Author Archive
Home Capital Says Its Future Is Uncertain Amid Run on Deposits
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’Material uncertainty exists regarding funding capabilities’
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Mortgage lender to address analysts on conference call Friday
Woes at Home Capital Group Inc., the embattled Canadian lender facing a run on deposits and a regulator investigation, mount as the company said it’s unsure of funding abilities while announcing first-quarter results.
“Material uncertainty exists regarding the company’s future funding capabilities as a result of reputational concerns that may cast significant doubt” on the ability to continue operations, Home Capital said in a statement Thursday. “Management’s focus is on finding more sources of funding in the near term so we can be more active serving our customers, and on seeking longer-term solutions that put the business back on track,” interim Chief Executive Officer Bonita Then said…
JV Lands $43M Charlotte Retail Center
Posted by: | CommentsA partnership between American Realty Advisors, a California institutional capital management firm, and Stonemar Properties, a New York investment firm, acquired Ballantyne Village, a 171,559-square-foot mixed-use retail entertainment property in Charlotte, N.C. The asset traded for $43.2 million, according to Mecklenburg County real estate records. Rob Carter, David Webb, Rad von Werssowetz, and Alex Quarrier of Berkeley Capital Advisors worked on behalf of the seller, MV Ballantyne Village LLC, which purchased the asset for $26 million back in 2013.
Fannie-Freddie Watchdog Says He Can’t Let Capital Go to Zero
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FHFA Director Watt says investor confidence would be eroded
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Watt also rebuffed ‘recap and release’ during Senate testimony
The head of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s regulator told lawmakers Thursday that he can’t take the risk of letting the companies run out of capital.
Investors in Fannie’s and Freddie’s mortgage bonds might begin to doubt the safety of their holdings if the companies need more bailout money, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. Such a scenario could disrupt the housing market and cause rates to rise, he said…
Hedge Funds Are Facing a U.S. Criminal Probe Over Bond Valuations
Posted by: | CommentsU.S. prosecutors are investigating one of Wall Street’s darkest markets, focusing on hedge funds suspected of inflating the value of debt securities in their portfolios to juice the fees they collect.
Having prosecuted traders who lied to customers about bond prices, the government is now scrutinizing hedge funds that allegedly solicited bogus price quotes from brokers, according to three people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. Such a practice would have enabled the funds to pump up the value of illiquid securities on their books…
Hedge Funds Are Facing a U.S. Criminal Probe Over Bond Valuations
Newark Lands First Spec Office in 30 Years
Posted by: | CommentsDevelopment of Ironside Newark is expected to last about 18 months, with opening targeted for fall 2018. Perkins Eastman is the architect, and Hollister Construction the construction manager.
A downtown Newark, N.J., warehouse is being transformed into a $75 million, 465,000-square-foot mixed-use project by Edison Properties that will feature six floors of loft-style and penthouse offices along with two floors of retail and restaurant space.
Ironside Newark, which will front on the newly announced Mulberry Commons Park, will have a rooftop space that will offer views of Newark and Manhattan. Construction on the building is expected to last about 18 months and opening is scheduled for Fall 2018. It will offer the first speculative office space in Newark in at least 30 years, according to Bloomberg….
Home Capital Foe Says His Short’s Bigger Than Much of Board Owns
Posted by: | CommentsThe most vocal opponent of Home Capital Group Inc. has revealed the extent of his bet against the alternative Canadian mortgage lender.
Marc Cohodes, the fund manager-turned-chicken farmer who has been betting Home Capital will fall since November 2014 — when the stock was near its peak — said his short position is now bigger than the total number of shares owned by almost all of Home Capital’s insiders. These exclude founder Gerald Soloway and board members John Marsh and Dinah Henderson, but include the rest of Home Capital’s directors and former CEO Martin Reid…
Hedge Fund Manager May Save $835,900 Due to a Typo
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British tax agency wrongly identified year-end as April 6
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Legal dispute over whether the mistake invalidates inquiry
A hedge fund manager says the British tax collection agency can’t investigate his 2009 finances because of a mistake in the letter warning him about the probe.
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs wrote to Michael Mabbutt, then at Thames River Capital, saying it wanted to open an inquiry into the tax year ending April 6, 2009, according to evidence from a London court hearing. The U.K. tax year ends on April 5.
Mabbutt’s lawyers say the error invalidates the notice.
