Author Archive
OPEC Wins Hedge Funds Back With Jump in Oil Bets Before Deal
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Net-long position on WTI rose by most this year: CFTC
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U.S. supply drop will be key to sustaining the enthusiasm
Hedge funds are giving OPEC some credit again.
Following four weeks of growing pessimism, bets on rising West Texas Intermediate prices jumped the most this year just as Saudi Arabia and Russia were mustering support for the deal they struck in Vienna last week, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.
What happens to U.S. stockpiles will be key to sustaining the enthusiasm, and the Saudis know that. In addition to prolonging a historical deal with allies, the kingdom plans to reduce exports to the world’s biggest consumer…
NAI Hiffman Mediates Office Sale in Illinois
Posted by: | CommentsNAI Hiffman facilitated the sale of a 39,267-square-foot office building in McHenry, Ill. to the Alexander Center for Autism (ALCA). Senior Vice President of Office Services Jason Wurtz and Vice President of Office Services Aubrey Reken led the team of brokers on behalf of the seller, Pioneer Center for Human Services, a non-profit organization which moved to 4031 Dayton St. in McHenry.
Kennedy Wilson Fund Grabs $144M Office Campus
Posted by: | CommentsKennedy Wilson Real Estate Fund V has acquired 400 and 450 N. Brand Blvd., a two-building, 437,000-square-foot office campus in Glendale, Calif., for $144 million. The transaction was paid for with $50 million in equity from Fund V and a five-year interest-only loan of $94 million.
JLL’s Executive Vice President Tom Bohlinger and Senior Vice President Jon Lange represented the seller, a venture of MetLife Inc. and Beacon Capital Partners, as well as the buyer. JLL’s Managing Director Brian Halpern and Senior Associate Alex Kane led the team on the financing…
Bank Indonesia Says 5.4% Growth This Year Is Too Optimistic
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Central bank deputy governor says 5.2% growth more realistic
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Investment-grade score should serve as inspiration for reforms
Indonesia’s central bank said economic growth of 5.4 percent this year is too optimistic and the nation should aspire for higher credit ratings to catch up with Southeast Asian peers.
“In our view, the 2017 growth rate should be higher than 2016,” Bank Indonesia Senior Deputy Governor Mirza Adityaswara said in an interview in Jakarta on Friday. “Maybe 5.4 percent is still a bit too aggressive, but we think 5.1 percent to 5.2 percent is still a possible number to achieve in 2017.”
Fort Lauderdale-Area Office Asset Trades for $9M
Posted by: | CommentsCushman & Wakefield negotiated the sale of Executive University Courts, a 97,125-square-foot office campus in Lauderhill, Fla. The property commanded $9.3 million.
The advisory team led by Managing Director Dominic Montazemi, Senior Associate Greg Miller and Executive Director Scott O’Donnell represented the seller, Kas University LLC, an affiliate of Miami-based SF Partners. According to public records, MYP Executive LLC purchased the property, receiving nearly $7 million in acquisition financing from Atlantic Coastal Bank…
Hong Kong Throngs of Thousands Defy Bid to Cool Home Market
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Buyers queue to get a shot at newly-released developments
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Newspaper describes property market as ‘becoming crazier’
Snaking queues of thousands of prospective apartment buyers in Hong Kong signaled authorities have made no progress in cooling a red-hot property market, where prices are at records.
People were lining up on Friday and over the weekend at Victoria Skye, a luxury project at the former airport site of Kai Tak, and at the Ocean Pride development by Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. and MTR Corp…
Hong Kong Throngs of Thousands Defy Bid to Cool Home Market
Midwest Industrial Lets Go of Illinois Warehouse
Posted by: | CommentsMidwest Industrial Funds, which has recently acquired a warehouse in Huntley, Ill., has also traded one of its industrial properties—a 76,000-square-foot building in Cary, Ill. The buyer is an affiliate of Illinois Lift Equipment, which is expanding and moving its operations from West Chicago.
