Archive for Uncategorized
Board to Decide Puerto Rico’s Financial Future; Fed Rate Boost Is on Way
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a look at what’s coming up this week.
ECONOMY
Island’s revised debt plan faces federal scrutiny.
The federal board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances will meet in New York on Monday, when it must decide on a plan for ending the island’s chronic deficits. Puerto Rico hopes to restructure more than $110 billion of debt and pension obligations, but it must first produce a credible fiscal plan. Last week, the board told Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló that his plan was unrealistic and asked him to make revisions. If there is no agreement by Monday, the board can impose its own fiscal plan over the governor’s objections, something that would anger the many Puerto Ricans who believe their democratic rights are being trampled. Mary Williams Walsh…
National Retail Portfolio Commands $127M
Posted by: | CommentsThe sale included 62 fast-casual restaurants and a Dallas office property.
San Francisco—A joint venture between Sansome Pacific and the Fortress Investment Group has acquired a 63-property retail portfolio located across 15 states from Zurich Alternative Asset Management for $127 million.
The portfolio consists of 62 fast-casual restaurants and an office property in Dallas.
Guy Ponticiello, Bruce Westwood-Booth, Maury Vanden Eykel and Kyle Sals of CBRE’s Corporate Capital Markets team represented the seller in the transaction…
National Retail Portfolio Commands $127M
Singapore, Hong Kong Property Marching in Opposite Directions
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Home prices in Singapore have declined for more than 3 years
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Hong Kong home prices reach new records despite curbs
Whether you look at prices or policy, the property markets in Singapore and Hong Kong are marching resolutely in opposite directions.
Singapore has eased some rules in its property market, after more than three years of home price declines. Hong Kong in November tightened some restrictions, after prices rallied following a short-lived dip last year. The curbs in Hong Kong have had little impact so far, with existing home prices rising to all-time highs amid brisk demand from buyers…
Transwestern, Spear Street Buy ExxonMobil Campus in Houston
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Houston—Transwestern Development Co. just grabbed an opportunity to build a new 24/7 destination in Houston. In partnership with Spear Street Capital, Transwestern acquired the nearly 16.9-acre site at 3120 Buffalo Speedway, ExxonMobil’s former Upstream Research Campus. Transwestern is keeping mum on the amount it paid ExxonMobil for the multi-structure property, which, according Harris County records, has a 2016 appraised value of approximately $62.1 million.
Iceland Exits Capital Controls Eight Years After Banking Crash
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Government hopes move will help ease capital ‘inflow problem’
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Central bank also tightens rules against carry trade further
Iceland is back.
The government at a hastily called press conference on Sunday in Reykjavik announced that effective Tuesday it will lift almost all of the remaining capital controls, allowing its citizens, corporations and pension funds full access to the global capital markets.
The move ends an eight-year struggle to clean up after the 2008 banking collapse, which triggered the worst recession in more than six decades and enveloped the north Atlantic island of 340,000 people in political turmoil…
Stable Development to Break Ground on Nevada Office Building
Posted by: | CommentsThe future 51,850-square-foot two-story building is already more than 50 percent pre-leased.
Henderson, Nev.—Stable Development recently announced the construction of a 51,850-square-foot building in Henderson, Nev. The project will house a combination of retail, medical and professional office space. The developer plans to break ground in the second quarter of 2017. The two-story structure will be known as the Seven Hill Plaza Building IV.
Toronto Might Be the Next City With a Tax on Foreign Homebuyers
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People facing ‘bidding wars everywhere you go,’ Sousa says
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Brokers push back, saying supply shortage is the main culprit
Toronto may be next on the list of global cities with a tax on home purchases by foreigners as government officials search for ways to cool scorching price gains.
Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa surprised many on Thursday, saying he was reconsidering imposing a tax to curb price increases that have accelerated in Canada’s biggest city, reversing a stance last year to leave the market to its own devices…
Toronto Might Be the Next City With a Tax on Foreign Homebuyers
It’s Not Just America—the Rent Is High Everywhere
Posted by: | CommentsTenants in Canada and Spain devote a big chunk of pay to housing, too.
The make-up of a country’s housing market is decided by a wide variety of factors, including history, culture, and financial regulation. In the Netherlands, for instance, roughly 30 percent of housing stock is owned by nonprofit cooperatives, while the hallmark of a U.S. home and the erstwhile American Dream is the 30-year mortgage. In countries such as Italy and Spain, it’s common for multiple generations to live in a family home.