HTA Grabs Multi-State MOB Portfolio for $150M
Posted by: | CommentsAlready the largest owner and operator of medical office buildings in the U.S., Healthcare Trust added 592,000 square feet of space in Arizona and Southern California.
Healthcare Trust of America Inc. has closed on its previously announced medical office building portfolio acquisition, buying 11 medical offices for $150 million.
Already the largest owner and operator of medical office buildings in the U.S., Healthcare Trust added 592,000 square feet of space in Arizona and Southern California. The portfolio consists of the 168,000-square-foot McAuley Medical Center, located within the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center campus in downtown Phoenix and the others are primarily located on Dignity Health (Rated A3) campuses in Phoenix and Southern California…
Canada Should Signal Rate Increase to Cool Lending, BofA Says
Posted by: | CommentsCanada’s low interest rates are feeding risky behavior in financial markets and central bank policy makers should cool things off by signaling they will tighten, according to Bank of America Corp.
The credit downgrade of six Canadian banks and troubles at mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc. are reigniting concern the nation’s housing market is a bubble in danger of bursting, and central bank interest rates remaining too low for too long heighten the risk of a financial crisis, Carlos Capistran, an economist in New York at Bank of America, wrote in a research report…
Loonie, Bank Bonds Drop as Moody’s Downgrades Canada Lenders
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Firm’s move follows concerns over mortgage lender Home Capital
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Banks still have strong capital and liquidity buffers, it says
Canada’s dollar and bank bonds declined after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the nation’s banks for the first time in more than four years, signaling that soaring household debt combined with runaway housing prices leave the lenders more vulnerable to losses.
The ratings firm lowered the long-term debt and deposit ratings one level on Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Canada Wednesday. The move left TD with a long-term debt rating of Aa2, the third-highest level. Moody’s lowered the other five to A1, the fifth-highest. The outlook is negative on all six lenders…
H.I.G. Closes $600M Real Estate Fund
Posted by: | CommentsThe fund’s general partner and related parties were among the list of contributors, as was a $52 million co-investment vehicle. Fund III, launched in June 2015, has so far amassed a portfolio of eight assets accounting for 20 percent of the commitments.
H.I.G. Realty Partners closed on H.I.G. Realty Partners III, the firm’s value-add investment vehicle. Fund III secured capital commitments totaling $593 million, handily surpassing its hard cap of $500 million.
“The Fund will have a broad mandate to invest across asset classes and will utilize a hands-on, value added, operationally focused approach that seeks to generate substantial asset appreciation,” Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer, Co-CEOs of H.I.G., said in a joint prepared statement…
SoftBank Leads $502 Million Investment in U.K. Tech Startup
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Improbable Worlds’ software creates virtual reality simulation
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Funding values London company at more than $1 billion
SoftBank Group Corp. is leading a $502 million investment in Improbable Worlds Ltd., a London-based virtual reality startup, in one of the U.K.’s largest venture capital deals.
The valuation wasn’t disclosed. But SoftBank is buying a non-controlling stake, which would mean Improbable is worth at least $1.04 billion. The deal would rank as the fifth-largest U.K. venture investment in the past decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg…
SoftBank Leads $502 Million Investment in U.K. Tech Startup
Puerto Rico’s Bankruptcy Fight Is About to Plunge Into the Unknown
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Bondholders push competing claims but island may void them all
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‘This is a government restructuring, not a court one’
Dealing with Puerto Rico’s crushing debt has started to resemble a circular firing squad.
Simply put, the bankrupt island can’t pay everything it owes, so creditors are taking aim at each other as they squabble over who will get what’s left. But the debt’s size and the tangled process invented to rescue Puerto Rico mean there’s no established rule book to shape what comes next.
SL Green Lands New Tenant at Midtown Manhattan Landmark
Posted by: | CommentsInsurance company First American Title Co. signed a 10-year, 17,984-square-foot lease at 110 E. 42nd St., in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood. The firm will occupy the entire 10th floor. The owner, a partnership between SL Green Realty Corp. and luxury restaurants brand Cipriani, was represented in-house by Howard Tenenbaum and Gary Rosen, while Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Robin Fisher and Christie Bennett represented the tenant, which will relocate from 44 Wall St. While First American moves in, another financial tenant is about to leave.
New Owners Rebrand Seattle High-Rise Project
Posted by: | CommentsWeber Thompson is serving as architect of Arrivé. The tower is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2019.