Principals & Co-Founders of Entre Commercial Realty, Daniel Jones and Daniel Benassi, together with Michael DeSerto, a broker with the company, facilitated the sale on behalf of Midwest Industrial. Steve Morken, president & owner of Morken & Associates, represented the buyer…
Docutech Expands to Scottsdale
Posted by: | CommentsDocutech, a document and compliance technology company for the mortgage, home equity and consumer lending industries, has opened a new office in downtown Scottsdale, Ariz. The new branch will be located in the north building of the Lincoln Towne Centre. Additionally, the company appointed Amy Brandt as president & COO. She will lead operations for Docutech in Scottsdale.
Sentula Said to Identify Assets to Recover Money After Fraud
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Mining company seeks cash equivalent to current market value
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After five years of losses, Sentula is overhauling business
Sentula Mining Ltd. has identified assets that could be sold to recover some of the 383 million rand ($30 million) in civil damages being sought from a former director, the first significant progress in the case since the amount was awarded more than six years ago, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It’s not yet clear how much of the money can be recouped, the person said, asking not to be identified as the information hasn’t been publicly announced. The shares have rallied 31 percent this month…
Three Chinese Real Estate Tycoons Gain $5.4 Billion In a Day
Posted by: | CommentsA rally for Chinese property stocks added a combined $5.4 billion to the fortunes of three tycoons alone on Monday. None fared better than Hui Ka Yan, the richest of them all, whose China Evergrande Group has built him a net worth of nearly $21 billion. Among the others, Yang Huiyan of Country Garden Holdings Co. added $1.3 billion Monday, while Wu Yajun of Longfor Properties Co. tacked on $400 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The rally has been confounding analysts focusing particularly on Evergrande, which trades at about 36 times reported earnings, more than double the valuations of Country Garden…
Route to Air Travel Discomfort Starts on Wall Street
Posted by: | CommentsWhen an unlucky passenger was violently dragged off a full United Airlines flight in Chicago in April, setting off a public-relations nightmare for the company, the blame naturally fell on the cabin crew, the police and eventually airline executives.
But ultimately, the episode was set in motion elsewhere — on Wall Street.
Relentless pressure on corporate America is creating an increasingly Dickensian experience for many consumers as companies focus on maximizing profit. And nowhere is the trend as stark as in the airline industry, whose service is delivered in an aluminum tube packed with up to four different classes, cheek by jowl, 35,000 feet in the air…
First Industrial Sells Two SLC Industrial Buildings
Posted by: | CommentsNewmark Grubb ACRES arranged the sale of two industrial buildings in Decker Lake Industrial Park in West Valley City, Utah. NGA Vice President Greg Ratliff represented the buyer, a nationwide investor with multiple multifamily properties in Salt Lake City. NGA’s Executive Vice President Bryce Blanchard and Senior Vice President Lucas Burbank represented the seller, First Industrial.
China Money Funneled to Far-Flung Homes Flags Bubble Trouble
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Overheating risks rise in housing markets of smaller cities
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Buyers locked out of home cities seize opportunities elsewhere
When a 59-year-old accountant in Shanghai wanted to invest for her looming retirement, she bought two cheap apartments — on the other side of the country.
“When friends told me about a chance to buy properties in Xishuangbanna, I thought ‘why not?”’ said Yuan Junxi, talking of the steamy, subtropical region in Yunnan province, bordering Laos and Myanmar. “No buying limits; cheap, easy mortgages; and maybe property prices will jump over there too.”…
Big Payoff After Blackstone Courted a Saudi Prince
Posted by: | CommentsA little over a year ago, the private equity titan Stephen A. Schwarzman sat down with Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia and chairman of the kingdom’s largest sovereign wealth fund, in hopes of expanding their relationship.
