CHICAGO AND HOLMDEL, N.J. — Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) and Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. (NYSE: MNR) have agreed to merge, signaling their intent to build a leading industrial real estate business and participate in the long-term growth of the sector. Based on the structure of the deal, Equity Commonwealth would acquire Monmouth in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.4 billion, including the assumption of debt. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $5.5 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Monmouth shareholders will receive 0.67 shares of Equity Commonwealth stock for every share of Monmouth stock they own. Equity Commonwealth and Monmouth shareholders are expected to own approximately 65 percent and 35 percent, respectively, of the pro forma company following the close of the transaction. Monmouth’s portfolio comprises 120 industrial properties totaling 24.5 million square feet. The Holmdel-based company is also under contract to purchase six properties totaling 1.8 million square feet, with the deals expected to close later this year or early next. Equity Commonwealth is a Chicago-based office REIT with a portfolio of four properties totaling 1.5 million square feet. “The transaction provides Equity Commonwealth with a high-quality, …
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ATLANTA AND NASHVILLE, TENN. — Piedmont Healthcare has signed a purchase agreement with HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) for the acquisition of four Georgia hospitals and one clinic for a purchase price of $950 million. The two parties are targeting a closing date of July 31. Pending regulatory approval, Piedmont will acquire the 310-bed Eastside Medical Center in Snellville and the 119-bed Cartersville Medical Center in Cartersville, which are both located in metro Atlanta. The acquisition will also include three facilities in Macon: the 310-bed Coliseum Medical Center, the 103-bed Coliseum Northside and the 40-bed Coliseum Center for Behavioral Health. With the acquisition, Piedmont Healthcare is continuing to expand its footprint in metro Atlanta as well as strengthen its portfolio of best-in-class hospitals. Nonprofit watchdog organization Leapfrog Group rated HCA’s Coliseum Medical Centers, Coliseum Northside and Cartersville Medical Center as “A” hospitals in its spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades report released last week. “HCA Healthcare has instilled a high standard of care into these facilities, and we are proud that they have trusted Piedmont to continue this legacy,” says Kevin Brown, president and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare. For HCA, the transaction increases the Nashville-based company’s financial flexibility for investments …
By Steve Van, president & CEO, Prism Hotels & Resorts While 2020 was a trying year for companies in every industry, the hospitality sector has been really taking it on the chin. Restaurateurs and airline executives might disagree, but hoteliers have arguably had it worse than any other industry. The financial impact on the hotel business from COVID-19 is 10 times worse than the hit from the late 2000s recession — and that’s a very big deal. With the rate of business travel falling off a cliff and leisure travel down more than ever around the world, 2020 was a year that many hospitality executives would like to forget. But that doesn’t mean the sky is falling — or that brighter times aren’t in store. But what do those timelines look like? How should hotel professionals be managing the current crisis, and what are the real estate implications for investors? Let’s take a clear-eyed look at the good, the bad and the ugly and try and answer those questions by examining key trends and thinking about what’s likely to come next for hotel developers, operators and investors. Southern Sunshine One important caveat to the story of catastrophic hotel business drop-offs …
Ohana Real Estate Sells 130-Room Montage Healdsburg Luxury Resort in California’s Wine Country for $265M
by Katie Sloan
HEALDSBURG, CALIF. — Ohana Real Estate Investors has sold the Montage Healdsburg, a 130-room luxury hotel located within California’s Sonoma County wine country. Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. (NYSE: SHO) bought the resort for $265 million, more than $2 million per key. Montage Healdsburg is a newly built, 258-acre resort situated within walking distance of downtown Healdsburg. The property offers bungalow-style guest rooms and suites alongside shared amenities including a full-service spa; multiple swimming pools; an archery range; pickleball courts; bocce ball; dining options including a multi-level main restaurant and an outdoor bar and grill overlooking the resort’s vineyards; and meeting and event space. The property also offers a number of 4,500-square-foot, move-in-ready residences titled Harvest Homes, which feature four bedrooms with bed-to-bath parity. Ohana will retain ownership of the residential parcels within the property, and has begun constructing homes and selling custom homesites affiliated with the resort. “This sale reflects the strong interest from investors in best-in-class, leisure-oriented resorts as the hotel industry begins to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says James Cole, head of asset management at Ohana. Dentons was legal advisor to Ohana on the transaction. This disposition marks Ohana’s second sale of a hotel …
WESTBURY, N.Y. AND TROY, MICH. — New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYCB) and Flagstar Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: FBC) have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which the two companies will combine in an all-stock merger valued at $2.6 billion. The new company will have more than $87 billion in assets and operate nearly 400 traditional branches in nine states and 87 loan production offices across a 28-state footprint. The main headquarters will be located on Long Island, N.Y., with regional headquarters in Troy, Mich., including Flagstar’s mortgage operations. The combined company will maintain the Flagstar Bank brand in the Midwest. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021. Based in Westbury, N.Y., New York Community Bancorp is a multifamily lender in New York City and is the parent company of New York Community Bank. As of March 31, the company reported assets of $57.7 billion and loans of $43.1 billion. It operates 236 branches through eight local divisions. The company’s stock price closed at $12.54 per share Monday, April 26, up from $10.16 per share one year ago. Flagstar Bancorp is a $29.4 billion savings and loan holding company headquartered in Troy, Mich. Flagstar Bank …
