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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — A joint venture between Oakbrook, Ill.-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust and Toronto-based RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust has purchased the 469,031-square-foot Alamo Ranch, a shopping center located at the intersection of Loop 1604 and Culebra Road in San Antonio, from Las Colinas, Texas-based Archon Group for $92.2 million. RioCan will own 80 percent of the asset and Inland Western will own the remaining 20 percent. “This acquisition continues our strategy of acquiring Class A retail properties in high-growth metro areas,” says Shane Garrison, chief investment officer of Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust. “Currently, the venture is focused on core, Class A properties in the four big Texas markets: Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. We are looking at a number of properties as future [acquisition] possibilities.” Best Buy, OfficeMax, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls and Ross Dress for Less anchor the center. Super Target, JCPenney and Lowe’s shadow-anchor the center and were not included in the sale. “At approximately 88 percent occupied, we feel there is still upside in the asset due to the opportunity to increase occupancy through our numerous national and local tenant relationships,” Garrison says. Chris Cozby and Chris …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The delinquency rates for commercial mortgages held by banks and in commercial mortgage-backed securities dropped slightly in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Delinquencies for loans held by life insurance companies and held or insured by Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac rose, but are still at low levels, the Washington, D.C.-based trade group says. The rate for loans more than 90 days delinquent owned by banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. decreased 0.19 percent to 3.75 percent between the second and third quarters. The rate for loans that are 60-plus days delinquent and held in life company portfolios increased 0.07 percent to 1.19 percent in the third quarter. The delinquency rate of 60 days or more for multifamily loans held or insured by Fannie Maeincreased 0.11 percent to 0.57 percent, while those insured by Freddie Mac increased 0.02 percent to 0.33 percent. “There were modest changes in commercial/family delinquency rates during the third quarter,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial real estate research, in a statement. “The delinquency rates for loans held by life insurance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each ticked up slightly in the quarter, but remained …

CHICAGO — The European debt crisis coupled with ongoing financial concerns in some emerging markets will likely result in the U.S economy proceeding on a slow, but positive growth trajectory in 2012. So says Ben Breslau, managing director of research for the Americas at Jones Lang LaSalle. Breslau and his research team hosted a webcast on Thursday that focused on national commercial real estate outlook for 2012. What follows is a synopsis of what to expect in the year ahead across four major property types. Multifamily The multifamily sector will continue to experience low vacancy rates and an uptick in rent in 2012. The fundamental shift away from home ownership, positive demographic trends, slow employment growth and a dearth of new product position the multifamily sector to remain the strongest in 2012. During the first half of the year, Breslau anticipates delivery of new product will remain slow, which means vacancy rates could fall below 5 percent by mid-year. According to New York-based Reis, the national multifamily vacancy rate currently stands at 5.6 percent. He adds that new supply deliveries will increase during the second half of the year, but if the single-family housing market continues to be stagnant and …

NEW YORK CITY — Five banks in the United States failed in November, according to Trepp’s November 2011 U.S. Bank Failure Report. In October, 11 banks failed, and six banks failed in September. This brings the total failures so far for 2011 to 90 banks, and Trepp anticipates that number will stay just under 100 banks as the year comes to a close. “The drop in November (vs. October) is part of a pattern we have seen in 2011, with a spike in failures in the first month after the end of a quarter, followed by a lower volume in the following two months,” says Matthew Anderson, managing director of New York-based Trepp. Anderson continues, “The uptick after the end of the quarter is likely related to the quarterly reporting cycle. Each quarter, FDIC-insured banks file quarterly condition reports (“call reports”) with the bank regulators. Those reports give the regulators a fresh update on the condition of the banks, and for the troubled banks especially, a perspective on whether the bank is improving or worsening.” The largest failure in November was Central Progressive Bank in Louisiana with $383 million in total assets. Community Bank of Rockmart failed in Georgia, which …

The lending community has a much stronger appetite for healthcare facilities located on hospital campuses versus off campus because they are perceived as less risky investments. That’s the consensus of a panel of healthcare finance specialists who assembled Dec. 1 at the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta for the Interface Medical Office: Southeast conference. Sponsored by France Media, the conference attracted more than 160 industry professionals who gathered to network and attend panel discussions on a range of timely topics. “There’s a meaningful spread of default risk between on- and off-campus deals, and lenders certainly take that into account,” said John Nero, a panel participant based in New York and associate with Hammond Hanlon Camp, an investment banking and financial advisory firm. Despite the lending bias, Jim Barnes, senior vice president of healthcare real estate at Regions bank in Atlanta, said that the finance community has demonstrated a willingness to fund off-campus facilities on a selective basis. For example, NorthMarq Capital arranged $3.75 million in first-mortgage financing for Dean Lakes Medical Office Building, an off-campus property in Minneapolis in October. Bremer Bank-Minnesota provided the loan. Still, the emergence of multi-specialty clinics off campus is a trend that hasn’t yet gained enough …