Mr. Schwarzman’s company, the Blackstone Group, already counted Prince bin Salman’s Public Investment Fund as a major client. But the American financier now had a bold new idea: Court Saudi money to invest in projects like tunnels, bridges, airports and other sorely needed infrastructure improvements, predominantly in the United States…
Big Payoff After Blackstone Courted a Saudi Prince
Texas-Based Bank Opens First Office in South Florida
Posted by: | CommentsStiles Realty arranged a seven-year lease at New River Center, a Class A, 287,043-square-foot office building in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The tenant, Woodforest National Bank, will bring 15 employees to its new commercial lending office.
The Stiles Realty advisory team led by Senior Vice President Norm Adams and Associate Danielle Story represented the landlord, PGIM Real Estate, while Glenn Gregory, managing director at Transwestern, worked on behalf of the tenant in the lease negotiations. This will be the Texas-based financial institution’s first location in South Florida. The new office build-out is slated for completion in July, and Woodcrest will operate a temporary office in the building until the move…
Now House Prices Are Being Cut in London Hotspots
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Values in fringe areas shot up as buyers fled the center
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Prices compared with income hit record for first-time buyers
On the less fashionable fringes of London, home sellers are quickly finding out just what the market can bear.
Buyers fleeing the capital’s costly center turned peripheral boroughs into London’s hottest property markets. Now, more sellers in those areas are being forced to cut their prices after values quickly outstripped the spending power of the average buyer…
Now House Prices Are Being Cut in London Hotspots
Insider-Trading Case Ensnares Hedge Fund
Posted by: | CommentsFor hedge funds, information is a valuable currency. A scrap of insight about a coming change in government policy can be as precious as any market data, potentially making the difference between a profit or loss on a trade.
As a result, political intelligence firms have proliferated inside the Beltway. But among the firms that traffic in information between Washington and Wall Street, one political insider’s tips to a New York hedge fund crossed a bright line, the authorities said on Wednesday…
Insider-Trading Case Ensnares Hedge Fund
Grandbridge Secures 221 KSF Minnesota Industrial Loan
Posted by: | CommentsAfter arranging a $7.8 million refinancing for a Houston-area office asset, Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, a company providing links between complex market conditions, capital solutions and clients, announced the closing of a $9 million first mortgage loan for Kinghorn Logistics Hub, a 221,000-square-foot industrial building in Rogers, Minn.
“Grandbridge arranged funding of the permanent, fixed rate loan through Nationwide, one of our insurance company correspondents. We structured the five-year non-recourse loan with a three-year period of interest-only followed by a 30-year amortization,” Brett Olson, vice president of production at Grandbridge, said in prepared remarks. “The loan closed with an interest rate below 4.0 percent.”…
Ex-Home Capital Brokers Penalized in First Disclosed Crackdown
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Brokers part of review into 45 former Home Capital dealers
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Duggal, Mohammad are first broker names disclosed in probe
A Canadian regulator said it disciplined two mortgage brokers who funneled business to Home Capital Group Inc., marking the first disclosure of action taken against dealers who submitted fraudulent loan applications to the embattled mortgage lender.
The Financial Services Commission of Ontario conducted its own review into Home Capital in relation to the company severing ties in 2015 with 45 brokers who used falsified client income on applications. The agency found that broker Gagandeep Duggal and agent Zaheer Mohammad weren’t complying with the rules, according to a spokesman. Home Capital and the regulator hadn’t disclosed the names of any dealers sanctioned until now…
Why Should the Big Banks Get Free Money?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you stop and think for a minute about how banking actually works, you can’t help but conclude what an extraordinary business it really is and how lucky big banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorganChase are to be at the top of it.
In 2016, these three financial institutions together raked in $65 billion in net income, which is after paying out a total of $75 billion or so in compensation and benefits to their employees. This does not appear to be an industry suffering in the least…
Why Should the Big Banks Get Free Money?
