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CHICAGO — After two years of contraction, the NCREIF Timberland Index rebounded modestly in 2011 with a total return of 1.57 percent for the year. It’s too soon, however, to say the property sector is out of the woods. “Until the economy grows at a faster pace and the housing market improves, timber returns will have difficulty showing strong positive results,” wrote Jeff Havsy, director of research for the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries based in Chicago (NCREIF), in a release highlighting the fourth-quarter results. Still, 2011 was a “nice contrast” to 2010 and 2009 when total returns for the NCREIF Timberland Index fell 0.15 percent and 4.75 percent, respectively, according to Havsy. The index finished 2011 on a positive note. The fourth-quarter total return of 0.51 percent included a 0.56 percent rise in income and a 0.05 percent drop in capital appreciation over the third quarter. The fourth quarter marked the fifth time in the last six quarters that capital appreciation, or the change in value, was negative. “On the bright side, this was the smallest drop in value since the first quarter of 2011 and the third best quarterly appreciation return in the past three years,” …

ARLINGTON, VA. — Washington, D.C.-based Penzance has received site plan approval from the Arlington County Board for a $150 million, 280,000-square-foot, mixed-use office and retail project located one block from the Clarendon Metro Station in Arlington. Ground breaking on 3001-3003 Washington Boulevard is slated for this spring. “We want to thank the Clarendon community, county staff, the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board, the transportation and planning commissions and the county board for their hard work and support as we worked together to assure the successful integration of 3001-3003 Washington Boulevard in this vibrant neighborhood,” said Victor Tolkan, managing partner and founder of Penzance, in a prepared statement. The development will include two separate office properties, a 10-story, 200,000-square-foot building attached to and sharing complementary architecture with its neighbor, an 8-story, 80,000-square-foot building. The first floors will contain 28,000 square feet of retail space, as well as a public plaza and expansive sidewalk areas to accommodate café tables and outdoor seating for retail tenants. The buildings are designed to LEED Silver standards. The first tenant has already been retained for the property. CNA will relocate its current headquarters, located at 4825 Mark Center Dr. in Alexandria, Va., to 175,000 square …

CHICAGO — Newly released results for the NCREIF Property Index (NPI) show total returns for the fourth quarter of 2011 were 2.96 percent, comprised of a 1.45 percent income return and a 1.51 percent capital appreciation return. For the year, the NPI returned 14.26 percent, split between 6.11 percent income and 7.80 percent appreciation. The NPI Index tracks approximately $284 billion of institutional real estate investments. While the NPI returns are down from the previous few quarters, they remain above the 30-year average of 2.1 percent and the 19-year average of 2 percent, according to Jeffrey Havsy, director of research for Chicago-based NCREIF. For the year, the NPI’s nearly 14.3 percent return outperformed both the S&P 500 and NAREIT Index. Since bottoming at the end of 2009, the NPI total returns have been positive each quarter for the past two years. Prices have rebounded 19 percent since bottoming in the first quarter of 2010. That is slightly more than half of the 29 percent loss that occurred from the peak in the first quarter 2008, to trough. The economic uncertainty of late summer continued into the fall, with questions about Europe and the strength of the U.S. recovery, explained Havsy. …

NEW YORK CITY — Africa Israel USA (AFI USA) has closed on the $165 million sale of the 267,000-square-foot Clock Tower Building, a former office building located at 5 Madison Ave. in New York City. Marriott International Inc. purchased the building, and will convert the 41-story property into New York’s first Marriott EDITION brand hotel. “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Marriott International to secure the future of this remarkable building and support the burgeoning vitality of the Madison Square Park neighborhood,” said Tamir Kazaz, CEO of AFI USA, in a prepared statement. “The EDITION hotel brand will be a perfect fit for this great neighborhood.” The EDITION hotel brand is a new luxury, lifestyle brand created in a partnership between Marriott International and Ian Schrager. AFI USA purchased the building for $200 million in 2007. Metropolitan Life Insurance originally built and occupied the building, but it has been empty since 2005. The Clock Tower Building is one of Manhattan’s earliest skyscrapers. “We are delighted to have achieved such a strong price for this asset as a hotel property,” said Laurie Golub, general counsel and managing director of business affairs of AFI USA. “It speaks to the …

Columbia, S.C. — Columbia's CBD office sector is on the verge of becoming a landlord’s market. So says David Lockwood, senior vice president of leasing for Colliers International South Carolina Inc., who expects that in 2012 owners of downtown office buildings will offer fewer concessions than the previous 12 months as vacancies fall and rents rise. “Tenants just aren’t going to be able to find the deals that were out there a year or 2 years ago,” said Lockwood during a 30-minute webinar hosted by Colliers on Monday that focused on office leasing and employment trends in greater Columbia. In contrast, however, Lockwood fully anticipates rental rates in Columbia’s suburban office market will fall as landlords pull out all the stops to land tenants. “Suburban landlords will become even more aggressive,” said Lockwood. “They’ll offer more concessions, and they’ll offer more TI (tenant improvements), and that has a short-term degrading effect on the market by lowering the average rental rates.” The direct vacancy rate for the office market as a whole stood at 24 percent at the end of 2011, including 22.67 percent in the CBD and 25.49 percent in the suburbs, according to Colliers. In the CBD, much of …