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Walker & Dunlop: U.S. Economy Displays Long-Term Signals for Recovery, Growth
Back to Normal? The U.S. economy has improved significantly since April 2020, the peak of the pandemic-induced recession. The national unemployment rate stood at 6.0 percent in March of this year, well below the peak of 14.8 percent in April 2020. Companies were effective in implementing work-from-home technology, keeping unemployment rates for office-based service sectors relatively low. For those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, unemployment rates were only 3.7 percent as of March 2021. In 2020, third-quarter GDP growth made up much of the second-quarter losses, followed by 4 percent annualized economic growth in the fourth quarter. Retail sales also rebounded quickly, returning to pre-pandemic levels by June and continuing to increase through the beginning of 2021. However, the U.S. economy is still far from “normal.” Of the 22 million people who lost jobs in March and April 2020, only 57.8 percent had regained employment by March 2021. Stronger growth should return jobs to industries hit hardest during the pandemic. In March of this year, restaurants and bars added 176,000 jobs; arts, entertainment and recreation venues added 64,000 jobs and accommodations added 40,000 jobs. Still, employment in the overall leisure and hospitality sector is down by 3.1 million, or 18.5 …
CUPERTINO, CALIF. — Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will open a $1 billion office campus in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, a move that is expected to add more than 3,000 new jobs to the local economy. The move is part of a larger, $430 billion expansion and capital investment program that the Cupertino-based tech giant projects will bring about 20,000 new jobs to the country over the next five years. According to the Raleigh News & Observer, North Carolina’s Economic Investment Committee, for its part, approved a job creation and tax incentives plan for Apple that was valued at $845 million over 40 years, the largest such grant in state history. The local newspaper also reports that the campus will span about 1 million square feet and will be located in Wake County on a site near the border of Cary and Morrisville, two smaller towns on the south side of the triangle. A construction timeline has not yet been released. As part of its commitment to the Tar Heel State, Apple plans to launch a $100 million fund to support local schools and invest $110 million in improving pieces of local infrastructure, such as bridges and telecommunications systems. The new …
Skanska, SG Contracting Selected to Build $308.3M Signia by Hilton Hotel in Downtown Atlanta
by Katie Sloan
ATLANTA — A joint venture between Skanska and SG Contracting Inc. has been selected to build a $308.3 million Hilton (NYSE: HLT) hotel adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in downtown Atlanta. The 1.2 million-square-foot hotel will be the first newly constructed project under Hilton’s upscale Signia banner, and will act as a headquarters hotel for the GWCC. The property will overlook the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and is located near the Omni Atlanta Hotel, CNN Center, State Farm Arena and the Georgia Aquarium. The 40-story hotel is set to feature 975 guest rooms alongside amenities including 75,000 square feet of world-class meeting and event space; a connected walkway to the GWCC; spa; fitness center; 6,670-square-foot pool deck; an outdoor event lawn; a market; two chef-driven restaurants; and three bars. “The Signia by Hilton will further elevate Atlanta’s international presence and position as a major host of civic, cultural and commercial events,” says Scott Cannon, executive vice president and general manager for Skanska’s Georgia and South Carolina operations. Skanska and SG Contracting will provide pre-construction and construction management services for the hotel, which Gensler designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. The development, which Cannon says will generate approximately 600 construction jobs, is …
SHORT HILLS, N.J. — The Birch Group has acquired a four-building office portfolio in the Short Hills submarket of Northern New Jersey for $255 million. The 843,300-square-foot portfolio comprises four Class A buildings located at 51, 101, 103 and 150 JFK Parkway. The properties are currently 80 percent leased to 22 tenants, including Citibank, Investors Bank, KPMG, Bank of America, UBS, Dun & Bradstreet, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. “During the pandemic, there has been a demographic shift to the suburbs, and the migration of this talent pool represents an extraordinary opportunity to meet the demand for high-quality office assets in prime New Jersey markets,” says Mark Meisner, CEO and founder of Birch. “Short Hills is among one of the most prestigious suburban locales and it has consistently achieved above-average rents in New Jersey, while maintaining the highest occupancy rates within the market.” David Bernhaut led a Cushman & Wakefield team that represented the seller, Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI). The buyer has also retained Cushman & Wakefield as the leasing agent for the properties. Birch says it views the acquisition as a repositioning opportunity and plans to employ a value-add strategy. Birch will complement $15.2 million of recently completed …
By Taylor Williams The fundamental forces of job and population growth that drive demand for market-rate multifamily properties are hard at work on the affordable housing sector in Texas, and it doesn’t appear that a supply-demand equilibrium is in the cards anytime soon. In addition, a perpetual shortage of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and other government-issued subsidies that are required to finance new development of affordable housing are working to keep supply growth in check. Throw in a global pandemic that has cost millions of people their jobs and depleted their savings, potentially forcing them to seek less-expensive housing, and you have a supply-demand dynamic that is far from balanced. The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that there is some overlap between workers in industries hit hard by the pandemic, such as leisure and hospitality, and the types of renters who need or qualify for affordable housing. Texas is hardly the only state facing these lopsided market conditions. According to a 2020 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, when it comes to housing that renters whose income levels are at or below 30 percent of their area median income (AMI) can afford, the United States …