The development team of the Molasky Group and Binjiang Tower Corp. are rebranding Potala Tower, a 41-story mixed-use tower under construction in downtown Seattle, to Arrivé.
“Frankly, the original brand was heavily influenced by Tibetan culture and that is not the direction this ownership group wants to take,” Mike Doran, vice president of development and construction of Molasky Group of Cos., told Commercial Property Executive. “We want to create a hotel and a rental product that is upscale and appealing across many demographics and cultures.”
Hong Kong Luxury-Homes Market Eclipses London
Posted by: | CommentsHong Kong has overtaken London as the world’s top market for luxury homes after seeing a record number of $100 million-plus deals.
Four out of the record 10 homes that sold for this amount last year were in Hong Kong, according to a Christie’s International Real Estate survey published Wednesday. London, which notched up two $100 million deals, dropped to second place in the broker’s luxury-homes ranking for the first time in its five-year lifespan. New York retained third place.
Escondido Retail Center Changes Hands for $25M
Posted by: | CommentsFaris Lee Investments has arranged the sale of Gateway Center, an 89,625-square-foot property that was 95 percent leased at the time of the transaction.
Faris Lee Investments has arranged the $24.8 million sale of Gateway Center, an 89,625-square-foot retail center in Escondido, Calif. The company represented both the seller, a partnership led by GDA Real Estate Services, and the buyer, a San Diego County-based private investor. The transaction closed at a 6.5 percent cap rate.
“The seller felt it was an ideal time in the property’s investment cycle to exit the asset and achieve its return objectives,” said Faris Lee Investments’ Rick Chichester in prepared remarks…
Ascend Hotel Collection Welcomes 6 New Properties
Posted by: | CommentsThe firm plans to keep up the pace; the brand will open a total of 44 properties this year. Currently, there are more than 170 Ascend lodging destinations operating across the globe.
Ascend Hotel Collection, launched in 2008 by Choice Hotels International as the first major soft brand collection in the U.S., recently experienced quite a growth spurt. In April, six properties joined the collection, adding more than 500 guestrooms across the country.
Snap’s $2.2 Billion Loss Caps Bumpy First Months as a Public Company
Posted by: | CommentsSAN FRANCISCO — When Snap listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in March, the floor of the exchange was festooned in the company’s signature yellow. Family members of Snap executives posed for photographs; some wore the company’s video-recording Spectacles. And as Snap’s two 20-something founders rang the opening bell, the crowd — including one of the founder’s fathers and a supermodel fiancée — applauded.
Yet just two months into its life as a public company, Snap’s celebration may already be ending…
Snap’s $2.2 Billion Loss Caps Bumpy First Months as a Public Company
AXA To Invest $18M in Charlotte Expansion
Posted by: | CommentsThe life insurance company opened its Charlotte office in 2013 and has since decided to double its local presence by adding 550 jobs.
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company is expanding its Mecklenburg County operations in Innovation Park, a 200-acre office campus in Charlotte, N.C. The company plans to invest approximately $18 million and add 550 new jobs during the next five years.
AXA opened its Life Operations headquarters at 8501 IBM Drive in Innovation Park in 2013, setting a new standard as a more open and collaborative environment. By expanding its operations, AXA’s Charlotte office will become the company’s largest U.S. location, while the U.S. corporate headquarters will remain in New York…
Office Tower Set to Rise at UD STAR Campus
Posted by: | CommentsJLL has been selected to lead leasing and marketing efforts for the 120,000-square-foot building, which is scheduled for completion by next year. The tower is estimated to cost about $40 million.
The University of Delaware’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus in Newark, Del., is getting a Class A office building and JLL has been awarded the listing to lead leasing and marketing efforts for the 120,000-square-foot tower and future facilities on a 16-acre site at the campus.
Kushners Quit Property Bid as Pressures Mount Over Conflicts
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They had been top contenders for 95-acre Jersey City site
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Pitches to investors in China brought unwelcome spotlight
A company owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has abandoned plans to buy a sprawling industrial site in New Jersey from Honeywell International Inc., a major federal contractor, and develop it into a residential community.
Kushner Cos. had been the leading bidder for the 95-acre formerly contaminated site known as Bayfront, which is co-owned by Honeywell and Jersey City, city officials said. The company had submitted plans to build as many as 8,100 housing units to be marketed to Orthodox Jewish residents of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn who are being priced out of that neighborhood…
Whole Foods, Facing Pressure Restless Investors, Shakes Up Board
Posted by: | CommentsJohn Mackey, the co-founder of Whole Foods Market, took the helm as sole chief executive last year in a bid to single-handedly revive the upscale grocer’s fortunes.