While the ways in which people lay claim to their abodes varies as you spin the globe, there’s increasingly one thing housing markets do have in common: For those who pay rent, the rent is often way too high…
Now Open: 2017 Most Powerful Brokerage Firms Survey
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Calling all brokerage firms! Don’t miss out on the chance to participate in our 2017 Most Powerful Brokerage Firms Survey. The information you provide will be used to determine which firms have most keenly navigated the ever-changing sales and leasing environment. The results will be published in June 2017 issues of CPE and MHN, and widely disseminated via our websites, newsletters and social media.
The deadline for submission is Friday, March 17. Get started before it’s too late!…
U.S. Household Wealth Rose $2.04 Trillion in Fourth Quarter
Posted by: | CommentsHousehold wealth in the U.S. continued to increase in the fourth quarter as financial assets and real-estate values appreciated, figures from the Federal Reserve’s financial accounts reports, previously known as the Flow of Funds, showed Thursday.
Key Points
- Net worth for households and non-profit groups rose by $2.04 trillion, or 2.3 percent, to a record $92.81 trillion from the prior three months
- Value of financial assets, including stocks and pension-fund holdings, rose $1.59 trillion
- Household real-estate assets climbed by $499.1 billion; owner’s equity as a share of total real-estate holdings increased to 57.8 percent from 57.1 percent…
Sares Regis to Deliver 9 Industrial Buildings near LA
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Los Angeles—Sares Regis Group has teamed with a long-term institutional partner to bring a collection of nine premium industrial buildings to the Conejo Spectrum Business Park in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
The project will total 507,878 square feet when completed and buildings will range in size from approximately 37,000 to 100,000 square feet. Each building will feature secured yards, 28- to 30-foot interior clear heights, dock-high loading doors and high-image office space.
Chinese Luxury Homes in Demand as Cities Post World’s Best Gains
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Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou prices each climb more than 26%
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Australia, New Zealand top region as Russia, Mid-East decline
China’s luxury homes posted the world’s biggest price gains last year, with three of the nation’s cities catapulting to the top of a ranking tracking 100 locations globally.
Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou rose to the top three slots in Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index, all posting price gains of more than 26 percent in 2016. Shanghai climbed two spots to displace Vancouver as the city with the biggest annual gain in prime home values…
StepStone Invests in HRI Hotel Expansion
Posted by: | CommentsRobert W. Baird & Co. served as financial advisor to the New Orleans-based hospitality company.
New York and New Orleans—StepStone Real Estate is investing up to $87.5 million in New Orleans-based HRI Properties to help continue its expanding portfolio of hotel, multifamily and mixed-use projects in major urban U.S. markets.
“HRI’s management team, portfolio and track record are best in class, and we’re excited to participate in their ongoing growth,” Brendan MacDonald, a StepStone partner and founder, said in a prepared statement…
StepStone Invests in HRI Hotel Expansion
Atlanta Medical Office Development Receives $16M Financing
Posted by: | CommentsSquare Mile Capital Management LLC has originated the loan on behalf of developer, The Loudermilk Cos.
Atlanta—Square Mile Capital Management LLC has announced that the company has arranged a $15.8 million mezzanine loan to finance the construction of a medical office building in Atlanta. The asset is being developed by Atlanta-based real estate development and investment firm The Loudermilk Cos. Cushman & Wakefield is leasing the office building that is slated to come online in 2018
Freddie Mac Considers Backing Single-Family Home Rentals
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Lawmakers, community groups criticized similar Fannie Mae deal
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Transactions could help with housing shortage, think tank says
Freddie Mac is considering backing loans that finance single-family rental homes for the first time, mirroring a controversial transaction that Fannie Mae disclosed in January, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company’s regulator is looking to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to experiment with a limited number of transactions, to better understand if the U.S.-backed housing finance companies should be allowed to do more, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is not public. A spokesman for Freddie Mac declined to comment, as did a spokesman for their regulator at the Federal Housing Finance Agency…
HFF Facilitates Miami Retail Center Deal
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Miami—HFF recently announced that it has closed the sale of Kendall Corners, a 97,189-square-foot retail center located in the Kendall submarket of Miami. Orion Real Estate Group sold the property free and clear of existing debt to MMG Equity Partners for $38.6 million.
