ATLANTA — Daniel Corporation and Selig Enterprises Inc. are partnering with lender Northwestern Mutual to develop the fourth high-rise tower of 12th & Midtown, a $1 billion mixed-use development in Atlanta. Appropriately named for its address, “77 12th Street,” the new apartment tower will rise 23 stories on the corner of 12th Street and Crescent Avenue. The property will include 330 luxury one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, as well as a 20,000-square-foot retail component, expected to feature a collection of restaurants and sidewalk cafes, as well as pedestrian and pet-friendly streetscapes. Projected rents for the sustainably-oriented apartments start at $1,500 for one-bedroom units and $2,250 for two-bedroom units. Features will be similar to those found in the 1010 Midtown high-rise condominiums, including 10-foot ceilings, granite and stone kitchens and baths, stainless steel appliances, and full-size washers and dryers. Amenities on the top level include a 5,000-square-foot club room, game room and sky deck adjacent to a 4,000-square-foot fitness center that overlooks the Midtown and Atlanta skylines. A private terrace level with a zero entry salt water pool, as well as multiple grilling and outdoor function areas, includes spaces for large gatherings or more private retreats. The community will offer 24-hour concierge …
Top Stories
The combination of a reeling stock market, weak consumer confidence, and an escalating European debt crisis has led to growing concerns about the possibility of a double-dip recession. Not so fast, says Ethan Penner, a self-described contrarian. The president and founder of CBRE Capital Partners is convinced that the deeply gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy held by many Americans means that now is the ideal time to turn bullish. “I would say there probably has never been a Depression or a market crash when everyone is bearish. Think about the last big crash we had, which was 2007 and 2008. Everyone was incredibly bullish, incredibly optimistic.” The comments from Penner came during his keynote address delivered Sept. 27 in Atlanta as part of a commercial real estate finance conference hosted jointly by law firm Morris, Manning & Martin and France Media. “I’m known for being an inveterate bear, but this pervasive bearishness is causing me to reconsider that. The next surprise is more likely to be on the upside than the downside,” Penner told attendees. Still, the global macro economic climate and financial system are in extremely bad shape, Penner acknowledged. To help prop up the weak housing market, …
NEW YORK CITY — KPMG has released the results of its 2011 commercial real estate industry pulse survey, which indicated that executives in the United States expect to see improvements in revenue and employment next year, but the majority predict a full economic recovery is years away. Reflecting these general sentiments, 64 percent of those executives surveyed said their company's current revenue is higher than last year, and 75 percent anticipate that their revenue will be higher still 1 year from now. These companies also are beginning to add employees, and 53 percent said they plan to add personnel in the next year, compared to 13 percent seeing a decrease. However, they are not predicting that hiring on the whole will significantly pick up anytime soon. When asked when they expect their company's U.S. headcount to return to pre-recession levels, 27 percent said the end of 2013, 17 percent said the end of 2014 or later, and 11 percent said it would never return to pre-recession levels. In addition, 57 percent do not expect a full economic recovery until the end of 2013 or later. “Although real estate executives see things moving in the right direction, they believe it's going …
SEATTLE — Colliers International released its 2011 Global Investor Sentiment Survey this week, which breaks down the international commercial real market and its overall gauge of the state of investment opportunities globally. Overall, Colliers’ survey shows that buyers are “most likely” to expand their portfolios in next 6 months, but lack of supply and financing, as well as economic and political uncertainty, make them reluctant. “Far more investors are looking at expanding their portfolios compared to last year,” said James W. Horne, executive sponsor of Colliers' Global Investor Sentiment Survey. “However, talk of a double-dip recession continues to occur. Toward the end of 2010, most economic commentary was becoming more confident; however, this is not the case now.” Global Outlook On a global basis, the majority of investors surveyed believe tenant demand is rising, availability and vacancy are falling, and headline rents are on the rise. According to Colliers, in the first half of 2011, approximately 9,250 investment properties worth US$350 billion changed hands, an increase of 30 percent in volume over the same period in 2010. The U.S. was the most significant driver of this global figure, with a 124 percent increase in its investment transaction volume. Internationally, 70.7 …
PHILADELPHIA AND RESTON, VA. — Grosvenor has reported two items of investment news, forming a $600 million partnership to invest in healthcare, as well as purchasing a 250,000-plus-square-foot office building outside Washington, D.C., in an unrelated transaction. Notably, Grosvenor Investment Management US, Inc. (GIM), Grosvenor's real estate investment management platform in North America, has formed an investment partnership with Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to invest in up to $600 million of U.S. healthcare-related real estate. Resulting from the agreement, the partnership will target the acquisition and development of private-pay senior living facilities and medical office buildings in the U.S. during the next 7 years. These investments will result from the formation of equity joint ventures with local and regional operating and development partners. GIM will oversee all investment activities, including sourcing, underwriting, structuring, financing, closing, asset managing, and exiting the partnership’s investments, all of which will comply with Shari’ah (Islamic law). “The formation of this partnership reflects the strength of the U.S. healthcare sector, which is expected to benefit from attractive demand/supply characteristics, driven by favorable demographic trends and limited supply growth,” said Eric Cannon, Director of Acquisitions, GIM. “During the recent economic downturn, the sector’s cash flows have proven …