JLL to Lease Office Portion of Seattle Mixed-Use Campus
Posted by: | CommentsThe Southport on Lake Washington is moving onto the next stage, pre-leasing its 700,000-square-foot office space. The JLL team of Cleita Harvey, JJ Shephard, Riley Shephard and Tim Jones will oversee the leasing of the Southport Office Campus…
Capri EGM Nabs Comcast Denver HQ
Posted by: | CommentsPrivate Equity Examines Its Distressed Navel
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a fascinating exchange buried in Payless ShoeSource’s bankruptcy court documents, one that highlights the increasing ire over private equity firms’ involvement in distressed retailers.
Payless, remember, is the discount shoe retailer that became insolvent earlier this year after being the subject of a leveraged buyout in 2012. Now, suppliers and property owners that are owed money are clearly mad about how private equity firms directed Payless to borrow millions of dollars to pay themselves hefty dividends without improving the company’s viability.
These creditors want to hire an expert to evaluate how much those dividend payments ate into Payless’s value and doomed its fate…
The Trump administration is considering moving responsibility for overseeing more than $1 trillion in student debt from the Education Department to the Treasury Department, a switch that would radically change the system that helps 43 million students finance higher education.
The potential change surfaced in a scathing resignation memo sent late Tuesday night by James Runcie, the head of the Education Department’s federal student aid program. Mr. Runcie, an Obama-era holdover, was appointed in 2011 and reappointed in 2015. He cut short his term, which was slated to run until 2020, after clashing with the Trump administration and Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, over this proposal and other issues…
Strategic Storage Acquires 510-Unit Facility in Sarasota, FL
Posted by: | CommentsStrategic Storage Growth Trust Inc., a REIT sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management, acquired a newly constructed, 510-unit self-storage facility in Sarasota, Fla.
Located at 1027 N. Washington Blvd., the three-story structure includes 48,000 square feet of rental space…
Strategic Storage Acquires 510-Unit Facility in Sarasota, FL
Monday Properties Closes $888M NoVa Refi
Posted by: | CommentsThe Washington, D.C., metro area’s “Twin Towers”—1000 Wilson Blvd. and 1100 Wilson Blvd.—are part of Monday Properties’ $888 million refinancing of a nine-building, 2.6 million-square-foot portfolio. All assets are located in Rosslyn, Va.
Other buildings in the portfolio owned by Monday Properties include 1401 Wilson Blvd., 1200 Wilson Blvd., 1101 Wilson Blvd., 1501 Wilson Blvd., 1515 Wilson Blvd., and 1812 North Moore. In early February, Nestle USA announced it was moving its U.S. headquarters from Glendale, Calif. to 1812 North Moore and bringing 750 jobs to the region…
World’s Major Economies to Come up $400 Trillion Short on Retirement Savings
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World Economic Forum study calculates savings worldwide
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U.S. shortfall grows $3 trillion a year, report finds
Longer life spans and disappointing investment returns will help create a $400 trillion retirement-savings shortfall in about three decades, a figure more than five times the size of the global economy, according to a World Economic Forum report.
That includes a $224 trillion gap among six large pension-savings systems: the U.S., U.K., Japan, Netherlands, Canada and Australia, according to the report issued Friday. China and India account for the rest…
World’s Major Economies to Come up $400 Trillion Short on Retirement Savings
China Life Invests $950M in ElmTree Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsElmTree Funds LLC, a St. Louis–based private equity CRE firm, will recapitalize the net-lease portfolio underlying one of its funds with a $950 million investment from a wholly owned subsidiary of China Life Insurance Group, one of China’s largest insurance corporations, ElmTree announced Tuesday…
Mt. Pleasant Office Building Welcomes Tenant
Posted by: | CommentsMTAG Services is the latest addition to the tenant roster at Shem Creek Executive Center, a 41,730-square-foot office building in Mount Pleasant, S.C. The new tenant, a provider of specialized financial asset servicing, is expanding its operations and consolidating its headquarters in Charleston County.
