MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) has completed its acquisition of the stock of the Harrah’s St. Louis gaming and lodging facility from Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR) for approximately $610 million. Penn will rebrand the casino, located in Maryland Heights, as Hollywood Casino St. Louis. “The acquisition of Harrah’s St. Louis further expands and diversifies Penn National’s regional operating platform with a facility that is extremely well-positioned in another large, stable metropolitan market,” says Peter Carlino, CEO of Penn National. “Our planned facility upgrades include the introduction of Penn National’s Hollywood brand — which has been successfully deployed at 13 other properties across the country — and will invoke the glamour of 1930s’ art deco Hollywood.” Penn has budgeted $61 million to rebrand and upgrade the casino, which includes updating the gaming floor with 400 new slot machines and aligning the facility’s IT system with Penn’s existing systems. The casino is situated along the Missouri River and features 109,000 square feet of gaming space, 2,100 gaming machines, 80 table games, a 500-room hotel, dining/entertainment venues and parking for 4,644 vehicles. In addition to the acquisition, Penn has named former Harrah’s executive Tony Carlucci as the vice …
CUPERTINO, CALIF. — Mission West Properties (NASDAQ: MSW), a California-based real estate investment trust, has entered into two agreements to sell all of its real estate assets for $1.3 billion. A joint venture between DivcoWest and TPG Real Estate will pay about $400 million in cash and assume $389 million of debt and other obligations. Some of the company's operating partnerships will retain other assets and liabilities with an approximate net value of $525 million. Mission West owns and manages 101 research and development facilities, mostly in Silicon Valley, totaling about 7.6 million square feet. The REIT put itself up for sale in December to take advantage of the positive market conditions. In a statement last year, the company announced it was exploring a sale due to “an increase in portfolio sales in various markets around the U.S., including the Silicon Valley portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, lower borrowing costs and a steady decline in cap rates from the increased investor demand for yield oriented real estate investments.” Mission West says it plans to liquidate after it completes the transactions by the end of the year. The company said shareholders and owners of operating partnership units that choose …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The construction industry added 17,000 jobs in October, the fifth consecutive monthly increase and the largest since January. That trend bodes well for the U.S. housing market and the broader economy, says Victor Calanog, head of research and economics at New York-based Reis. “That is an important development because it shows that the recovery in residential and commercial real estate is gaining momentum. The economy will not fully recover until housing recovers, so that is a welcome result,” says Calanog. The construction industry has added 29,000 total jobs over the past five months after shedding jobs for much of the year. Reconstruction spending following Hurricane Sandy will provide a near-term boost to construction jobs, adds Calanog, but that will be ephemeral since other projects will probably be put on hold as resources are reallocated. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 171,000 in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported last Friday. The net gain of 184,000 jobs in the private sector was offset by a loss of 13,000 government jobs. In addition, job gains for August and September were revised upward by 84,000. “The 184,000 increase in private sector jobs is a welcome improvement, and further …
NEW YORK CITY — As the remnants of one of the largest storms to ever strike the East Coast dissipates, the full scale of the damage left in its wake is becoming apparent. In New York, Hurricane Sandy crippled mass transit as its vast network of subways were halted by flooding. Subways started running again in much of New York City on Thursday. However, traffic at bridges remains backed up for miles and commuters are waiting in massive lines for buses. In New Jersey, large swaths of the coastline lay in ruins and all 12 of Atlantic City's casinos have been shuttered for several days. Tony Rodio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and CEO of the Tropicana, told the Press of Atlantic City that he estimates the resort towns' dozen casinos are losing $4.5 to $5 million per day just from gaming revenues. With financial losses mounting, casinos are anxiously awaiting word from Gov. Chris Christie about lifting the evacuation order. The total damage from Hurricane Sandy could run as high as $50 billion, including property damage, lost business and extra living expenses, according to the forecasting firm Eqecat. That would make it the second-costliest storm in …
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) has signed a purchase agreement to acquire NASCAR Plaza, a 20-story office tower in Charlotte's central business district for $100 million. The building serves as the headquarters for NASCAR. Parkway, a publicly traded real estate investment trust in Orlando, bought the building from a joint venture between Trinity Capital Advisors and Rubenstein Partners. The 390,000-square-foot building was constructed in 2009 and is 88 percent occupied. The average in-place rent per square foot is $25.61. The building is adjacent to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The racing association has leased 139,000 square feet as its headquarters through May 2021. “The purchase of NASCAR Plaza represents another off-market transaction that enables us to expand in one of our key target submarkets with a high-quality asset,” says James Heistand, CEO and president of Parkway Plaza. He adds that Parkway Properties plans to grow leasing and rents in a submarket that it believes will outperform during a recovery. According to CBRE Group, the Charlotte central business district continues to show signs of improving fundaments. Approximately 234,000 square feet was absorbed in the third quarter and the vacancy rate declined by 150 basis points from the prior quarter. …
