Author Archive
RAF Pacifica Introduces Creative Office Development
Posted by: | CommentsRAF Pacifica Group, a San Diego-based firm known for its creative industrial developments in Southern California, is breaking ground on the first ground-up creative office project in the Carlsbad, Calif., submarket.
Known as ‘lift’, the two-story property will be comprised of 44,797 square feet of office space and 8,496 square feet of restaurant space. The $26 million project is expected to be completed in 2018…
Central TX Hotel Portfolio Trades
Posted by: | CommentsA joint venture between Atlantic Hotels Group and Civitas Capital Group acquired the 120-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites and the 93-room TownePlace Suites in Waco, Texas. Supreme Bright Waco II LLC and Waco Lodging LLC sold the two-building portfolio.
TravelPro to Set Up Shop in ATL
Posted by: | CommentsTravelPro has signed a 295,800-square-foot lease at an industrial building in McDonough, Ga., with landlord Medline Industries.
Located at 1500 Medline Place in metro Atlanta, the building features 37-foot ceilings, 77 dock doors, LED lighting and close access to 13 UPS and FedEx centers. It was originally constructed in 2016…
Big Banks Are Still Bullish on Big Banks
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Financial shares most favored among Wall Street strategists
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Yet their returns rank third worst in S&P 500 this year
Wall Street banks can’t stop telling investors to buy shares in Wall Street banks. It’s not been the best advice.
Financial shares have the third-worst performance among 11 S&P 500 Index groups in 2017, and are on track for the poorest year relative to the market since 2011. Yet of the 10 equity strategists surveyed by Bloomberg, nine give banks and insurers the highest recommendation and only one holds a neutral view.
JLL Secures 133 KSF Portland Office Sale
Posted by: | CommentsJLL worked on behalf of the tenant, Deutsche Asset Management, for the sale of a 133,000-square-foot office building located at 1417 NW Everett, Portland, Ore. Deutsche Asset Management purchased the property from the owner and developer, Gerding Edlen, for an undisclosed price. Buzz Ellis, managing director, and Paige Morgan, executive vice president, led the JLL team on the transaction. Back in April, Deutsche Asset Management sold the $33 million 1776 On The Green, a 150,000-square-foot office tower in Morristown, N.J.
Manhattan’s Eager Renters Can’t Make a Dent in Apartment Supply
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Vacancies climbed even as leasing reached a record in August
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Landlords rushing to fill units ahead of slower winter months
Manhattan’s construction boom has crowded the borough with so many apartments that even in a month where leasing hit a record, the vacancy rate climbed.
Renters signed 7,061 new leases in August, the most for any month in data going back to January 2008, according to a report Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Despite all those deals, vacancies climbed to 2.27 percent from 2.14 percent a year earlier, the first annual increase since February…
Michael Milken Says Private Equity’s ‘Golden Age’ Will Continue
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Leverage, lack of lending covenants drive deals, he says
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Sees Alibaba as world’s biggest financial institution one day
The private equity industry will continue to play a growing role in financial markets, fueled by low yields and investors’ willingness to forgo traditional risk protections, Michael Milken said.
“This is their golden age,” Milken, who helped pioneer the junk bond market at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Singapore. “You can leverage, you can borrow without covenants, and so for equity holders it affords you very unusual rates of return.”…
Joint Venture Invests in SC Redevelopment
Posted by: | CommentsMonarch Private Capital and The Sherbert Group closed an equity investment in the Lowenstein Building, a former printing and finishing property that is part of a multi-million dollar redevelopment project in Rock Hill, S.C., dubbed Knowledge Park. The consulting companies set up the Moxie Investment Funds, the joint venture that provided equity and tax credit bridge financing for the Lowenstein Building transaction.