HFF represented the seller and worked on behalf of the new owner to secure a fixed-rate acquisition loan in the amount of $27 million, through a life insurance company. Managing Director Brad Peterson and Associate Directors Whitaker Leonhardt and Eric Williams led the investment sales team while Senior Managing Director Chris Drew and Director Scott Wadler led the debt placement team…
U.S. 30-Year Mortgage Rates Jump to 2017 High Before Fed Meeting
Posted by: | CommentsU.S. mortgage rates rose, sending costs for 30-year home loans to their highest level this year before the Federal Reserve meets to consider an increase in its benchmark interest rate.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.21 percent, up from 4.1 percent last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The average 15-year rate climbed to 3.42 percent from 3.32 percent…
U.S. 30-Year Mortgage Rates Jump to 2017 High Before Fed Meeting
Airbnb Raises $1 Billion More in a Funding Round
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Peter Coles, head economist of Airbnb, at its headquarters in September in San Francisco.CreditJason Henry for The New York Times
Airbnb has raised an additional $1 billion, expanding its war chest at a time of increased investor interest in fast-growing businesses.
The company, which disclosed the funding in a securities filing on Thursday, raised the money in a financing round that began last summer and that valued the business at $30 billion. The filing did not name the investors.
LA Office Sales Break New Records in 2016, CommercialCafe Report Shows
Posted by: | CommentsFor the Los Angeles office real estate market, 2016 was the most active year of the past decade. Solid job gains are driving demand across all asset classes, as L.A. County unemployment dropped to 4.7 percent in December 2016, its lowest post-recession rate.
High demand and increased leasing activity in the region are driving prices upward, which in turn attracts investor interest and propels office sales activity. As a result, L.A.’s office market reached new heights in 2016—the highest in the last 10 years…
Manhattan Rents Fall for Every Apartment Size, Even Studios
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Landlords offer concessions on 26% of all new leases
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Studios have their biggest rent drop since at least 2012
Rents fell last month for Manhattan apartments of all sizes, the first across-the-board price decline in at least four years, as a construction boom brought more buildings to market and allowed some tenants to leave for bigger or newer units.
For studios, which held their own last year while costs for bigger apartments slid, the median rent dropped 2.6 percent, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report Thursday. It was the biggest year-over-year decrease since the firms started tracking the data in 2012. The median price of studios last month was $2,500, the lowest it’s been since January 2015…
A Brand Name for a Hedge Fund Happy Hour: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
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A view of the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. CreditStephen Crowley/The New York Times
The invitation suggests your run-of-the-mill weekday evening of drinks, canapés and networking for the hedge fund crowd.
Except for one thing. It’s at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.
In case anyone missed the significance of the site, the invitation offers a helpful clue: “Should the president be in residence, another letter will follow explaining the upgraded entry/security procedures.”
That’s right, President Trump’s members-only club, which has been called the winter White House, is the location of a “meet and greet” hedge fund event organized by the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association…
China Plans Stricter Bank Capital Rules to Contain Risks
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PBOC would remove intermediary MPA capital adequacy category
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Move seen pushing banks to raise capital, slow asset growth
China’s central bank plans to apply a stricter method for assessing banks’ capital as part of efforts to contain financial-sector risks, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Under the proposed change to the so-called Macro Prudential Assessment framework, the People’s Bank of China will remove an intermediary category in its evaluation of banks’ capital adequacy, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. That means banks would either get a full score if they meet capital requirements, or a zero score if they fall short, according to the people…
Suez and Canadian Fund Manager to Buy General Electric Unit
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Jean-Louis Chaussade, chief executive of the French waste and water company Suez Environnement, said, “Clients will benefit from the combined knowledge, expertise, geographic footprint and leading edge products and services available.” CreditJasper Juinen/Bloomberg
LONDON — The French waste and water company Suez Environnement said on Wednesday that it had partnered with a Canadian pension fund manager to acquire General Electric’s water treatment technology business in an all-cash deal that valued the business at about $3.4 billion.
Houston’s Northborough Tower Under New Ownership
Posted by: | CommentsThe office property is currently vacant, although it is 99 percent leased to Noble Energy until 2018.
Houston—Austin Management Group of Houston announced it has acquired the 14-story Northborough Tower located at 100 Glenborough Drive in the Greenspoint area of Houston. According to Yardi Matrix data, the building was formerly owned by Behringer until U.S. Bank—REO foreclosed on it.