Located at 111 Coleman Blvd., the four-story property is expected to be fully operational in the upcoming weeks. MTAG’s new corporate headquarters will complement the company’s other location in Vienna, Va. The project is expected to create more than 30 new jobs during the next three years. Other notable tenants include Tabula Rasa Healthcare, Avtex Commercial Properties, Thompson Turner Contractors and Hall Booth Smith PA…
Foreign Investor Acquires Long Island Shopping Center
Posted by: | CommentsThe Mall at the Source and the adjoining Fortunoff Building, encompassing an aggregate 723,300 square feet of space in Westbury, N.Y., have just come under new ownership. HFF—acting on behalf of special servicers LNR Partners LLC, a subsidiary of Starwood Property Trust Inc., and C-III Asset Management LLC, representing a REMIC trust—sold the Long Island mall and attached vacant retail anchor to an unidentified private foreign buyer for $92 million…
Democrats Ask Deutsche Bank to Produce Documents on Trump Family Loans
Posted by: | CommentsDemocratic lawmakers asked Deutsche Bank AG to hand over its findings on two politically charged matters — its banking on behalf of now-President Donald Trump and trades from the bank’s Moscow operation that helped move some $10 billion out of Russia.
Representative Maxine Waters of California and four other Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee asked the Frankfurt-based lender for its internal reportabout its conduct in the Russian “mirror trading” scandal. They also asked for any internal review of Trump’s business dealings with the bank, descriptions of which have surfaced in news reports…
Two Landmark Buildings in Downtown Detroit Top Off
Posted by: | CommentsNYC’s Chinatown Welcomes New Luxury Hotel
Posted by: | CommentsHotel 50 Bowery, a 229-key boutique hotel developed by Chu Enterprises, opened in New York’s popular Chinatown district.
The hotel marks the first-ever Joie de Vivre property in Manhattan. It is owned by the Harilela family in Hong Kong and the Chu family in New York…
Hedge Funds Squeezed by World’s Highest Rents Are Moving Out
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Hong Kong hedge funds are leaving Central as Chinese move in
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It’s hard to hire top talent if you’re ‘sitting in a shoebox’
Benjamin Fuchs raised eyebrows five years ago when he opened his hedge fund next to a place selling live chickens in Hong Kong’s hustling, bustling Tin Hau neighborhood.
It was akin to choosing Queens over Manhattan in New York — or lowly Croydon over moneyed Mayfair in London.
But nowadays Fuchs is no outlier. He’s part of a swelling exodus of hedge funds from the tony confines of Hong Kong’s Central district, home to luxury landmarks like the Mandarin Oriental hotel…
UPS Doubles KS Footprint with $220M Investment
Posted by: | CommentsCanadian Mortgage Growth Slows Amid Government Housing Moves
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TD, BMO report home loan balances shrink from first quarter
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RBC annual mortgage growth was weakest since start of 2015
Canadian mortgage growth is slowing as the country’s policy makers step up efforts to cool overheated housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto.
With four of Canada’s biggest banks reporting second-quarter results, the trend shows decelerating growth in home loan portfolios and, in some cases, shrinkage. It’s a welcome sign for officials struggling to curb house prices in two of the nation’s largest cities. The easing follows federal government moves in October to tighten mortgage insurance rules and other measures while opening the door to shift risks of defaulting mortgages to banks…
Nashville Hyatt Hotel Gets $41M Citizens Bank Construction Loan
Posted by: | CommentsCitizens Bank announced that it provided a $41 million loan to a joint venture between Atlanta-based Songy Highroads LLC and an affiliate of Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. for the construction of a new 201-key, 15-story Hyatt House hotel in Nashville, Tenn.
Located at the northwest corner of 21st Avenue and Hayes Street, the hotel will be within a 12-minute walk from Vanderbilt University and half a mile from the Centennial Sportsplex. The site was previously occupied by 21st Plaza, a medical office building, and a parking structure. The new Hyatt House hotel will feature below-grade parking as well as three levels of parking above the lobby. The hotel includes a swimming pool and an event bar…
Chinese Money Funneled to Far-Flung Homes Heralds Bubble Trouble
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Overheating risks rise in housing markets of smaller cities
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Buyers locked out of home cities seize opportunities elsewhere
When a 59-year-old accountant in Shanghai wanted to invest for her looming retirement, she bought two cheap apartments — on the other side of the country.