Hugh Hendry Closes Hedge Fund After 15 Years as Losses Mount
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Eclectica Fund lost 9.4 percent this year through August
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Hendry gained fame by betting against banks during crisis
Hugh Hendry, the hedge fund manager known for his provocative statements and contrarian views, is closing his Eclectica Asset Management following a 15 year run that ended with losses.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Hendry said in an investor letter seen by Bloomberg. The fund “became strongly correlated over the short term to the maelstrom of President Trump and the daily news bombs emanating from the Korean Peninsula,” making it impossible to manage small amounts of money, he said…
Who’s Warren Buffett’s Successor? JPMorgan Thinks It’s Greg Abel
Posted by: | CommentsWho will succeed Warren Buffett as chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.? It’s one of the most guarded secrets in the business world. That didn’t stop JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s new Berkshire analyst from placing odds on one man.
“The most likely successor in our view, who Warren Buffett regularly praises, is Greg Abel,” JPMorgan’s Sarah DeWitt said in a note released Thursday, initiating coverage of the company…
Who’s Warren Buffett’s Successor? JPMorgan Thinks It’s Greg Abel
Chicago Hyatt Centric Trades for $110M
Posted by: | CommentsMurphy Development Group sold the Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago Hotel to Deka Immobilien for $110 million.
The hotel is centrally located in Chicago’s Loop in the heart of the financial district and within walking distance to transportation, restaurants, shopping and entertainment. Located 28 minutes from O’Hare International Airport, the building is within close proximity to attractions such as the Chicago Board of Trade, State Street, the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park, the Magnificent Mile, Museum Campus and Willis Tower.
Pennrose Secures $171M for NJ Arts Center
Posted by: | CommentsThe New Brunswick Performing Arts Center is nearing completion in downtown New Brunswick, N.J., now that Pennrose LLC has completed the financing for the $171 million mixed-use project, which the company is developing in a public-private partnership.
“This will be an iconic development for New Brunswick and New Jersey adding a rich cultural center to an already established hub for the performing arts,” Richard Barnhart, chairman & CEO of Pennrose LLC, said in a prepared statement…
Hedge Funds Are Hacking Blockchains to Guide Crypto Investments
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Proliferation of ICOs raises risk of faulty, fraudulent deals
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Crypto hedge funds have raised more than $800 million
Lucas Ryan of MetaStable Capital took a deep dive into the computer code underpinning the digital currency Monero to see if it worked as promised. He even took a core piece written in C ++, and rewrote it in the programming language Python.
The extra effort paid off. After taking the time to vet Monero before its investment, the San Francisco-based hedge fund has seen a 100-fold return, said Joshua Seims, who started MetaStable with Ryan three years ago…
Wall Street’s Lunch Club Is Planning a Reboot in Trump’s D.C.
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Financial Services Forum has hired HSBC lobbyist Fromer
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Exclusive group limits membership to biggest financial firms
Wall Street’s most elite trade association has hired a former Treasury Department official as it seeks to reestablish its lobbying heft in Washington.
Kevin Fromer, executive vice president in HSBC Holdings Plc’s public policy office, was named the president of the Financial Services Forum today. As head of the Treasury’s legislative affairs office under George W. Bush, Fromer helped push a $700 billion bank bailout through Congress during the 2008 financial crisis…
Wall Street’s Lunch Club Is Planning a Reboot in Trump’s D.C.
DowDuPont Revises Breakup Plan Opposed by Activist Investors
Posted by: | CommentsDowDuPont, the chemicals giant, said on Tuesday that it would shift the focus of its reorganization plan after shareholders opposed a proposal to break up the company.
The decision is the latest response by a big company to activist shareholders who have taken on ever-larger targets in recent years, demanding changes to corporate strategies. Household names like Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and Samsung have all found themselves in the sights of such investors…
DowDuPont Revises Breakup Plan Opposed by Activist Investors
LPC Closes Sale of Suburban Atlanta Office Building
Posted by: | CommentsLincoln Property Co. Southeast brokered the sale of a recently renovated, three-story office building in Alpharetta, Ga. Rolta International sold the 25,599-square-foot asset to Infotech Prism in a $4.5 million deal, for $175 per square foot.