CHICAGO — Chicago-based Equity Residential (NYSE: NQR) has entered into an agreement to acquire a 26.5 percent ownership interest in Archstone for $1.32 billion. The remaining significant Archstone owner has the right of first offer to acquire the interest from the sellers at the same price. If the owner declines, then the acquisition is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2012. “The Archstone and Equity residential portfolios are highly complementary with concentrations in the same markets and assets of similar quality,” said David Neithercut, president and CEO of Equity Residential, in a statement. As of Sept. 30, 2011, in the United States, Archstone’s portfolio contained 48,922 wholly owned and stabilized apartment units and 9,423 units owned in unconsolidated joint ventures with third parties. Additionally, 1,322 units are under construction, and the company owns land sites that have development potential of approximately 5,279 units. The portfolio also includes 14,000 units in Germany. “Since we believe that none of the current owners of Archstone is likely to be a long-term owner, acquiring this position allows us a role in determining and perhaps even expediting, the ultimate outcome regarding Archstone,” he added. The 26.5 percent interest represents one half of …

Doomsday forecasters continue to be disappointed by a resilient U.S. economy that is generating jobs at a modest clip, says Hessam Nadji, managing director of research and advisory services for Encino, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. Nonfarm payroll employment, an indicator of future demand for commercial real estate space and absorption,rose by 120,000 in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Friday. The agency also revised the job figures upward for September and October by a combined 72,000, an indication that employment growth was a bit stronger than first believed. “The November jobsnumbers were more welcome news for commercial real estate, on top of strong post-Thanksgiving holiday sales and recent progress in alleviating the macro global risks,” says Nadji, referring to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. U.S. retail sales on Black Friday totaled $11.4 billion, up 6.6 percent from a year ago, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based research firm. “[The jobs data] confirms and validates our view that a recession would not re-emerge” says Nadji, “and that the economy and commercial real estate fundamentals would remain in a gradual recovery through 2012 and pick up pace in 2013 after the …

Hospitals and their ancillary businesses need to find avenues to reduce costs and become more efficient. That’s the consensus of the panel of medical office experts at the 2011 Interface Medical Office Conference focusing on the Southeast on Wednesday evening at the InterContinental Hotel Buckhead in Atlanta. The meeting comes amid a time of great change and uncertainty on the national healthcare scene. Adding to the drama are legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. The panel, led by moderator John Mugford, editor of Healthcare Real Estate Insights, delved into the challenges and opportunities for hospitals and developers to work together to reduce costs and increase efficiency. One example of what developers can do is construct medical office buildings (MOBs) to suit the desires of patients while saving money for healthcare systems. A medical office development housing a primary doctor, a women’s clinic with outpatient care and a pediatric practice with shared staff would be an ideal development for both healthcare systems and developers, according to Tom Kouloris, a former hospital administrator who handles Capital Projects and Infrastructure with PricewaterhouseCoopers. The reason is that it’s convenient for …

How can the depressed metro Atlanta office market, which is reeling from a vacancy rate of approximately 21 percent, benefit the apartment sector in the long run? Office concessions hold the key, says one prominent multifamily executive. To attract new tenants and reduce vacancies, office owners will need to grant more concessions, which in turn will spark job growth and buoy the apartment sector, says Bennett Sands, development director for Wood Partners. The Atlanta-based company is one of the largest multifamily developers in the country. “Couple that with the fact that Atlanta has a very well-educated younger cohort. There are a lot of reasons for businesses to come to Atlanta, and they will. We are just a little behind everyone else,” says Sands. The comments from Sands came Tuesday during a panel discussion focusing on apartment development as part of the Interface Multifamily Southeast Conference. Sponsored by France Media, the event attracted approximately 300 industry professionals who gathered at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta. Early stages of recovery Atlanta’s apartment vacancy rate currently stands at 8.4 percent, down from 10.6 percent a year earlier, according to New York-based Reis. Nationally, the vacancy rate is 5.6 percent. On the recovery continuum, Atlanta’s …

Atlanta — The apartment market is the darling of commercial real estate and will continue to be so for the next few years, says Ryan Severino, senior economist of New York-based Reis. “It is spectacular.” His comments were made on Tuesday at the Interface Multifamily Southeast Conference in Atlanta. Severino, who was the keynote speaker, delivered a report on the economic climate and how it will impact the multifamily market in coming years. Severino says the Southeast is on par with the rest of the nation, but the commercial real estate market is on a slow-growth trajectory. More specifically, the country is not creating enough jobs to drive down the unemployment rate, and he predicts it will be mid-decade before employment reaches previous peak levels. That being said, the multifamily sector is continuing to show signs of strength. Vacancy rates are continuing to tighten and there will be limited supply growth until at least late 2012 or early 2013, which is causing an uptick in rent. For example, Reis reports that in the third quarter of 2011, the apartment vacancy rate in Atlanta was 8.4 percent, down from 10.6 percent a year earlier. Additionally, the average effective rent in Atlanta …