On Wednesday, facing growing pressure from restless shareholders, he brought in reinforcements.
A month after an activist hedge fund took a stake in Whole Foods and began to agitate for change, the company unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its board, replacing five directors, naming a new chairwoman and bringing in a new chief financial officer. It also laid out plans to improve operations and cut costs…
Whole Foods, Facing Pressure Restless Investors, Shakes Up Board
Gilbane Opens New Tampa Office
Posted by: | CommentsThe new location will serve as Gilbane Building Co.’s seventh Florida office and allows the company to better serve clients and partners.
Gilbane Building Co. opened a new office at 100 South Ashley Drive, a Class A office tower in downtown Tampa, Fla. Tim Hensey, vice president of Gilbane’s Southwest Florida region, will lead the new Tampa office. This marks Gilbane’s seventh office in Florida, joining the company’s Sarasota, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando, Gainsville and Jupiter, Fla. locations.
Street Capital Sees Openings as Home Capital Deposits Fall
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Street Cap posts 1Q loss; HCG due to report earnings Thursday
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HCG liquid assets C$1.01 billion May 9 vs C$1.1 billion May 8
Street Capital Group Inc. said it’s treating recent turbulence in the Canadian mortgage lending market as an opportunity, while embattled rival Home Capital Group Inc. continues to see deposits dwindle.
“The issues faced by our mortgage lending peers are not representative of the risk we face today at Street Capital,” Chief Executive Officer Ed Gettings said Wednesday in a conference call. He didn’t elaborate on the opportunities he sees, but separately said the firm plans to expand into uninsured mortgages starting this month and is evaluating non-government sponsored residential mortgage-backed securities…
Time Inc. to Sell Assets Amid Push to Move Beyond Magazines
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Publisher will sell smaller, ‘non core’ assets in portfolio
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Investor demands details of strategic plan on earnings call
Time Inc. is planning to sell some magazines or other properties as the struggling publisher tries to push ahead with a digital strategy and move past months of talks with potential acquirers.
The owner of Sports Illustrated and People will look to offload “relatively smaller” titles in its portfolio and other “non-core” assets, Chief Executive Officer Rich Battista said Wednesday on a conference call. He didn’t name the assets…
Time Inc. to Sell Assets Amid Push to Move Beyond Magazines
Carl Icahn Scrutinized for Shaping Policy That Helped Him Profit
Posted by: | CommentsCarl C. Icahn, the billionaire activist investor, was once known for causing consternation in the boardroom. Now, he is the source of much hand-wringing on Capitol Hill.
On Tuesday, eight Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for a federal investigation into whether Mr. Icahn violated laws against insider trading and market manipulation in his role as a special adviser to President Trump.
In a letter addressed to current and acting heads of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, the senators raised questions about Mr. Icahn’s majority investment in CVR Energy, an oil refiner…
Suburban DC Office Building Sells for $4M
Posted by: | CommentsTranswestern handled the sale of a 27,500-square-foot office/flex building located in Rockville, Md. The building last traded in 2000 for $4.3 million.
Jarher Investments LLC acquired Piccard Drive Health Center, an office/ flex building located at 1335 Piccard Drive in Rockville, Md. for $4.2 million. Transwestern Senior Vice Presidents Guy Copperthite and Jim Darby acted on behalf of the seller, 1335 Piccard LLC, an entity affiliated with Well Stone Corp., public records show. According to PropertyShark, the building last traded in 2000 for $4.3 million.
Auto Loan Fraud Soars in a Parallel to the Housing Bubble
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Up to 1% of car loan applications include deception, firm says
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Trouble comes after rapid growth in U.S. car loans since 2010
Borrower fraud in U.S. auto loans is surging, and may approach levels seen in mortgages during last decade’s housing bubble, according to a startup firm that helps lenders sniff out bogus borrowers.
As many as 1 percent of U.S. car loan applications include some type of material misrepresentation, executives at data analytics firm Point Predictive estimated based on reports from banks, finance companies and others. Lenders’ losses from deception may double this year to $6 billion from 2015, the firm forecast…
Bond Traders’ Bonuses Set to Rise 15% as Banks Resume Big Raises
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Pay consultant Johnson Associates issues projections for 2017
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Takeover advisers and equity traders may see rewards decline
Wall Street bond traders who survived years of slumping revenue are on track to receive some of the financial industry’s biggest bonus hikes for 2017 as banks increase total incentive payouts the most this decade.