Located at 5865 N. Point Parkway in Atlanta’s North Fulton submarket, the property was completed in 2002 and features a mixture of functional floor plans with private offices, open work areas and training rooms. Community amenities include ample parking, updated finishes throughout, as well as prominent monument and main building signage…
Refinancing Looms for HNA’s Hong Kong Projects
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First loans for project at former airport come up in November
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Existing lenders are reluctant to extend or provide new loans
When HNA Group Co., the Chinese conglomerate that’s been buying up companies worldwide, spent $3.5 billion in Hong Kong earlier this year on land for its first luxury real estate development, it had no problems getting bank funding.
But now HNA needs more: to refinance the short-term loans it used for its purchases, which start coming due in November, and then to actually build the towers that will lure high-end buyers and start generating money…
Chief Executive of Social Finance, an Online Lending Start-Up, to Step Down
Posted by: | CommentsSocial Finance, an online lender that is one of the more prominent financial technology start-ups, said on Monday that its co-founder and chief executive Mike Cagney planned to step down by the end of the year.
The resignation follows a lawsuit over claims of sexual harassment at the San Francisco-based start-up, which is known as SoFi. Several former employees said that Mr. Cagney, 46, had inappropriate relationships with SoFi employees, which helped foment a toxic workplace culture…
Chief Executive of Social Finance, an Online Lending Start-Up, to Step Down
MD Office Campus Up for Sale
Posted by: | CommentsEquus Capital Partners retained Transwestern to market Metro Executive Park I and II, a 123,824-square-foot office portfolio in Rockville, Md. Transwestern Executive Managing Director Gerry Trainor will handle the marketing process for the property.
“Metro Executive Park offers investors a value-add opportunity with immediate stable cash flow and the potential to add value through the lease-up of vacant space,” Trainor said in a prepared statement. “Furthermore, this submarket’s transformation from mostly office buildings to a mixed-use environment is beneficial for the area and reduces competition for office properties.”
Pandit Says 30% of Bank Jobs May Disappear in Next Five Years
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Vikram Pandit says AI, robotics reduced need for some staff
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Pandit now CEO of New York-based investment firm Orogen Group
Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc. during the financial crisis, said developments in technology could see some 30 percent of banking jobs disappearing in the next five years.
Artificial intelligence and robotics reduce the need for staff in roles such as back-office functions, Pandit, 60, said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in Singapore. He’s now chief executive officer of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he co-founded last year.
Kaufman Expands Midtown Manhattan Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsThe Kaufman Org. expanded its Midtown Manhattan footprint with the acquisition of an 80,000-square-foot office building, marking its eighth purchase in the area since 2010. The firm bought the asset from LCT Associates through a 99-year ground lease and will handle the property’s management and leasing operations.
CBRE Closes $28M Sale of SC Office Tower
Posted by: | CommentsCBRE brokered the sale of The Tower at 1301 Gervais, a 298,926-square-foot, Class A office building in downtown Columbia, S.C. Morning Calm Management sold the asset to Greenville-based RealOp Investments LLC in a $28.1 million deal.
Located at 1307 Gervais St., in the city’s central business district, the property recently underwent a $2 million renovation project with upgrades made to a 24-hour fitness facility, common areas, restrooms and tenant spaces that were transformed into modern, open office environments. The Tower at 1301 Gervais features a shared ground-level conference room, deli and catering service, on-site full-service bank and ATM and attached parking garage as well as an on-site security team…
Anchor Health Acquires $23M MOB
Posted by: | CommentsMarcus Partners sold Cross Street Medical Center to Anchor Health Properties for $23 million.
Newmark Knight Frank’s Executive Managing Director Frank Nelson, Senior Managing Director Michael Greeley and Director Danielle DeMarco, oversaw the building transaction…
Brennan, Arch Street Grab $100M Industrial Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsBrennan Investment Group and Arch Street Capital Advisors continue to expand their net-lease industrial portfolio holdings with the purchase of a 2.5 million-square-foot collection of assets spanning eight states. The partners formed their sixth industrial joint venture to acquire the properties for a total of $100 million.