Leah Gallagher, Michelle Wogan and Hale Umstattd of Transwestern represented the seller. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed…
Houston’s Northborough Tower Under New Ownership
Foxtons Warns London Home Sales Market Will Remain ‘Challenging’
Posted by: | CommentsFoxtons Group Plc, the London-focused property broker, said trading will remain “challenging” this year and sales volumes will likely be below 2016 if activity continues at current rates.
The broker dropped as much as 3.6 percent after pretax profit fell 54 percent to 18.8 million pounds ($22.9 million), missing estimates. Analysts had expected about 19.5 million pounds. The shares were largely unchanged at 9:14 a.m. in London trading and have fallen more than 41 percent since the day of the Brexit vote…
Foxtons Warns London Home Sales Market Will Remain ‘Challenging’
Valuation Shell Game: Silicon Valley’s Dirty Secret
Posted by: | CommentsYou want to know the dirty, little secret of Silicon Valley? It’s called the 409A valuation.
Yes it’s obscure, and yes, it’s a little bit technical. Here’s how the process works: In order to attract and to retain high-powered employees, high-flying tech companies want to issue them common stock or options. To do so and to comply with Internal Revenue Service rules, they need to obtain an independent, third-party valuation of the company…
Valuation Shell Game: Silicon Valley’s Dirty Secret
Marcus Partners Expands New Jersey Footprint
Posted by: | CommentsThe company plans to implement a $7.6 million improvement program at its newly acquired 230,000-square-foot office building in Morristown.
Morristown, N.J.—Marcus Partners recently announced the acquisition of a 230,000-square-foot office building located at 44 Whippany Rd., in Morristown, N.J. HFF’s Senior Managing Director Jose Cruz, Managing Director Kevin O’Hearn, Directors Michael Oliver and Stephen Simonelli and Associate Director Marc Duval represented the seller.
The company will implement a $7.6 million improvement program that will include site and landscape improvements, building enhancements, upgraded entrances, a fully renovated lobby, expanded conference center and modernized cafe. The upgraded renovations will transform the property into a high-quality office space…
Airbnb Explores Expansion in Long-Term Home Rentals
Posted by: | CommentsAirbnb has quickly become a favorite destination for travelers looking for somewhere to stay on vacation. Now the home-sharing startup is interested in doing the same for people who want to find a place to live.
Airbnb Inc. is considering an expansion in the long-term rental business and has asked McKinsey & Co. to research the market, said two people familiar with the matter. The consulting firm’s work involves conducting competitive analysis of Craigslist, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private…
In Puerto Rico, Teachers’ Pension Fund Works Like a Ponzi Scheme
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Juliana Soto, 27, and Edwin Morales, 32, who work in public schools in Puerto Rico, with their son, Lorenzo. The couple are concerned that their pensions will not be reliable when they are old enough to benefit from them. CreditDennis M. Rivera Pichardo for The New York Times
The teachers’ pension fund in Puerto Rico looks very much like a legalized Ponzi scheme — one that might hold a warning for teachers across America.
CIM Group Acquires Gramercy Tower
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New York—CIM Group has acquired the Gilman Hall property, which includes the 146,000-square-foot Gilman Hall Tower and contiguous parcels in Manhattan, from Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital for a reported $90 million.
“The Gilman Hall site represents an exceptional opportunity to reposition and modernize a significant property in an exciting location currently experiencing substantial public and private investment,” Avi Shemesh, CIM Group’s co-founder and principal, said. “While the surrounding neighborhood offers desirable amenities and excellent public transportation that complements a variety of potential uses, we believe the site is particularly well suited for a student housing and educational facility use for which several institutions have expressed interest.”…
Desperation Sets in for House Hunters in Toronto’s Red-Hot Market
Posted by: | Comments“We’re used to being slapped around financially now”
Dana Kayali is preparing for battle. Clutching a stack of home ads, the pension fund manager and her fiancee brave a swarm of about 30 people on a recent Saturday and step into the first of four open houses of the day. They’re all searching for what’s dawning on Kayali is a fantasy: a home in downtown Toronto for under C$1 million.
Jernigan Capital Closes $62M in Self-Storage Investments
Posted by: | CommentsThe development commitments are located in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and Florida.