That’s the initial projection from compensation consultant Johnson Associates Inc. after revenue from fixed-income trading climbed at several big U.S. banks in the first quarter. People in those operations will probably see annual bonuses jump 10 percent to 15 percent. Their colleagues who underwrite securities offerings are set for raises of 10 percent to 20 percent…
JV Acquires Portland Retail Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsScanlanKemperBard and Artemis Real Estate Partners acquired an 86,445-square-foot retail portfolio in the city’s Pearl District from Hoyt Street Properties. The properties are currently 94 percent leased.
ScanlanKemperBard (SKB), in a joint venture with Artemis Real Estate Partners acquired a nine-property, ground-floor retail portfolio located in Portland, Ore.’s Pearl District. Hoyt Street Properties was the seller.
The Pearl District portfolio comprises 86,445 square feet of retail condominiums in nine separate but adjoining blocks, which are 94 percent leased. The properties include Park Place, The Lexis, Bridgeport, The Streetcar Lofts, The Metropolitan, The Encore, Riverstone, Tanner Place and The Pinnacle…
Orlando-Area Office Building Trades for $4M
Posted by: | CommentsCushman & Wakefield’s advisory team facilitated the disposition of Seminole Springs Office Center, which was 65 percent leased at the time of the sale.
Cushman & Wakefield has completed the sale of Seminole Springs Office Center, a 32,975-square-foot office building in suburban Orlando, in a $4.1 million transaction.
Managing Director Damien Madsen and Senior Associate Tommy Pinel worked on behalf of the seller, Springs Equity Ltd. Seminole Springs Office Center LLC acquired the property, paying approximately $124.34 per square foot. According to public records, First Colony Bank of Florida provided $3.1 million in acquisition financing to facilitate the deal. The deal did not include 50 percent of the underlying land, subject to a ground lease and valued at $1.05 million.
A $210 Billion Rally Woos Top Fund as Nikkei Flirts With 20,000
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AMP’s Naeimi moves funds to Japan stocks from emerging markets
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Nikkei 225 surged 8.2% from mid-April as global concerns ease
Nader Naeimi can’t ignore it any longer after Japanese stocks added more than $210 billion in value in less than a month, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average within touching distance of 20,000.
The head of a dynamic investment fund at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. has been pulling money from emerging markets to invest more in Tokyo shares. His logic is simple: the market is undervalued after lagging behind peers for much of 2017, the yen is set to fall, and the concerns that held the Nikkei 225 back earlier this year have receded…
SEC Probes Rental Home Values in Private-Equity Bond Deals
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Radian’s Green River says U.S. queries broker price opinions
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Probe said to examine if industry overassessed property values
U.S. securities regulators are investigating whether bonds backed by single-family rental homes and sold by Wall Street’s biggest residential landlords used overvalued property assessments.
Radian Group Inc.’s Green River Capital unit is among companies that received a request for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission in March about broker price opinions, or BPOs, Radian said in a regulatory filing late Friday. Green River provides BPOs that are used to value real estate in bonds backed by properties…
Canadian Fund With $6 Billion War Chest Picks London for EU Hub
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PSP investment board plans to hire private-equity executives
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CEO: real estate values are frothy; we like infrastructure
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board picked London as its European hub and plans to spend as much as 4.6 billion pounds ($6 billion) in the region in the next five years.
The fund, which manages the savings of the Canadian armed forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the reserves, plans to hire executives for its private-equity and private-debt business, according to a statement on Wednesday. PSP said it’s seeking to raise the number of investment professionals working in London to 40 from 28 within the next 12 months…
Songy Highroads Enters Nashville Hotel Market
Posted by: | CommentsThe Atlanta-based developer will build a 15-story Hyatt House hotel a block away from the Vanderbilt University. The 201-key hotel will be completed by early 2019.
Songy Highroads LLC recently announced its plans to develop Hyatt House West End Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. Construction will start in June and completion is slated for the beginning of 2019. Songy Highroads is developing the 15-story hotel in a joint venture with an affiliate of Hyatt. Wakefield Beasley & Associates is the architect of the project.