Brennan and Arch Street’s attraction to the 11-building portfolio was clear. “Geographic diversity, attractive price per square-foot, attractive tenant roster. We are buying mission critical properties in good markets at a compelling price per square-foot and with the opportunity to create significant value,” Bob Vanecko, managing principal, Brennan Investment Group, told Commercial Property Executive…
You Can Afford That Apartment (According to This Chart)
Posted by: | CommentsFor many market-rate renters, incomes appear to be keeping up. But are you one of them?
Most people paying attention to the cost of renting an apartment in the U.S. would tell you that prices have gotten out of hand.
That’s certainly true at the extremes where, say, the typical two-bedroom in the Bay Area suburb of San Mateo, Calif., clocks in at $4,300 a month. More broadly, the supply of new housing isn’t keeping up with demand, pushing rents up in cities across the country…
You Can Afford That Apartment (According to This Chart)
Seacoast MA HQ Gets Million-Dollar Makeover
Posted by: | CommentsAfter signing a recent lease extension, long-term tenant Seacoast Capital Managers has finished renovating its 4,783-square-foot East Coast headquarters, with the help of general contracting and construction firm Vantage Builders Inc., architecture firm Miika Ebbrell Design and furniture rental firm Strategic Workspaces. The US-1 Ventures-owned office building totals 86,000 square feet of space and underwent a million-dollar renovation in 2016.
North Signal—Westport JV Plans Industrial Development in SC
Posted by: | CommentsA joint venture between North Signal Capital and Westport Capital Partners has acquired two industrial sites at North Pointe Commerce Park from WestRock. The JV plans to turn the Charleston, S.C., space into a 250,000-square-foot Class A building.
“The Industrial market in Charleston has averaged single digit vacancy over the last 10 years,” Peter Goulding, North Signal Capital LLC’s partner, told Commercial Property Executive. “Charleston continues to experience outsized economic growth which has created an unprecedented demand for quality industrial product. The lack of entitled industrial land and available buildings makes this the ideal time to develop speculative industrial product.”
JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic Joins His Boss in Bashing Bitcoin
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Quant strategist warns of regulatory risk after Chinese moves
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Valuation not possible under traditional currency measures
Well, it ain’t Jamie Dimon, but there’s another heavy hitter at JPMorgan Chase & Co. who isn’t a fan of cryptocurrencies.
Global Head of Quantitative and Derivatives Strategy Marko Kolanovic (also known as “Gandalf” and “Half-Man, Half-God”) echoed many of his boss’ warnings about digital currencies in an assessment of the asset class on Wednesday.
Bitcoin is down roughly 8 percent since being called a “fraud” by Dimon on Tuesday afternoon…
JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic Joins His Boss in Bashing Bitcoin
UWorld Moves Offices to Cypress Waters in DFW
Posted by: | CommentsUWorld, a company specializing in exam preparation and e-learning, will relocate its office to the Cypress Waters master-planned development in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The new 50,000-square-foot space is located on the third floor of 9111 Cypress Waters Blvd. The company will move there in January 2018, from its current home at 545 E. John Carpenter Fwy., Suite 1600.
Vestar to Manage WA Retail Center
Posted by: | CommentsVestar, a real estate company specializing in the acquisition ofentertainment-retail centers, is the new manager of The Landing. The property is a 607,000-square-foot shopping mall located in Renton, Wash., and represents the second asset managed by Vestar in the Pacific Northwest. The company also owns and manages James Center, a 140,240-square-foot retail center in Tacoma, Wash.
Buffett Fails in Bid to Boost Stake in Canada’s Home Capital
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Shareholders reject Berkshire bid to almost double stake
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Offer would have increased Buffett holding to 38 percent
Warren Buffett’s bid to double his stake in Home Capital Group Inc. was rejected by shareholders of the Canadian mortgage lender in a vote Tuesday.