“When friends told me about a chance to buy properties in Xishuangbanna, I thought ‘why not?”’ said Yuan Junxi, talking of the steamy, subtropical region in Yunnan province, bordering Laos and Myanmar. “No buying limits; cheap, easy mortgages; and maybe property prices will jump over there too.”…
Hedge Fund Got Bananas Bonanza of Inside Information
Posted by: | CommentsWall Street Signals Bond Yields to Stay Lower, Fed Hikes or Not
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Fading Trump trade and haven flows keep yields near 2017 lows
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Expectation for gradual Fed balance-sheet taper also a factor
Stubbornly low Treasury yields are spurring Wall Street to slash forecasts for the months ahead, and whether the Federal Reserve winds up raising rates again has little to do with it.
At about 2.25 percent, 10-year yields are plumbing 2017 lows, following a rally Wednesday as the central bank signaled an imminent rate hike but also a gradual approach to shrinking its massive bond portfolio. Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut year-end yield forecasts this month, while maintaining calls for more tightening. The underlying message: While the economy may be robust enough to warrant further Fed moves, the bond-market forces that drove yields to record lows last year are still intact…
Luxury Homes in Manhattan Are Finally Getting Cheaper
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Homes went into contract this year after average 8% discounts
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Deals jumped when buyers ‘saw they could get a break’
Owners of Manhattan luxury homes are waking up to a simple reality: If you want your place to sell, drop your price.
For high-end homes that found buyers in 2017, the median asking price was the lowest in at least five years, according to data from luxury brokerage Olshan Realty Inc., which measures contracts for $4 million or more. Last week, the median asking price for deals in that range was $4,997,500, the lowest since September and only the fourth week since 2013 that it dipped below $5 million.
Wilson & Stonaker Acquires Texas Industrial Park
Posted by: | CommentsNorthbrook 820 LLC, a Wilson & Stonaker partnership, acquired the Northbrook Business Center from Fort Worth Northbrook Ltd. Transwestern Principals Jeff Givens and Sarah LanCarte represented the seller in the transaction…
Long Island Medical Office Portfolio Hits the Market
Posted by: | CommentsCushman & Wakefield is marketing the sale of two medical office buildings located in Great Neck and Manhasset, N.Y. The assets total 70,167 square feet of space and are 88 percent leased to multiple tenants.
A Metro New York-area medical office portfolio comprising 310 E. Shore Road in Great Neck and 333 Shore Road in Manhasset is up for grabs for a reported $24.5 million. Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director Stephen Preuss, Director Benjamin Efraimov and Associates Denise Prevete, Kevin Louie Andreas Efthymiou and Kevin Schmitz will market the sale of the assets…
Long Island Medical Office Portfolio Hits the Market
BH Properties Lands $253M Loan for NYC Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsMore than six months after acquiring ground leases for the land under three New York City limited service hotels with a total of 1,179 guestrooms, Los Angeles-based BH Properties has financed the portfolio with a $252.8 million mortgage and mezzanine facility secured by New York Life Real Estate Investors.
The financing obtained by New York Life Real Estate Investors was described as a cross-collateralized, 25-year facility…
BH Properties Lands $253M Loan for NYC Portfolio
Madoff Fund Paid Millions to Breeden Firm, Zero to Victims
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Ponzi investors are awaiting payouts from $4 billion pot
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Cash for victims came from Jeffry Picower and JPMorgan
A firm hired by the U.S. to distribute $4 billion to victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme has racked up $38.8 million in billings over four years. The investors are still waiting for their first checks, though.