The Richmond, Virginia, office market is gradually recovering from the effects of the recession and an unusual flurry of large-block office vacancy following several major corporate bankruptcies and relocations during 2008 and 2009. In 2011, overall vacancy declined slightly from 10.9 percent to 10.6 percent, year-over-year. Average asking rents increased slightly; however, tenants remain aggressive in seeking favorable terms. Due to a continued abundance of available Class A office space, office development remains at a standstill, with the exception of pre-leased medical office buildings. The metro Richmond office market saw a significant increase in leasing activity in 2011 with 2.5 million square feet leased compared to 1.83 million in 2010. Overall positive space absorption of 495,631 square feet was just under the 2010 total of 543,287 square feet, reverting back to close to normal absorption following the negative 1.3 million square feet of absorption reported in 2009. The market leader during 2011 was suburban Innsbrook, or the northwest quadrant submarket, with more than 1 million square feet of leasing activity. The largest submarket in the region, it suffered major losses in occupancy when the bankruptcies of Circuit City stores and LandAmerica, as well as the relocations of Wells Fargo Securities …

BETHESDA, MD. — In 2011, Beech Street Capital provided $2.2 billion in multifamily financing, more than double the amount secured in 2010, its first year. “This was really a breakthrough year for us,” said Grace Huebscher, president and CEO of Beech Street, in a prepared statement. “The word is clearly getting out among borrowers that Beech Street is committed to providing an extraordinary level of service and execution.” Beech Street doubled its Fannie Mae business and more than tripled its Freddie Mac business, while its FHA and broker business continued to grow. By the end of 2011, the company was servicing loans on properties in 27 states. “We have the range of products and the in-house expertise to more than meet the needs of virtually any multifamily borrower,” Huebscher continued. One of the company’s largest transactions of the year occurred in late March. Beech Street provided $74 million in Fannie Mae conventional loans to refinance a 13-building, 615-unit portfolio of New York City properties owned by the Haruvi family. Meridian Capital Group originated the transaction. The Bethesda-headquartered company has offices in California, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Washington. The Southern California office opened in 2011, and experienced …

QUINCY, MASS. — Street-Works Development and The Beal Cos. have formed a partnership to develop the $1.6 billion, 3.5 million-square-foot Quincy Center, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development in downtown Quincy. The 20-acre development will include 1.1 million square feet of office space, two hotels, 1,400 residential units and 700,000 square feet of retail space. The companies will be co-managing partners for the project. Additionally, in September 2011, Street-Works formed a joint venture with National Realty and Development Corp. for 400,000 square feet of the retail portion. “The Beal team has been, and continues to be, a driving force behind urban spaces and projects in and around Boston, and we are pleased to have them join us in the rebirth of Quincy,” said Ken Narva, co-founder and managing partner of Street-Works, in a prepared statement. “Our companies share the same vision — to combine financial prudence with entrepreneurial vision and thoughtfulness to create a downtown that will be successful for generations to come,” he continued. “For the past 6 years we have worked with the city and state to develop this vision for Quincy. Our partnership as Beal/Street-Works strengthens the foundation of our work as we continue to move this revitalization toward …

NEW YORK CITY — A 630,000-square-foot enclosed fashion mall, with a new Macy's as its centerpiece, will break ground in the Bronx this spring, with the opening slated for late 2013 or early 2014. Prestige Properties plans to develop a three-level, $270 million mall located on an empty parcel of the Bay Plaza Shopping Center, one of New York City's largest retail centers. The development, named the Mall at Bay Plaza, will be anchored by Macy's, which is slated to occupy 160,000 square feet. “The new Macy's will be a big draw for other retailers to lease space at The Mall at Bay Plaza,” says Sam Shalem, CEO and chairman of Prestige Properties. The mall will also be physically connected to an existing JC Penney store at the Bay Plaza Shopping Center. When complete, Bay Plaza will total about 2 million square feet of retail space. “Asking rent for the new mall will depend on the size of the space and the type of tenant, but will likely range between $100 to $200 per square foot,” says Shalem. Located near the intersection of Hutchinson Parkway and I-95 in the East Bronx, the fashion mall will include 70 to 80 stores. …

PARAMUS, N.J. — Paramus-based HornRock Properties has plans to acquire $125 million in residential and commercial properties in the Northeast in the next 12 months, the company announced on Monday. In alliance with Ontario-based Fieldgate Homes, HornRock Properties will pursue a variety of residential, commercial and mixed-use projects, with a focus on the New York/New Jersey urban and suburban markets. The company, owned by brothers Maurice and David Hornblass, has hired a team of acquisition, architecture, construction, management and marketing professionals to help meet its objectives and address challenges and opportunities. “We’re well-positioned to move on viable opportunities concerning various asset classes, including condos, rentals, single-family, multifamily and distressed assets,” said David Hornblass, principal of HornRock Properties, in a prepared statement. “Our alliance with Fieldgate Homes, one of the most successful and respected developers in the Canadian market, enables us to draw on significant financial resources to close deals quickly, without bank or other traditional lending sources,” he said. The company is working with real estate brokers, develops, lenders and other service providers to identify viable opportunities, including ground-up construction and redeveloping or repositioning assets. “Sellers appreciate that we’re fully committed to every project and are confident in our proven …