About 89 percent of investors voted against the offer, which would have boosted Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stake to 38 percent from about 20 percent. Stockholders including CIBC Asset Management had objected to the deal, arguing it would dilute the stock by selling shares to Berkshire at an almost 30 percent discount…
Upcoming Queens Hotel Receives $44M Financing
Posted by: | CommentsChris Xu’s United Construction and Development Group has received a $44 million financing for its upcoming Marriott Hotels in Queens. The non-recourse loan was funded by an affiliate of Latitude Real Estate Investors, with full-term interest-only payments and two one-year extension options, according to public records. Cushman & Wakefield acted as exclusive advisor to the borrower.
Cambridge Class A Building Changes Hands for $75M
Posted by: | CommentsIn a $75 million deal, a joint venture between Lincoln Property Co. and Stars Investments has acquired 625 Massachusetts Ave., a 122,104-square-foot, first class office and retail building in Cambridge, Mass. The seller was L&B Realty Advisors.
Dave Pergola and Brian Doherty of CBRE/New England’s capital markets team represented both parties in the transaction.
The property houses retail tenants such as Boston Sports Clubs, Walgreens and TD Bank and is home to WeWork’s Cambridge’s location…
Bond Trend That Makes This Fund Manager Bullish on Mideast Debt
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Gap between emerging credit risk, Mideast spread at 2007-low
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50% of Mideast bonds have S&P ratings of A- and higher
There’s a burgeoning opportunity in Middle East debt markets.
Abdul Kadir Hussain, a Dubai-based fund manager who weathered the emirate’s near default almost 10 years ago, has been plotting the average credit risk of emerging-market bonds against the extra yield investors demand to hold debt in the Arab world.
The two have been converging, which means the potential reward for holding riskier developing-nation bonds has almost vanished when compared with Middle Eastern debt, said Hussain, the head of fixed income at Arqaam Capital Ltd…
Renovated NJ Office Asset Lands New Tenants
Posted by: | CommentsWeiss Realty is welcoming two new tenants to its 162,000-square-foot Highpoint Corporate Center in Fairfield, N.J.
Cloud services provider Fusion Telecommunications International will relocate its regional office from 155 Willowbrook Blvd., in Wayne, N.J. The company will take up 15,000 square feet of space at the suburban New Jersey property. The second tenant, IT services and solutions firm Acuative, has inked a 6,500-square-foot lease and will relocate its headquarters from the nearby 30 Two Bridges Road…
BGC Acquires Berkeley Point, Minority Stake in New CRE Biz
Posted by: | CommentsIn two transactions within the BGC Partners/Cantor Fitzgerald family, BGC has acquired Berkeley Point Financial LLC from CF and certain affiliates for $875 million and has also made a $100 million cash investment in a new CRE-related finance and investment business.
In the latter transaction, BGC will own about 27 percent of the new entity, currently designated as CF Real Estate Finance Holdings LP, while CF will own the remaining 73 percent, for its investment of $266.7 million, according to an SEC filing.
Seadrill Files Bankruptcy to Shrink Offshore Driller’s Debt
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Company chairman Fredriksen spent 18 months chasing debt deal
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New plan calls for extending maturity on $5.7 billion in debt
Seadrill Ltd., the offshore driller controlled by billionaire John Fredriksen, filed for bankruptcy protection after working out a deal with almost all its senior lenders to inject $1 billion of new money into the company.
Under the proposal, lenders will extend the maturity on $5.7 billion in debt, with no amortization payments due until 2020. Should lower-ranking creditors join the proposal, $2.3 billion in unsecured bonds would be converted into a 15 percent stake in the company, Seadrill said in a statement…
Hurricane Harvey: Impact on Houston Multifamily
Posted by: | CommentsHurricane Harvey slammed into Houston on August 25 and dropped more than 50 inches of rain over the next few days, producing a swath of flooding in low-lying developments and areas near rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The flooding damaged tens of thousands of single-family residences and apartments, commercial properties, vehicles and infrastructure. The storm might end up as the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, with property damage estimates upwards of $100 billion.