The Justice Department disclosed its payments to Richard Breeden, the Madoff Victim Fund administrator, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Bloomberg News. Breeden’s fees, which are being paid from cash in the fund, cover his work through 2016…
Denholtz Adds Tenant to Tampa Office Building
Posted by: | CommentsDenholtz Associates inked a new lease at The Times Building, a 180,000-square-foot office asset in Downtown Tampa, Fla. The new tenant, Empire Office Inc., a commercial furniture dealer with locations across the country, will occupy a 6,054-square-foot space at its second Tampa location.
Located at 1000 N. Ashley Ave., the 10-story office building features a completely renovated lobby and a new fitness center. Further amenities at The Times Building include a shared conference facility, café, on-site property management team and free downtown shuttle service. Empire Office Inc. will utilize the new Tampa office to support its growing Florida sales and installation business…
U.S. Home Prices Rose 6% in First Quarter as Supply Tightened
Posted by: | CommentsHome prices in the U.S. increased 6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as competition heated up for a scarcity of listings.
Prices rose 1.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous three months, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a statement Wednesday. In March, prices climbed 0.6 percent from February, matching the average estimate of 15 economists.
Job growth is firing up demand for real estate, pushing buyers into bidding wars for the tight supply of homes on the market. There were 1.83 million previously owned homes available for sale at the end of March, down 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors…
Toronto Homeowners Are Suddenly in a Rush to Sell
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Home Capital woes combined with new tax measures cool market
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Listings soar in first half of May as sellers rush in
Toronto’s hot housing market has entered a new phase: jittery.
After a double whammy of government intervention and the near-collapse of Home Capital Group Inc., sellers are rushing to list their homes to avoid missing out on the recent price gains. The new dynamic has buyers rethinking purchases and sellers asking why they aren’t attracting the bidding wars their neighbors saw just a few weeks ago in Canada’s largest city…
NHG Taps GM for Tampa-Area Hilton Hotel
Posted by: | CommentsThe Naples Hotel Group (NHG) has appointed Charles Stallings as general manager of the Hampton Inn Plant City in Plant City, Fla., 20 minutes from Tampa. In his new role, he will be responsible for supervising the hotel’s operations, sales, marketing and guest satisfaction.
Having served in various management positions, Stallings has more than seven years of hotel expertise in operations and sales. Along with the company’s corporate team, he successfully managed to open Hampton Inn Plant City in March. Prior to joining NHG, he served as general manager for the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa Ybor Historic District. “Stallings has built a great team around him to set the hotel up for success,” Andrew Bou-Sliman, vice president of Acquisitions and Development for Naples Hotel Group, said in prepared remarks…
London Home Loans Fall 19 Percent as Supply, Affordability Bite
Posted by: | CommentsThe number of buyers using mortgages to purchase London homes fell by almost a fifth in the first quarter as high values and limited supply damped demand.
About 16,700 loans were advanced in the first quarter, a 19 percent decline from a year earlier, according to data published Wednesday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The homebuyers borrowed 5.4 billion pounds ($7 billion) in the period, a 22 percent drop…
London Home Loans Fall 19 Percent as Supply, Affordability Bite
A Huge Montauk Estate Hits the Market for $48 Million
Posted by: | CommentsBought in 1992 for $620,000 and listed sporadically since, the beachfront estate will have appreciated 7,600 percent if it sells for asking price.
In the early 1990s, Eli Wilner and his wife, Barbara, were living in East Hampton, on the South Fork of Long Island. The owner of a New York-based antique frame restoration and replication company, Wilner was “perfectly happy,” he said. “We had a nice house, a lot of privacy. And then friends of ours wanted to go out to visit Montauk.”…
Largest C-PACE Deal to Fund CA Medical Center Retrofits
Posted by: | CommentsPetros PACE Finance and loan originator CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital Inc. have closed on the largest Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) transaction ever completed in the C-PACE market through Renew Financial’s C-PACE platform. Verity Health System will use the $40 million loan to make mandatory seismic upgrades to Seton Medical Center, an acute-care hospital in Daly City, Calif. Petros contributed half of the loan…
Robo-Advisers Battle Wall Street for Rich Investors
Posted by: | CommentsCitigroup Inc. doesn’t think its richer customers will drop their high-priced money managers in favor of automated investing, but Betterment LLC is betting it can prove the big bank wrong.
