NEW YORK — Investcorp, a provider and manager of alternative investment products, has acquired a portfolio of eight residential properties in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas for $400 million. The transactions increase the firm’s total real estate acquisitions for the last 12 months to more than $1 billion. All eight properties are located in major U.S. markets. Investcorp intends to add value to the portfolio through renovations and capital expenditures. “In an environment in which the U.S. homeownership rate has dropped to a 50-year low, these acquisitions affirm our confidence in the attractiveness of investing in high-quality multifamily rental properties in major U.S. markets,” says Herb Myers, managing director of real estate investment at Investcorp. “This fact, combined with the solid demographic and employment fundamentals in these areas should assist in driving the upside potential of these investments.” Investcorp, which is based in Bahrain with offices in London and New York, acquired each of the properties through joint ventures with several local and regional operating partners. The eight properties acquired total more than 3.2 million square feet across 3,400 multifamily units. The current average occupancy rate is 96 percent. The acquired properties include: Solis at …
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LOS ANGELES — CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt & Structured Finance team (NYSE: CBG) has arranged $156.8 million in financing for the acquisition of a six-property, 1,413-unit multifamily portfolio located in Washington and Oregon. The properties included in the transaction are: Alderwood Park, located in Lynnwood, Wash.; 188 units Boulder Creek, located in Wilsonville, Ore.; 296 units Bridge Creek, located in Wilsonville, Ore.; 315 units Ridgegate, located in Kent, Wash.; 153 units Ridgetop, located in Silverdale, Wash.; 221 units The Wellington, located in Silverdale, Wash.; 240 units Brian Eisendrath and Cameron Chalfant of CBRE’s Beverly Hills office arranged the financing from a single lender on behalf of Los Angeles-based TruAmerica Multifamily. CBRE secured seven-year, fixed-rate loans with three years of interest-only payments on four of the properties, with a blended interest rate of 3.85 percent. The remaining two properties were financed with floating-rate loans with three years of interest-only payments and a starting rate of 2.6 percent. TruAmerica will implement a value-add renovation program upon acquisition. “[Eisendrath and his team] provided aggressive financing and were able to increase proceeds by more than $5.4 million from application to closing, which will help us to reposition these well-built assets,” says Robert Hart, CEO …
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. commercial real estate market showed continued healthy demand across all property types during the third quarter of 2015, according to CBRE Group Inc. Demand for the nation’s multifamily units remained strong with the vacancy rate declining 20 basis points from a year earlier, falling to 4.2 percent in the third quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, the office vacancy rate declined 10 basis points from a year ago to 13.4 percent during the third quarter, and has now been flat or has declined for 22 consecutive quarters. The industrial availability rate continued to decline compared to a year earlier, falling by 20 basis points to 9.6 percent. The industrial availability rate has also been flat or declined for 22 consecutive quarters. The retail availability rate declined 10 basis points to 11.3 percent, 30 basis points below its level a year ago. “The commercial real estate markets remain near a ‘Goldilocks’ equilibrium, neither too hot nor too cold,” says Jeff Havsy, Americas chief economist for CBRE. “The pace of supply is increasing, but demand remains solid and rent growth is increasing at a sustainable level. Economic fundamentals are pointing to a sustained U.S. office expansion in 2015, with …
DENVER — Starwood Capital Group and East West Partners have announced plans to develop a $190 million office building in Denver’s Union Station neighborhood. The 250-foot-tall building will be known by its address, 16 Chestnut. The property will have frontage along both 16th and 17th streets. DaVite HealthCare Partners will be the first tenant. The kidney care provider will expand upon its current space, which is across the street. It will occupy about 265,000 square feet. DaVita will also have its own entrance and lobby. “When we moved to Denver, we knew we would commit to the city, to the state and to the community,” says Kent Thiry, DaVita’s chairman and CEO. “Today’s announcement of another DaVita building downtown, developed with East West Partners and Starwood Capital Group, cements that commitment.” Construction will begin in July 2016 and is scheduled for completion in October 2018. DaVita is scheduled to occupy the new space in August 2018. The remaining space will become available for lease in January 2016. The project is targeting LEED-Platinum certification. Gensler will design the building, with BuildMark providing construction management services. A general contractor has not yet been named. The development is situated adjacent to the South …
RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $120 million sale of The Meadows Office Complex in Rutherford. In a joint venture, Onyx Equities and SL Green sold the 600,000-square-foot property to an undisclosed buyer. The office complex, which consists of two buildings, is located at the intersection of Route 3 and the N.J. Turnpike. This makes The Meadows one of northern New Jersey’s few high-rise office towers outside of the Hudson Waterfront and the Newark Central Business District. “The purchaser secured one of the highest-quality assets in the Meadowlands market at a good basis, at a time when market fundamentals are improving,” says Gary Gabriel, executive vice president of Capital Markets for Cushman & Wakefield. “These buildings are eight miles from Manhattan and within a 45-minute drive of 12.5 million people. As rents in the city and along the Hudson Waterfront continue to increase, the Meadowlands remains a relative value. And with the completion of Secaucus Junction station, we have seen a distinct shift to the type of 24/7, mass transit-focused community desired by today’s employers and employees.” The Meadows is 90 percent leased, and tenants include MALO, Sony Music Entertainment, SGS North America and Shiseido Americas. The …