Investors Boost Stock Hedges at the Fastest Pace in More Than a Year
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Share of fund managers taking protection rises most since 2016
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BofAML survey shows investors fretting over North Korea
The number of investors seeking protection from a stock market plunge rose by the most in 14 months in September, according to the latest survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
There was a 9 percentage point jump in the share of investors buying equity hedges, according to the Sept. 1 to 7 poll of money managers overseeing $629 billion. That leaves only a net 27 percent who have not bought protection, the bank’s strategists said. The level of underweight positions in U.S. equities rose to a ten-year high…
JLL Closes $24M Phoenix Industrial Deal
Posted by: | CommentsJLL negotiated a $24.5 million industrial portfolio sale on behalf of previous owner, The Hewson Co. The four properties, which are located in Scottsdale and Tempe, Ariz., have 266,607 square feet combined, and are 96 percent occupied. The buyer is TA Realty.
“Both the Tempe and Scottsdale submarkets benefit from low vacancy rates and strong rental rate growth. The quality of the assets and tenant diversity made this portfolio an exceptional opportunity for investors,” said Mark Detmer, JLL managing director.
Dubai Property Set to Fall Further as Vacancies Climb
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Residential property declines due to job losses, lower income
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Reluctant sellers, renters starting to accept long downturn
Dubai residential property prices and rents are set to fall further as losses of high-paying jobs and dwindling household incomes boost vacancies across the city, according to Phidar Advisory.
“The false start of early 2017 is over and the cracks are starting to show,” Jesse Downs, managing director at Phidar, an advisory firm specializing in real estate, wrote in a report on Tuesday. “Sales volumes of completed properties are at a six-year low and vacancies are rising across the city.”…
Wall Street Chiefs Signal a Lingering Slump
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JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America Forecast Declines
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Goldman Sachs’s Schwartz sees ‘challenging environment’
Wall Street executives had a worrisome message for investors this week: The lack of client activity that sunk trading results in the second quarter has continued.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are seeing declines ranging from 15 percent to 20 percent in the third quarter from the same period a year ago, executives announced at an investor conference hosted by Barclays Plc in New York. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. didn’t put a number on its performance, even as co-President Harvey Schwartz lamented “a pretty challenging environment.”…
CBRE Markets St. Louis Riverfront Redevelopment Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsCBRE is representing a group of six owners in the sale of Chouteau’s Landing, a 19-property redevelopment portfolio situated on 11.8 acres in St. Louis. Matt Bukhshtaber and Will Mura of CBRE’s St. Louis office will arrange the sale.
MIXED-USE OPPORTUNITIES
The 19-property portfolio features 869,821 square feet of space. Located south of the Gateway Arch, along the St. Louis riverfront, the property is in close proximity to Arch and Busch Stadium, offering convenient access to transportation and to interstates 64 and 44. The portfolio could support multifamily, office, industrial and retail space…
Rent Growth Moderates; Demand Persists in Boston
Posted by: | CommentsAbove-trend population gains and increasing job growth continue to make Boston one of the most stable multifamily markets in the U.S. Although rent gains have fallen to 2.3% year-over-year through June, demand remains healthy, supported by highly skilled workers, who are increasingly drawn to the metro’s reputation as a regional powerhouse and global innovation hub.
Clinton Says Giving Paid Speeches to Wall Street Firms a Mistake
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Democrat says she’s ‘done with being a candidate’ after 2016
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Clinton angered by Trump’s embrace of bankers as advisers
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton pointed to her willingness to speak to Wall Street firms and the poor “optics” of those highly-paid appearances as a contributing factor for her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
Clinton takes responsibility for what she termed a “mistake” in “What Happened,” her memoir of the campaign that goes on sale Tuesday. In the book and a TV interview ahead of its release, Clinton said she doesn’t intend to run for office again but will not step back from political life…
Amazon to Open First Fulfillment Center in NY
Posted by: | CommentsAmazon unveiled its plans to open a new fulfillment center in Staten Island, N.Y., its first in the state. The 855,000-square-foot project is being developed by Matrix Development Group.
The facility is set to bring 2,250 full-time job opportunities for employees to engage with advanced robotics. Employees will work alongside robots to pick, pack and ship customer items, such as household essentials, toys and books…
WPT Industrial Expands to PA
Posted by: | CommentsWPT Industrial REIT is in motion to acquire an approximately 936,000-square-foot distribution property within Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, from a third-party seller, for approximately $74.3 million.