Billionaire Safra’s Bank Said to Hire Veteran for Property Fund
Posted by: | CommentsThe Swiss private bank and asset manager owned by billionaire Joseph Safra has hired Michael Montebaur from Joh. Berenberg Gossler & Co. to help create a real estate fund for wealthy investors, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The new fund, run by J. Safra Sarasin Holding Ltd.’s European asset management unit, will buy commercial properties in major international cities including London, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Montebaur was appointed as an investment director at the unit, they said.
JPMorgan Tells Banks to Partner Up as U.S. Deposit Drain Looms
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Crunch may be felt this December as Fed’s policy reverses
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Midsize-bank deals already underway in quest for deposits
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has some advice for regional banks: A deposit drain is coming, so merge while you can.
The company’s investment bankers are warning depository clients that they may begin feeling the crunch in December, thanks to a byproduct of how the U.S. Federal Reservepropped up the economy after the financial crisis, according to a copy of a confidential presentation obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a JPMorgan spokesman.
CCP, Sabra to Create Healthcare Giga-REIT
Posted by: | CommentsSabra Health Care REIT Inc., of Irvine, Calif., and Care Capital Properties Inc., of Chicago, have agreed to combine in an all-stock merger, the two REITs announced over the weekend.
Retaining the Sabra name, its SBRA ticker symbol on NASDAQ and its headquarters in Irvine, Calif., the combined company is expected to have an equity market capitalization of about $4.3 billion and a pro forma total market cap of about $7.4 billion. The combined company will have a diversified portfolio of 564 investments across 43 states and Canada…
Fed’s Rosengren Warns GSE Reform Could Threaten Property Market
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Says GSEs hold or guarantee 44 percent of multifamily loans
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Reducing GSE holdings could leave ‘significant imprint’
Plans by Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration to reform government-backed mortgage companies could lead to a “significant shock” to the market for multi-family commercial real estate, said Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren.
“Policy makers looking to reform the GSEs might look at the GSEs’ large and growing footprint in the market and ask whether this level of government-sponsored exposure is safe, and whether that level of government support is appropriate,” Rosengren told a conference Tuesday at New York University’s Stern School of Business, referring to government-sponsored enterprises, which include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…
The Kushner Project Touted in China Is in Trouble at Home
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Jersey City deal lost startup WeWork and city’s help on bonds
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Effort shows Kushner pattern of relying on Chinese investors
When Jared Kushner’s sister took the stage in two Chinese ballrooms over the weekend to urge investors to fund a New Jersey development through a controversial visa program, she mentioned her brother’s role in the White House and displayed a photo of President Donald Trump. It was a not-so-subtle signal that hers is a family company with connections.
Penn Medicine Kicks Off $1.5B Philly Project
Posted by: | CommentsThe University of Pennsylvania has broken ground on The Pavilion, a 1.5 million-square-foot hospital on the West Philadelphia campus of Penn Medicine. The $1.5 billion project, which will be erected on the site of the former Penn Tower, marks the largest capital project in Penn’s history…
Australia Bank Shares Decline as Government Levy to Hit Profits
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Levy on big five banks to raise A$6.2 billion over four years
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Charge is equal to about 5% of banks’ profits, analysts say
Australia’s biggest banks fell for a second day in Sydney trading on concern earnings will be hit after the government slapped them with a A$6.2 billion ($4.6 billion) levy.
The government will raise the money from the nation’s five largest banks over the next four years by imposing a 6 basis-points levy on liabilities over A$100 billion, Treasurer Scott Morrison said in the budget released Tuesday in Canberra. It won’t apply to superannuation funds or insurance companies…
Fyre Festival $100 Million Lawsuit Targets Investors Behind the Scenes
Posted by: | CommentsLawyers suing over the Bahamas disaster call the app maker’s $90 million valuation “untethered” to reality.
Before the now-infamous Fyre Festival collapsed a few weeks back, the company behind it—maker of a mobile phone app you can use to hire entertainers for your club, concert, or party—said it was worth $90 million, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.
Fyre Media Inc. faces a half-dozen lawsuits from less-than-satisfied customers over the disastrous music event in the Bahamas. Now that the fallout is beginning to land in court, details are coming out about the company behind it…
Fyre Festival $100 Million Lawsuit Targets Investors Behind the Scenes
First Phase of Bearkat Wind Energy Project Begins Construction
Posted by: | CommentsThe project, located in Glasscock County, Texas, will generate 197.6 megawatts of clean energy once the first phase is finalized. Upon completion, the project will total 380 megawatts.
