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10 Must Reads for the CRE Industry Today (Aug. 5, 2015)

10 Must Reads for the CRE Industry Today (Aug. 5, 2015)

 

  1. Auction.com Hosts Largest Online Real Estate Sale in History “Auction.com just announced the largest transaction in its 8-year history and largest online real estate transaction ever: The $96.075 million sale of Manhattan Towers, a two-building, 309,734-square-foot office property in Manhattan Beach, Calif., a premier coastal community within Los Angeles. Manhattan Towers sold in a custom auction that concluded on July 22.” (Housingwire)
  2. Preqin: Foundations Drag in Real Estate Push “US-based foundations are investing a surprisingly small amount of capital to real estate, according to Preqin. The firm’s data showed foundations made up 28% of US-based real estate investors, but represented just 2% of total invested assets. More than two-thirds of foundations allocated less than 5% of their total assets to real estate, Preqin said.” (Chief Investment Officer)
  3. Investors Check Into Hotel Sector “Hotel sales world-wide are on a scorching pace for 2015 after totaling $42 billion in the first half, boosted by an increasing appetite among Asian and Middle Eastern investors. Lodging transactions in the first half jumped 56% over the same period last year, according to real-estate broker JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group. The pace was short of the record of $62 billion set in the first half of 2007.” (Wall Street Journal)
  4. Real Estate Investment Aided by Ponzi Scheme Could Recoup Victims’ Money “In a Ponzi-meets-‘The Producers’ fraud, two brothers-in-law tricked investors out of $96 million, diverting much of the money, which investors thought was going into managed funds, to prop up the then-faltering Panoramic View. But in a remarkable twist, the men who lost so much of others’ money turned out to have a way with real estate. The Panoramic View was such a good investment that now the investors stand a chance of recouping some of their money.” (The New York Times)
  5. Iron Hound Lends Chetrit a Hand “As the culmination to about three years of complex negotiations, Iron Hound Management Co., L.L.C. has completed the restructuring of a $317 million CMBS loan on a 56-property national multi-family portfolio on behalf of CRE investor and developer The Chetrit Group, Iron Hound announced Monday. The loan is secured by 5,400 apartments in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.” (Commercial Property Executive)
  6. Office Depot Picking Up Pace of Store Closures “Office Depot is accelerating its previously announced plan to close at least 400 stores as the retailer awaits its acquisition by Staples. After shuttering a greater than expected 99 stores in the second quarter, Office Depot boosted its 2015 store closing target to 175 locations, with another 60 due to close in 2016. The closings are on top of 153 closings throughout 2014, including 108 stores in the fourth quarter of last year.” (Chain Store Age)
  7. Mortgage REITs Remain Great Income Vehicles “Mortgage REITs are interesting vehicles in that regardless of the stellar income they throw off there is constant worry about the stability of it. When interest rates are rising there's fear that the value of the mortgages owned by the REIT will be negatively affected and cause the shares to decline. When interest rates are falling, the fear is that mortgagors will refinance, causing the fund to experience prepayments that could disrupt dividends.” (The Street)
  8. Situs Hires BlackRock Exec for Commercial Property Risk Analysis “Situs, a rapidly expanding commercial real estate advisory firm, said on Tuesday it hired Warren Friend, a securitization expert who was BlackRock's point man for its advise to governments on commercial real estate valuations during the financial crisis. Friend will lead product strategy and strategic client development at Situs.” (Reuters)
  9. The Top 10 States with the Most RIAs “The distribution of RIAs across the U.S. is driven by several factors: access to financial markets, population and client net worth, according to the 2015 Evolution Revolution report on the RIA landscape.  With that in mind, it’s not surprising that the top states for registered investment advisors coincide with major financial markets.” (Wealthmanagement.com)
  10. Why Buying a Condo for Your College Kid Could Be a Smart Move “Prices in many real-estate markets are booming again. So the idea of buying a condo for your college-bound kid to use while in school may have some traction. You could avoid paying through the nose for a dorm room or apartment with no hope of any profit. And if you buy a condo that has some extra space, you can rent it out to your kid’s pal(s) and offset some of the ownership cost.” (MarketWatch)
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