The exact name or location of the distribution center was not disclosed, but the property is currently 100 percent leased to two tenants. The deal is expected to be complete in the third quarter this year…
Australian Banks Sitting on A$500 Billion of ‘Liar Loans,’ UBS Says
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s something else for policy makers to worry about as they attempt to engineer a soft landing in Australia’s property market.
The country’s lenders could be sitting on A$500 billion ($402 billion) of “liar loans,” or mortgages obtained on inaccurate financial information, according to an estimate from UBS Group AG.
A survey by the firm of 907 Australians who took out a mortgage in the last 12 months found only 67 percent stated their application was “completely factual and accurate,” down from 72 percent the previous year. The most common inaccuracies were overstating income and understating living expenses, the survey found…
JLL Facilitates 575 KSF DC-Area Office Lease
Posted by: | CommentsJLL secured a 15-year lease for the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in Camp Springs, Md. The General Services Administration (GSA) will consolidate the agency’s five lease locations into one headquarters campus, relocating 3,700 employees in 2020.
The company will occupy 574,767 square feet of space at One Capital Gateway Drive. The USCIS lease follows the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) announcement that it is relocating from Pentagon City to its new 625,000-square-foot headquarters in Springfield, Va. JLL’s Jae Lee and William Ruppe spearheaded the deal, and also represented the GSA in the USCIS lease transaction. JLL’s Brian Sullivan, supported by Art Turowski, Brian Saal, Lucy Kitchin and Jeff Hurvitz, represented the developer, Peter Schwartz…
Financing in Place for 800 KSF Baltimore Mixed-Use Tower
Posted by: | CommentsThe lending community is looking favorably upon One Light Street, a mixed-use project in downtown Baltimore. Developer Madison Marquette recently obtained $169 million in financing for the 800,000-square-foot building, which has been under construction since January 2017.
Natixis acted as lead arranger and administrative agent on a $125 million senior loan for One Light Street, the construction of which commenced in January 2017, with M&T Bank and CIT as participants. Additionally, with the assistance of commercial real estate and capital markets services HFF, Madison Marquette reeled in $44 million in bridge financing through Bridge Investment Group Holdings…
Step Into a $17.75 Million Penthouse 52 Floors Above New York
Posted by: | CommentsA 360-degree video tour through the last available penthouse at Herzog & de Meuron’s TriBeCa skyscraper, 56 Leonard
To view 360-degree video, use Chrome or Firefox. (Sorry, Safari users.) If you’re using a mobile device, click through to your YouTube app.
It’s hard to miss 56 Leonard, the new 60-story glass tower that dominates an otherwise low-key corner of Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood. When the design was unveiled in 2008 by the building’s architect, Herzog & de Meuron, the favored description of the building’s shape was “Jenga-like,” and its cantilevered floors did indeed look like a precarious, dynamic, almost impossibly complicated pile of glass and steel building blocks…
Dual-Branded Hilton Hotel Comes to Charlotte
Posted by: | CommentsHilton opened its newest Charlotte dual-branded property, Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte/SouthPark and Homewood Suites by Hilton Charlotte/SouthPark, a 270-key hotel. Developers Crosland and Alta Financial Services, part of the Allen Tate Family of Cos., in partnership with Chartwell Hospitality, own and developed the property. Chartwell Hospitality will manage both properties.
Located at 4808 Sharon Road, in the state’s major commercial hub, the two-story building sits on approximately 3.5 acres and offers convenient access to SouthPark Mall, which provides a mix of shipping, dining and entertainment venues…
Hong Kong Finance Chief Warns Again of Property Risk as Fed Acts
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Chan tells buyers to be ‘very careful’ taking on mortgages
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Comments come after his June warning of ‘dangerous situation’
Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan warned potential buyers to be careful buying property in the world’s most expensive housing market, as moves by the Federal Reserve to unwind its balance sheet may shrink money supply.
