- House GOP Bill Includes REIT-Spinoff Ban “House Republicans have proposed banning a popular technique that lets companies spin off their property holdings into tax-advantaged real-estate investment trusts. A bill released late Monday night by the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee would ban the technique, effective immediately. The proposal is part of a larger plan that would revive and extend dozens of expired tax breaks through 2016.” (Wall Street Journal)
- Norwegian Wealth Fund Reveals Profit for Fourth Quarter “Norway’s $842 billion sovereign wealth fund says it will bounce back from the losses it suffered in the second and third quarters as a bid to dump bonds and raise stakes in equities and property pays off. The fund ‘has been reducing dramatically’ its bond holdings over the past five years, Yngve Slyngstad, its chief executive officer, said in an interview in Paris on Tuesday.” (Bloomberg)
- Merging Landlords See Growing Profit on Rentals “It was supposed to be a short-term play. Investors would buy thousands of bargain-basement single-family homes during the foreclosure crisis, rent them for a few years and then sell them off and be done. That's what the critics thought anyway, but that is not how this still-nascent class of real estate is playing out. Instead, the big players are consolidating, which could make the stocks of those left standing potentially more attractive.” (CNBC)
- Zeckendorfs Say Their Half-Empty U.S. Luxury Tower is Really Half Full “By traditional measures, 50 United Nations Plaza would be a dud. But brothers Arthur and William Lie Zeckendorf, the third generation of Zeckendorfs to build in New York City, may actually have another winner on their hands, despite the headwinds buffeting New York City's top-tier condo market. Around the time of a Champagne-filled launch party in a model unit of the 43-story tower on Oct. 22, 2013, the Zeckendorfs signed seven contracts, most in the lower half of the Foster + Partners-designed building.” (Crain’s New York Business)
- Fannie Mae to Back $2.7B Wells Fargo Loan on Stuy Town “Blackstone Group and Ivanhoe Cambridge have come one step closer to financing their $5.3 billion purchase of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, with a credit guarantee from Fannie Mae on an upcoming $2.7 billion loan from Wells Fargo. The 10-year loan has yet to close and will have to wait until a lawsuit against the special servicer and seller CWCapital Asset Management is settled, Jeffery Hayward, executive vice president and head of multifamily at Fannie Mae, said during a press call.” (Commercial Observer)
- Carl Icahn Makes Counterbid for Pep Boys “Carl C. Icahn, unhappy with Pep Boys’ decision to sell itself to Bridgestone, the tire company, is fighting back with his own takeover offer. Mr. Icahn, the billionaire investor, disclosed on Monday that he had offered to buy Pep Boys, the car parts retailer, for $15.50 a share in cash, topping the $15 a share Bridgestone had bid. Mr. Icahn’s offer casts some doubt on the deal by Pep Boys” (New York Times)
- Why the Feds Don’t Want Staples to Buy Office Depot “The U.S. government on Monday said it would sue to block Staples’ SPLS -5.91% agreement to acquire rival Office Depot ODP 0.89% , arguing that it would significantly reduce nationwide competition for consumable office supplies sold to large business customers. There was no mention of office furniture, electronics, or other such goods. The deal would involve nearly $4 billion in cash and a stock component that has fallen significantly in value since it was originally announced.” (Fortune)
- Fundrise’s e-REIT Oversubscribed by 403% in Four Hours “Well, that didn’t take long. Actually, that didn’t even take a full morning. "That" refers to the oversubscribed sell out of locally-based Fundrise's new e-REIT for qualified investors. Four hours after it opened it doors it was oversubscribed by 403%, according to an email by CEO Ben Miller. Fundrise first gave prospective investors a peek of what it had been working on for the past year or so in a regulatory filing at the end of November.” (GlobeSt.)
- Target Opens a Holidays-Themed Playground to Sell Toys and Test Ideas in New York “Over the years, Target Corp. has pulled many stunts to generate buzz in New York City — from building a life-size dollhouse in Grand Central Station a couple of years ago to perhaps, most memorably, setting up a temporary holiday store on a boat docked on the Hudson River more than a decade ago. The Minneapolis-based retailer is back at it this holiday season, angling to make a big splash in the Big Apple.” (Star Tribune)
- Retail Giant Nordstrom Joins Syndicate in $15.5 Million Round for On-Demand Custom Shoe Retailer Shoes of Prey “There’re some massive changes afoot in the fashion industry. New brands are being built online first, and gathering a dedicated following through e-commerce, before taking their retail chops to their customers in brick and mortar stores. These new fashion companies have taken a different approach to the industry, using the benefits of e-commerce to make only what they need, when their consumers want it.” (TechCrunch)
0 comments
Hide comments