Tri Global Energy, an originator and developer of utility-scale wind energy projects, announced the Bearkat Wind Energy Project has reached financial close and begun construction. Bearkat will be developed in phases, with the first one slated to bring online 197.6 megawatts of clean energy. Upon completion, the wind farm will total 380 megawatts.
Majority of Consumers Now See Canadian Home Prices Rising
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Housing measure tops 50% for first time in data back to 2008
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Weekly survey reading comes rising tension from Home Capital
Expectations for Canada’s housing market are heating up, with more than half of respondents in a weekly telephone survey predicting home prices will rise, the first time the measure has topped 50 percent in records dating back to 2008.
The bullishness comes even as a run on deposits at Toronto-based mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc. leads to heightened scrutiny of a market which policy makers have said is divorced from economic fundamentals. The broad Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index fell to 59 in the week ended March 5…
$1.3 Trillion Housing Boom Set to Be India’s Next Growth Driver
Posted by: | CommentsCatalyst will be government’s affordable housing push
In a country where slums sit cheek-by-jowl next to palatial luxury — including what’s been reported as the world’s most expensive private home — India’s unhoused may soon become a more potent economic growth driver.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to bring homes to the country’s 1.3 billion people, rising incomes and the best affordability in two decades will unleash a $1.3 trillion wave of investment in housing over the next seven years, according to CLSA India Pvt…
$1.3 Trillion Housing Boom Set to Be India’s Next Growth Driver
Divaris Real Estate Completes NC Retail Leases
Posted by: | CommentsThe company’s broker negotiated on behalf of both Wendover Village in Greensboro, N.C., and Cornelius Shops in Cornelius, N.C. The two leases total 2,820 square feet.
Divaris Real Estate Inc., (DRE) a Virginia-based firm, recently announced the completion of two leases in North Carolina. DRE’s Charlotte-based Charles Neil represented the landlord in both negotiations.
Fannie-Freddie Look to Provide Financing for Manufactured Homes
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Mortgage firms see programs as a way to help low-income buyers
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Proposals outlined in plans for affordable housing challenges
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may soon begin to provide financing for buyers of manufactured homes, according to draft plans released on Monday.
The move is part of an effort by the mortgage-finance giants to ease burdens on low-income borrowers, many of whom turn to factory-built housing as a inexpensive alternative to traditional residences. At the same time, it could also bring criticism from people concerned about the riskiness of lending for the mobile homes, which often sit on leased land and can depreciate quickly in value…
Cushman & Wakefield to Lease Former La Roche Campus
Posted by: | CommentsAfter rebranding and redeveloping the former Hoffmann-La Roche North American headquarters campus as ON3, Prism Capital Partners gave the green light for leasing the two office buildings in Clifton, N.J.
Real estate developer Prism Capital Partners has selected Cushman & Wakefield to market and lease its latest historic redevelopment, ON3. The 116-acre campus is bordered by Nutley and Clifton, N.J., and last traded in 2016, when the Swiss multinational health care company Hoffman-La Roche decided to close its doors, after 80 years of activity within the community. The Cushman & Wakefield team handling the assignment will be Vice Chairman Robert Rudin, Senior Director Bill Brown and Associate Director Josh Cohen…
Details Revealed for Obama Center
Posted by: | CommentsThe development, which has an estimated cost of roughly $1.5 billion, will be a three-building public destination featuring the Museum, the Forum and the Library.
More details emerged on plans for the Obama Presidential Center, which will sprout up on approximately 21 acres in the historic Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago. Members of the Obama Foundation unveiled the conceptual vision and site map of the 200,000 to 225,000-square-foot project at a recent event hosted by President and Mrs. Obama.
Home Capital Stalls a Nascent Canadian Mortgage Bond Market
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At least two uninsured deals on hold as market weighs outcome
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Investors want to see how Home Capital situation resolves
Trouble at lender Home Capital Group Inc. is stalling efforts to create what would be the closest thing Canada has to a subprime mortgage bond market.
At least two bond sales are on hold in Canada as investors wait to see how the Home Capital situation shakes out, according to people with knowledge of the matter. While discussions on both bond offerings were in early stages, one of the deals would be backed by loans from MCAP Corp., and the other, marketed by Royal Bank of Canada, with loans from Home Capital and Equitable Group Inc., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private…
Hedge Funds Bail Just Before OPEC-Driven Oil Rally Vanishes
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Money managers least bullish on WTI crude in five months
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Longs fell, shorts surged just before oil took near 5% tumble
Hedge funds jumped out of the oil market just in time.