The robo-adviser—the largest among independent digital advice startups that popped up after the 2008 financial collapse—has overhauled its entire brand. The shift in marketing and advertising strategy is aimed at attracting more affluent customers just now becoming aware of the option. It’s also not a coincidence that Betterment’s pivot comes as more traditional players such as Vanguard Group Inc., Charles Schwab Corp., and even JPMorgan Chase & Co. are starting to use more technology when offering investment advice…
Hines Unveils Miami Mixed-Use Tower Project
Posted by: | CommentsHines is bringing something to Miami that hasn’t been seen in the city’s central business district in eight years: a big, Class A office tower. Hines just revealed plans to develop 110 10th St., a 600,000-square-foot office-led, mixed-use skyscraper that, at 45 stories tall, will take a prominent place on the Miami skyline…
San Francisco Goes From First to Worst in U.S. Home-Price Gauge
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Prices drop 2.5 percent in first decline since 2011, FHFA says
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Buyers may be held back by affordability constraints
San Francisco, which in recent years had the biggest home-price gain in the U.S., was the country’s weakest market in the first quarter, with values falling for the first time since 2011.
Single-family home prices in the region that includes San Francisco and San Mateo counties dropped 2.5 percent from a year earlier, the worst performance among the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, according to an index released Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Grand Rapids, Michigan, a relatively affordable area where prices jumped 13.7 percent, had the biggest gain…
Hedge Funds Are Getting Priced Out in the World’s Costliest City
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Hong Kong hedge funds are leaving Central as Chinese move in
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It’s hard to hire top talent if you’re ‘sitting in a shoebox’
Benjamin Fuchs raised eyebrows five years ago when he opened his hedge fund next to a place selling live chickens in Hong Kong’s hustling, bustling Tin Hau neighborhood.
It was akin to choosing Queens over Manhattan in New York — or lowly Croydon over moneyed Mayfair in London.
But nowadays Fuchs is no outlier. He’s part of a swelling exodus of hedge funds from the tony confines of Hong Kong’s Central district, home to luxury landmarks like the Mandarin Oriental hotel…
Caesars Launches $90M Makeover at Flamingo Las Vegas
Posted by: | CommentsBy the end of 2017, more than half of the company’s guestrooms in Las Vegas will have been upgraded. The renovation is expected to be complete during the second quarter of 2018.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. is launching a $90 million revamp of 1,270 guestrooms at Flamingo Las Vegas. The makeover is expected to be complete during the second quarter of 2018…
Caesars Launches $90M Makeover at Flamingo Las Vegas
Phillips Edison REIT to Acquire $1B in Sponsor Assets
Posted by: | CommentsIn a stock-and-cash transaction valued at about $1 billion, Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I Inc. (PECO I) is to acquire real estate assets and the third-party asset management business of its sponsor and external advisor, Phillips Edison Limited Partnership (PELP), the companies announced…
U.S. New-Home Sales Fall More Than Forecast
Posted by: | CommentsA larger-than-forecast decline in new-home purchases in April from the strongest pace in almost a decade indicates a pause in demand in the midst of the busy spring selling season, government data showed Tuesday…
U.S. New-Home Sales Fall More Than Forecast
AXA to Sell $390M London Office Asset
Posted by: | CommentsA joint venture between property developer China Resources Land (CRL) and office REIT NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. is buying 20 Gresham St., a trophy office building located in the heart of London. AXA Investment Managers is selling the property for roughly £300 million ($390 million). This marks CRL’s first foray into European real estate. NorthStar is investing approximately $34 million in preferred equity for the transaction. Cushman & Wakefield was hired to assist AXA with the sale back in February.