SAN DIEGO — BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) has entered into a definitive agreement with affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII, under which Blackstone will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of BioMed Realty for $23.75 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $8 billion. BioMed Realty Trust’s stock price closed Wednesday, Oct. 7 at $21.58 per share. BioMed Realty’s board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction. San Diego-based BioMed Realty Trust owns or has interests in properties comprising approximately 18.8 million rentable square feet. The majority of the company’s holdings are located in Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, New York and Maryland. “Demand for high-quality, institutional real estate to support the unprecedented growth of the life science industry is at historic levels as demand is outpacing supply in all of our core innovation districts,” says Alan Gold, chairman, president and CEO of BioMed Realty. “However, we believe that the public markets are not adequately valuing our assets and proven business model. Entering into this transaction with Blackstone fulfills our board of directors’ mission to maximize stockholder value.” The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, is contingent upon the …
U.S. Office Asking Rents Growing at Fastest Pace in Seven Years, Says Cushman & Wakefield
by John Nelson
NEW YORK — Tenant demand for U.S. office space remained strong in the third quarter of 2015, pushing average asking rental rates up in three-fourths of the country, according to new research by Cushman & Wakefield. Office rents in the U.S. increased 3.1 percent in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis — the strongest quarterly gain since peaking in 2008. Average asking office rents rose in 60 out of the 80 metros tracked, and the construction pipeline continued to expand. In the third quarter of 2015, there was 107.5 million square feet of new office construction, up 25 percent compared to the same quarter one year ago. Kevin Thorpe, Cushman & Wakefield’s chief economist, says the U.S. office sector continues on a strong, steady path despite a number of global economic headwinds. “There were plenty of reasons for the office metrics to slump this quarter: financial market volatility, China’s economic slowdown, the rapid appreciation of the U.S. dollar, uncertainty regarding monetary policy, along with the possibility of a government shutdown,” says Thorpe. “But what we are learning is that the U.S. economy and the property markets are proving, time and time again, to be resilient in the face of …
TEMPE, ARIZ. — Vestar, a privately held retail real estate company, and AEW Capital Management, have partnered to acquire Tempe Marketplace for $367 million. Vestar previously owned the 1.3 million-square-foot, open-air retail center with Rockwood Capital, which is exiting its investment after a five-year hold. AEW acquired the property on behalf of the AEW Core Property Trust. The deal closed Oct. 6. “We have a great long-standing relationship with AEW and are excited that their vision for Tempe Marketplace matches ours,” says Rick Kuhle, Vestar chairman and CEO. “Rockwood has been an exemplary capital partner for us. We look forward to working with them on future ventures.” Vestar opened Tempe Marketplace in 2007 and Rockwood Capital joined as a joint venture partner in 2010. The center offers shopping, dining and entertainment. Tempe Marketplace is fully occupied, with new tenants including F21 red (Forever 21’s new concept store), H&M and Nordstrom Rack. “We are excited about the investment as we believe the center will continue to benefit from the nearby Arizona State University campus as well as State Farm’s move of 7,000 professionals to a property that is adjacent to Tempe Marketplace,” says Dan Bradley, senior portfolio manager for AEW Core …
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT) has closed on the sale of five non-core outlet centers to an undisclosed buyer for a total cash sales price of $150.7 million in two separate transactions. The five properties are located in Barstow, Calif.; Kittery, Maine (two properties); Tuscola, Ill.; and West Branch, Mich. The fully occupied, 171,300-square-foot Tanger Outlet Barstow sold for $106.7 million. The 89 percent-occupied Tuscola, West Branch and Kittery centers traded for $44 million. The Barstow center sold at an estimated capitalization rate of 5.8 percent, while the other four properties traded at a cap rate of 10.4 percent. “These centers have an average age of approximately 24 years compared to our remaining portfolio average of 16 years,” says Steven Tanger, president and CEO of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers. “Because of the potential upcoming capital expenditures necessary to enhance these centers, as well as changes within each market, we no longer felt these assets could produce the growth in long-term internal cash flow and tenant sales that we are expecting within our core portfolio.” While the Barstow center is performing at a high level today, Tanger says it was an outlier in its portfolio given …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve’s recent decision to delay any increase in short-term interest rates appears to have been the correct call in hindsight based on last Friday’s disappointing news that total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by only 142,000 in September, says economist Robert Bach. But the lackluster September jobs report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also complicates the Fed’s task of communicating its plans to the financial markets, adds Bach, director of research for the Americas at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. “Fed Chairman Janet Yellen recently stated she thought the Fed might still raise interest rates this year, but that is less plausible if the economy remains in a soft patch,” explains Bach. The Federal Reserve’s target for the fed funds rate — the interest rate at which banks and other depository institutions lend to each other on an overnight basis — has been between 0 and 0.25 percent since December 2008. The fed funds rate serves as a baseline for other interest rates. Ryan Severino, senior economist and director of research at New York-based Reis, says that based on the latest jobs data “we are probably looking at December, if not 2016,” …