Before West Texas Intermediate crude nosedived on Thursday, wiping out the rally driven by OPEC’s deal, money managers slashed bets on rising prices by 20 percent, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Now they may soon be well poised to start betting on the next rally.
BLT Enterprises Buys 72 KSF Industrial Building in San Diego
Posted by: | CommentsThe firm plans to increase the property’s parking ratio and modernize the asset located in Kearny Mesa. The submarket had the lowest vacancy rate of all Central San Diego’s R&D and industrial submarkets last year.
BLT Enterprises’ latest addition to its San Diego portfolio is a two-story flex industrial building in the Kearny Mesa submarket. The company purchased the 71,862 square-foot asset from Apprentice and Journeymen Training Trust Fund of Southern California Plumbing and Piping Industry for $8.9 million. Magnum Properties and SD Realty Partners represented the buyer, while Commercial Properties Group and Voit Real Estate Services represented the seller…
Home Capital Halts Dividend, Adds Former Pension Executives
Posted by: | CommentsHome Capital Group Inc. suspended its dividend and added two former pension fund executives to its board as the mortgage lender tries to win back shareholder trust following accusations that it misled investors over fraudulent loan applications.
The Toronto-based lender, facing a run on deposits, said it will suspend its quarterly dividend to “manage liquidity,” according to a statement Monday. The company’s high-interest savings accounts, used to fund its mortgages, have slipped to C$192 million ($140 million), from almost C$2 billion five weeks ago. The guaranteed investment certificates, or GICS, fell to C$12.6 billion, from C$12.9 billion last month…
SEC Probes Rental Home Values Backing Private-Equity Bond Deals
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Radian’s Green River says U.S. queries broker price opinions
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Probe said to question if firms’ assessments overstated values
U.S. securities regulators are investigating whether bonds backed by single-family rental homes and sold by Wall Street’s biggest residential landlords used overvalued property assessments.
Radian Group Inc.’s Green River Capital unit is one of the market participants that received a request for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission in March about broker price opinions, or BPOs, the company said in a regulatory filing late Friday. Green River provides BPOs that are used to value real estate in securitizations.
Chinese Tycoons Plant Money Management Flags on Wall Street
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Some 324 firms with ties to China have registered with SEC
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Asset managers followed the money from China to the U.S.
When a new hedge fund opened in Mountainside, New Jersey, a leafy suburb that still holds an annual little-league parade, few would have guessed where much of its funding came from: Chinese billionaire Cai Kui.
The credit hedge fund, Westfield Investment, was founded by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Managing Director Renyuan Gao and managed $139 million as of January. It’s part of a new crop of asset management firms that are expanding China’s reach on Wall Street as money has poured into the U.S. from the world’s second-biggest economy…
Friedman Wins Management of 2 Office Buildings
Posted by: | CommentsThe two facilities add a total of 105,672 square feet to Friedman’s property management portfolio and are located in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions has added two properties to its management and leasing portfolio, both comprising the office park at West Entrance Drive in Auburn Hills, Mich.: a three-story, 55,672-square-foot facility at 985 Entrance Drive and a three-story, 50,000-square-foot property at 1080 West Entrance Drive…
Friedman Wins Management of 2 Office Buildings
London Home Rents Fall for First Time Since December 2009
Posted by: | CommentsLondoners are paying lower home rents for the first time in more than seven years amid rising supply and weakening demand from senior executives for properties.
The average rent paid in April for new lettings in Greater London was 1,519 pounds ($1,968) a month, a 1.2 percent decline from a year earlier, HomeLet, the U.K’s largest reference-checking and rentals insurance company, said in a statement on Monday. Annual rental inflation across the U.K. was 0.4 percent in the same period, the lowest in seven years…
London Home Rents Fall for First Time Since December 2009
Harvard Is Trying to Sell $2.5 Billion in Endowment Assets
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Sale involves private equity, venture capital, real estate
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Cogent Partners hired to find bidders in secondary market
Harvard University’s endowment is trying to sell about $2.5 billion of private equity, venture capital and real estate investments, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Harvard Management Co., which oversees the university’s $35.7 billion endowment, has hired Cogent Partners, a unit of Greenhill & Co., to seek bidders in the secondary market, the person said. Harvard is shopping almost $1 billion of private equity and venture capital investments, and about $1.6 billion of real estate, the person said…