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10 Must Reads for the CRE Industry Today (October 7, 2014)

10 Must Reads for the CRE Industry Today (October 7, 2014)

 

  1. Waldorf to be Biggest Purchase of U.S. Real Estate by Chinese Buyer “New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel is set to become the biggest prize yet for buyers from China who have been pouring money into U.S. real estate as they seek stable investments outside their country. Beijing’s Anbang Insurance Group agreed to pay $1.95 billion for the 1,232-room tower on Park Avenue, an art deco landmark and one of Manhattan’s signature properties.” (Bloomberg)
  2. New Lenders Buy Time for RadioShack “RadioShack Corp. late Friday announced a deal to restructure a portion of its existing debt and help it get through the holiday selling season. However, the agreement with a group led by Standard General LP may see control of the struggling electronics retailer’s stock pass to the lenders. Under terms of the agreement announced Friday afternoon, Standard General and other investors have acquired RadioShack’s senior secured asset based credit facility, replacing GE Capital as lead lender. In the process, the group has also eased credit availability, providing RadioShack with $120 million to collateralize letters of credit.” (GlobeSt.com)
  3. Westfield to Sign Five-Year Lease at One World Trade Center “Westfield Group, the World Trade Center retail owner, is about to close on a lease at One World Trade Center for its corporate office. The company, currently located at 7 World Trade Center, is looking to sign a five-year lease for 12,000 square feet on the tower’s 46th floor. The asking rent was $75 per square foot.” (The Real Deal)
  4. KanAm Sells $928 Million of Buildings to Korean Investors “KanAm Grund Group sold real estate in Washington, Paris and Montreal to institutional investors from Korea for about 740 million euros ($928 million) as part of a plan to liquidate its Grundinvest fund. KanAm sold the properties to IGIS Asset Management, which made the purchase on behalf of a group of Korean investors led by Hanwha Life Insurance Co. (088350) and Kyobo Life Insurance Co., the Frankfurt-based investment fund said in a statement today. The price is almost 5 percent higher the appraised value of the buildings, KanAm said.” (Bloomberg)
  5. $2B Miami Mixed-Use Project Takes Big Step Forward “The $2 billion Miami Worldcenter is one of the largest private real estate developments underway in the U.S. and it is the largest ever private development in downtown Miami–and it just moved one significant step closer to realization. Developer Miami Worldcenter Associates, a partnership consisting of The Falcone Group and Marc Roberts Cos.–recently obtained the Miami City Commission’s approval of the zoning package and master development agreement for the 27-acre mixed-use project.” (Commercial Property Executive)
  6. Non-Traded REITs: Only Getting Started in Senior Housing “After raising nearly $20 billion of capital last year, non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) continue to carve out their roles as significant players in senior housing finance. And for 2015, some are forecasting heightened activity yet to be seen among these investors. Non-traded REITs set a record in 2013, raising $19.6 billion in the year alone, according data from Robert A. Stranger & Co., an investment bank based in Shrewsbury New Jersey. But while the past year was a milestone that also saw $17 billion in deals monetized—compared to $9.2 billion monetized in 2012—those eying the senior housing and healthcare sectors anticipate even more money coming into the space in 2015.” (Senior Housing News)
  7. Downtown L.A. Real Estate is Drawing N.Y. Investors' Interest “Downtown Los Angeles, once disdained by Wall Street as a weak collection of office buildings with no pizazz, is drawing newfound fascination from New York firms, many of which are sinking money into the Southland's resurging commercial district. L.A. County has seen a 23% increase in the dollar volume of investment from the Empire State this year compared with 2013, real estate brokerage Cassidy Turley said. New York investment in the county has surpassed $4.4 billion since the beginning of 2012, when local real estate experts noticed a surge in interest from New Yorkers. That's equivalent to buying 12 U.S. Bank Towers, the tallest building in the West.” (LATimes.com)
  8. The Increasingly Bad Ideas That Doomed The Atrium Mall “Construction crews have finally done what 25 years of marketing could not: Make people notice the Atrium Mall. As the workers clear away Chestnut Hill’s white elephant of commerce, what went wrong? A lot. Mall developers promised The Atrium would provide a high-end shopping experience for the toniest zip codes in Massachusetts.” (Boston.com)
  9. Lehman Still Owns Billions in Real Estate and Private Equity “The slow-but-sure liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s assets continued during the first half of 2014, as the failed investment bank still had more than $4 billion in private equity and real estate assets as of June 30. In a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Lehman said it still had $2 billion in private equity investments across several entities and more than $2 billion in real estate, mostly commercial real estate.” (The Wall Street Journal)
  10. Karlin Real Estate Acquires Retail Portfolio in Spain and Portugal from Redevco “Iberian Peninsula—In an all cash transaction, Los Angeles-based Karlin Real Estate has acquired a portfolio of more than 247,000 square feet (23,810 square meters) of retail properties located in Spain and Portugal from developer-investor Redevco, which has its roots in the Dutch C&A fashion retail chain.” (Multi-Housing News)
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