each project. Construction starts in March totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $660.5 billion, down from $667.6 billion in February. The lift in February was largely fueled by utilities and public works, according to Dodge. While that construction activity pulled back in March, other commercial real estate sectors filled the bulk of the gap. If electric and gas plants are excluded, the total for March actually rose 4 percent versus February. The report also notes that March was well above the previous seven months, when new construction hit a temporary slump. “While March construction activity was down slightly from February, it stayed above the lackluster performance witnessed during the second half of last year that continued through January,” says Robert Murray, chief economist for Dodge. Big Lift in Certain Sectors Some sectors even saw a massive spike in new construction starts. Transit buildings, for example, shot up …

May 3, 2016

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