Chan warned in June that Hong Kong’s property market is in a “dangerous situation” and vulnerable to a correction. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam describes housing as citizens’ No. 1 concern and recently set up a task force on increasing land supply as she tries to rein in ever-escalating prices…
Investors Can Be Ethical and Still Beat the Market, Study Says
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Authors find no evidence of premium specific to ‘vice’ stocks
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Outperformance comes from factors such as profits, investment
Ethical fund managers don’t have to be envious of the market-beating returns of so-called sin stocks. They should be able to match them without dabbling in vice, according to a study in the Fall edition of the Journal of Portfolio Management.
The study debunks the popular theory that shares in the alcohol, tobacco, gaming, and weapons industries outperform because investors shun them, enabling those with fewer moral scruples to earn a “reputation risk premium.” …
C&W to Lease Suburban Boston Office Complex
Posted by: | CommentsKS Partners has selected Cushman & Wakefield to lease Highwood Office Park, a Class A, three-building office complex in Tewksbury, Mass. Executive Director Michael Dalton and Senior Associates Blake Baldwin and Kurtis Gibbs will handle the leasing operations.
The 279,000-square-foot property is located at 1-3 Highwood Drive and sits on 17.7 acres. The park underwent a $2.7 million renovation that included upgrades to lobbies, restrooms, base building and common areas. Additionally, it features:
Hedge Funds Used to Love Betting Against China. Now, Not So Much
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Hart has changed his mind; Odey has tempered his view
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Yuan, Chinese stocks have recovered after 2015 turmoil
A sharp devaluation. A credit crisis. And an economic hard landing.
That’s what some of the biggest names in the hedge fund industry were predicting for China after the nation’s stocks and currency tumbled in 2015.
Two years later, it hasn’t worked out quite the way pessimists anticipated. Bets on a devaluation have fizzled as the yuan rallied nearly 7 percent from its eight-year low against the dollar in December. Chinese credit markets have stabilized, while the nation’s equities are back in a bull market…
QIM Hedge Fund Soars 56% This Year
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Equity hedge funds are the top performers last month
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Coatue pool gains 27% for the year, Renaissance fund up 11%
The tactical hedge fund at Quantitative Investment Management, the $3.4 billion firm run by Jaffray Woodriff, surged an estimated 56 percent this year through August, according to an investor document seen by Bloomberg News.
The firm’s systematic long-short equity Tactical Aggressive Fund rose an estimated 14 percent in August, after falling 7.4 percent in July. This marks the $1.2 billion fund’s third monthly gain of more than 10 percent this year, the letter from the Charlottesville, Virginia-based firm showed…
Wells Fargo Should Focus on Its Actual Misbehavior, Not on Perceptions
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been a rough year for Wells Fargo. And most of the bank’s problems have come from self-inflicted wounds driven by an incentive system that rewarded appalling behavior.
To review: There was the scandal that resulted from bankers opening (and then closing) millions of unauthorized accounts to meet sales goals, with the hope of getting bigger bonuses. Originally thought to involve 2.1 million accounts from 2011 to 2015, the bank disclosed last week that as many as 3.5 million unauthorized customer accounts, dating to 2009, had been opened — nearly 70 percent more than originally announced…
Wells Fargo Should Focus on Its Actual Misbehavior, Not on Perceptions
CBC Advisors Negotiates Arlington Lease Renewal, Expansion
Posted by: | CommentsRhino Medical Services renewed and expanded its lease at the Bank of America Building in Arlington, Texas, bringing the building to a vacancy rate of 10 percent. The health-care staffing company augmented its office by nearly 40 percent to 13,678 square feet, becoming the building’s biggest tenant.
Lowenstein Sandler Opens New HQ in the Garden State
Posted by: | CommentsLowenstein Sandler has leased 170,000 square feet at 56 at Roseland, a Class A office building that was redeveloped in Roseland, N.J., by its owners, a joint venture between Mountain Development Corp. and Square Mile Capital.
Located at 56 Livingston Ave., under the address of One Lowenstein Drive, the 400,000-square-foot property features complete interior renovations and extensive amenity upgrades…