MINNEAPOLIS — Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE: CHSP) has acquired The Hotel Minneapolis, a 222-room hotel located at 215 Fourth St. S. in downtown Minneapolis, for $46 million, or $207,000 per key. The hotel is part of the Marriott Autograph Collection and will remain with the brand. “We are thrilled to expand our portfolio with another high-quality, full-service boutique lifestyle property located in the core CBD of Minneapolis,” says James Francis, president and CEO of Chesapeake Lodging Trust. “The property has been meticulously restored and is one of the premier hotels in the city.” Chesapeake Lodging entered into the purchase agreement with a subsidiary of HEI Hotels and Resorts, the majority interest of the managing entity. Chesapeake Lodging has retained HEI to manage the hotel. The hotel is connected to Minneapolis’ city skywalk system, which links more than 80 blocks and 26 million square feet of office and retail buildings throughout downtown Minneapolis via sky bridges. The 10-story hotel features 6,000 square feet of meeting/catering space, the 250-seat Max Restaurant and Bar, a business center, fitness center and approximately 12,000 square feet of leased tenant space. “While we don’t value the tenant cash flow separately from the hotel’s operations, these spaces …
SEATTLE — MGP X Properties LLC, a real estate development, investment and management firm, has purchased a portfolio of 15 grocery stores located throughout the Puget Sound and Oregon region for $175 million from Briar Development. The acquisition includes 15 operating sites leased to Haggen Foods and Top Foods grocery stores, in addition to five undeveloped sites for future development. All but one of the properties is located in the Puget Sound area, and the other is located in Oregon. Paul Sleeth and Billy Sleeth of Colliers International’s Seattle office represented Bethesda, Md.-based MGP X in the transaction. Briar Development is the real estate holding company for the Haggen family, a Bellingham, Wash.-based owner and operator of grocery stores in the Northwest. In 2011, the Haggen family sold a majority of its ownership interest in the Haggen Foods and Top Foods grocery chains to Comvest, a private investment firm based in Florida. Syndicators and private families with an established presence in the Seattle-Tacoma market are able to secure attractive debt for their retail holdings, according to Marcus & Millichap. Greater access to financing has led to a surge in retail acquisitions in the area. The ongoing tech boom in the …
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Austin-based American Campus Communities Inc. (NYSE:ACC) will purchase a portfolio of 19 student housing properties from affiliates of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP for an aggregate $862.8 million. The portfolio includes 12,049 beds, with an additional 366 beds at an additional phase currently under development at an existing property. “We believe these 19 select assets offer high-quality products and locations in Tier 1 markets,” said Bill Bayless, CEO of American Campus Communities. “Furthermore, approximately 75 percent of the select portfolio is an average of 0.3 miles from campus in submarkets with barriers to entry.” The properties had an occupancy rate of 92.3 percent for the 2012–2013 academic year. The weighted average age of the portfolio is 3.7 years. The acquisition consideration includes the assumption of approximately $396.2 million of outstanding mortgage debt and $466.6 million in cash. The mortgage debt to be assumed has a weighted average annual interest rate of 5.28 percent and weighted average term to maturity of 8.3 years. Completion of the transaction is not subject to financing and does not require approval by ACC stockholders. American Campus intends to fund the purchase price with available cash, borrowings under its revolving credit facility, a …
CHICAGO — A joint venture between American Recovery Property Trust (ARPT), an entity of Sovereign Capital Management Group, and Northwood Investors has acquired Congress Center, a Class A, 524,800-square-foot, 16-story office tower in downtown Chicago. The purchase price was $95 million. Located at 525 W. Van Buren St. in the West Loop, Congress Center is leased to a variety of investment-grade tenants including the U.S. General Services Administration, North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, and AkzoNobel. Construction of the building was completed in 2001. This transaction marks another recapitalization of a former tenant-in-common-owned property that was originally syndicated by Triple Net Properties, and subsequently managed by Daymark Realty Advisors. “We are very excited to have closed on this real estate acquisition through ARPT in a joint venture with Northwood Investors,” says Todd Mikles, CEO of Sovereign Capital Management Group. “Congress Center is a quality asset that is now under ownership with the financial strength necessary to invest in the building and lease the remaining vacant space. Our goal is to continue recapitalizing properties in the Triple Net Properties portfolio — specifically, challenged properties acquired at the height of the real estate market,” adds Mikles. The tenant-in-common, or TIC, …
SAN FRANCISCO — Transbay Tower, slated to be the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast, has cleared two big hurdles on the road to construction. Hines finalized a joint venture with Boston Properties to buy land for the 61-story building in San Francisco from Transbay Joint Powers Authority for $190 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013 and both Hines and Boston Properties will have a 50 percent interest in the venture. In addition, the San Francisco Planning Commission has granted final planning approval for the tower to proceed. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the building will rise to a height of 1,070 square feet and total 1.4 million square feet. “We think the tower will be a beautiful addition to San Francisco's beloved skyline as well as an extremely desirable and sustainable workplace next to one of the state's busiest transit hubs,” says Gerald Hines, chairman of Hines. Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman and CEO of Boston Properties, adds the building will be a “landmark for generations to come.” The new tower will be located next to the Transbay Transit Center, which broke ground in 2010. The $4 billion transportation and housing project will …