NEW YORK CITY — HSBC Alternative Investments, Ltd. (HAIL) and Edge Fund Advisors (EDGE) have purchased the remaining 51 percent ownership interest in the 907,000-square-foot 1540 Broadway, a 44-story office building located in Times Square in Manhattan, from CB Richard Ellis Investors on behalf of HSBC “Club Programme.” Additionally, HAIL and EDGE closed on the refinance of the property with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. “Our purchase of the 100 percent ownership interest in 1540 Broadway represents HAIL and EDGE’s further commitment to acquire trophy office properties in New York City on behalf of the HSBC ‘Club Programme,’ said Mark Keller, CEO of Edge Fund Advisors, in a statement. “The purchase of the remaining ownership interest in 1540 Broadway is a great compliment to our trophy office properties 1625 I Street and 1350 I Street in Washington, D.C., and demonstrates our commitment to acquire superior real estate investments on behalf of the HSBC ‘Club Programme.’” As REBusinessOnline previously reported (http://rebusinessonline.com/main.cfm?id=17&date=20101112®ion=Northeast), CBRE Strategic Partners Value 5 Fund acquired the property as a distressed asset in 2009, then repositioned the building and sold the minority interest in November 2010 as a way to realize a return on its investment. Keller said CBRE has …
CINCINNATI — Phillips Edison – ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc., a publicly-registered, non-traded REIT focused on grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers, has entered into a joint venture between itself and clients of the CBRE Global Multi Manager group, the private equity indirect investment division of CBRE Investors. The venture, named PECO-ARC Institutional Joint Venture I, plans to invest approximately $102 million of equity to acquire more than $200 million of grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers throughout the United States. The venture hopes to capitalize on acquisition opportunities and the traffic-driving ability of grocers to produce favorable risk-adjusted returns for their investors. “We believe this joint venture is a game changer for the REIT,” said Mark Addy, chief operating officer for Phillips Edison – ARC Shopping Center REIT. “Not only does this speak to our ability to strategically place and manage capital, but it also reflects the CBRE Global Multi Manager team’s support of our investment strategy, which is that shopping centers anchored by top-performing grocers provide stable long-term returns for investors. Since this joint venture allows us to double our purchasing power immediately, we expect to be able to double the REIT’s portfolio by the end of the …
ATLANTA — On Tuesday at InterFace Conference Group and Morris, Manning and Martin LLP’s Commercial Real Estate Investment & Finance 2012 conference in Atlanta, experts from around the industry shared thoughts and perspectives on the state of the commercial market both from a finance and development standpoint. Below is a short summary of the second half of the conference with some key themes from each session. You can read more about the morning’s sessions here. Restructuring & Recapitalization: What Will Your Lenders Agree To? The panel members discussed the roles of banks and CMBS lenders in restructuring and recapitalizing debt, including the motivations for banks to restructure versus foreclosing. Ron Glass, principal of GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group, spoke about the difference between big banks and smaller banks in response to non-performing loans. The mediator, Ann Hambly, CEO and president of 1st Service Solutions, said that in dealing with lenders, it's important to know who you're talking to, which is especially difficult to determine in the CMBS realm. Michael Hartman, director of Reznick Capital Markets, spoke about keeping in mind what the asset or property can bear in terms of financing. The panel members discussed distressed assets and how some …
ATLANTA — InterFace Conference Group and Morris, Manning and Martin LLP hosted the Commercial Real Estate Investment & Finance 2012 conference yesterday at The Grand Hyatt in Atlanta. More than 400 attendees from around the country converged to discuss various aspects of finance and investment in the commercial markets. Below is a short summary of the conference with some key themes and quotes from each session. Stay tuned tomorrow for highlights from the second half of the Conference, and keep an eye on REBusinessOnline’s “Feature Article” section and France Media’s other newsletters (www.francemediainc.com/newsletters) for more in-depth coverage of each topic. Please click here for more information on the event and InterFace Conference Group. Featured Speaker, Dr. Carl Hudson, Ph.D., director of the Center for Real Estate Analytics and Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta: Dr. Hudson spoke about the key challenges and headwinds commercial real estate is facing. He said a lack of job growth, the refinancing gap and the concern about credit quality are the main factors stalling recovery. Also, a lack of consumer and business confidence is stalling growth. However, he said the commercial real estate market is not likely to affected as strongly due to these factors as …
PHILADELPHIA — Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets team has closed the $143.5 million sale of 1700 Market Street, a Class A trophy office building located in Center City Philadelphia. The 841,172-square-foot building, situated in the heart of Philadelphia’s central business district at the corner of 17th Street and Market, also includes an attached five-story, 761-car parking garage. Pearlmark Real Estate Partners, formerly Transwestern Investment Company, sold the building to a partnership formed by David Werner. Jones Lang LaSalle, in conjunction with Meridian Capital, also arranged a senior mortgage and mezzanine financing of $123 million through UBS for the new buyer. Jones Lang LaSalle’s International Director Tom Beneville, Senior Vice President Jerry Kranzel and Vice President Mike Carpenter led the team on this deal. Senior Vice President Dustin Stolly arranged the financing along with Meridian Capital’s Managing Director Ronnie Levine. “This is one of the largest office property sales in almost 4 years and will set pricing expectations in Philadelphia's CBD for the next investment cycle,” said Beneville. “Philadelphia is an exceptionally strong market with a stable and growing economy. As a result, many buyers expressed interest in 1700 Market, including REITs, pension funds and international investors.” “This trophy quality asset …