Memphis, Tenn.—Jernigan Capital has closed $61.7 million in self-storage development investment commitments between Feb. 23 and March 1. The projects include:
- A proposed multi-story, climate-controlled 1,104-unit facility in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta. The $17.5 million project, calling for 85,000 net rentable square feet, will be a ground-up development in one of Atlanta’s most affluent submarkets and will be located just off Peachtree Road, N.E., near the junction of I-75 and I-85. Construction is expected to begin in August 2017, and be completed in the third quarter of 2018. Storage Development Partners LLC, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., is the developer of the proposed facility. The project marks the first self-storage development in which Jernigan Capital and Storage Development Partners have co-invested…
Lincoln Property Expands, Launches LPC West
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Los Angeles—Lincoln Property Group, which has been at the forefront of many high-profile Southern California deals in recent years, is launching LPC West, a new unit led by veteran executive David Binswanger, to continue boosting the company’s West Coast presence.
The group will handle acquisitions and development as well as property management and repositioning of existing commercial, retail and mixed-use properties. Binswanger, who has spearheaded much of Lincoln’s growth over the last decade in Southern California, is now senior executive vice president of LPC West…
Trump SEC Pick Made Millions Representing Banks and Hedge Funds
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Jay Clayton’s clients include Goldman Sachs, Pershing Square
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He’s earned $7.62 million at law firm since 2015, form shows
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has earned $7.62 million since 2015 representing some of Wall Street’s biggest firms, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, according to a federal disclosure form.
Jay Clayton, the Sullivan & Cromwell partner tapped by Trump, outlined his clients — and his potential conflicts — in a filing to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics that he signed in January. The breadth of Clayton’s legal work is likely to provide fodder for Democratic lawmakers, who have already criticized the SEC chairman nominee over his ties to the financial industry…
Lincoln Harris to Market Planned Charlotte M-U Building
Posted by: | CommentsCharlotte, N.C.—Charlotte-based Lincoln Harris has been selected to market a new, three-story office and retail building along South Boulevard, near the Scaleybark light rail station. DAS Architecture is the designer of the roughly 40,000-square-foot building and Mike Joyner is the developer.
Located at the intersection of South Boulevard and Hollis Road, on a corner that is currently occupied by a single-story commercial building, 3441 South Blvd., will be just south of historic South End and across from the planned Scaleybark Station mixed-use development. The building will feature high ceilings and open floor plans, as well as signage opportunities for larger tenants…
HFF Arranges $350M in Financing for High-Profile Deal
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Charlotte, N.C.—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s name will go down in history in North Carolina for having played a supporting role in what is being widely touted as the largest single real estate transaction in the state—ever. HFF orchestrated a $350 million financing package on behalf of Northwood Investors, which recently purchased a portfolio accounting for the greater part of the 535-acre Ballantyne Corporate Park in Charlotte. According to an announcement from Northwood’s legal advisor on the transaction, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Northwood paid The Bissell Cos. Inc. more than $1 billion for the mixed-use collection of assets.
Private Equity’s Big Dry Powder Mountain
Posted by: | CommentsWhat do private equity firms and Oliver Twist have in common? They’re generally always hungry for more.
Apollo Global Management LLC is passing the hat around again, seeking to raise $20 billion by May for its newest global buyout fund. KKR & Co. this week wrapped up at $13.9 billionfund focused on North American buyouts, while other big-hitters including Blackstone Group LP, Silver Lake Partners and Vista Equity Partners are seeking $10 billion or more for their own flagship buyout funds. And then there’s Carlyle Group LP, which is attempting to raise $100 billion in four years…
The Trump-SoftBank-Saudi Connection
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Donald J. Trump, the president elect at the time, with the Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, left, at Trump Tower in December. CreditHilary Swift for The New York Times
As camera lights flashed, President-elect Donald J. Trump strode across the lobby of Trump Tower with Masayoshi Son, the colorful Japanese entrepreneur, in December.
“This is Masa of SoftBank from Japan,” Mr. Trump said before boasting that Mr. Son’s SoftBank — which is in the process of amassing a giant $100 billion fund — had pledged to invest $50 billion in the United States and would create 50,000 jobs here.
New $140M Bergen County Justice Center Opens Doors
Posted by: | CommentsHackensack, N.J.—Bergen County’s new Justice Center recently opened its doors. Designed by New Jersey-based RSC Architects, the project is a six-floor, 130,000-square-foot facility. Sitting on a historic site, Bergen County’s $140 million Justice Center is the centerpiece of a six-year plan to modernize and upgrade the county’s justice center complex in Hackensack.
Located at 10 Main St., the justice center complex includes a historic county jail and courthouse. The first modern addition to the government building accommodates upgrades in security, technology and amenities…
London Landlords Cut Luxury-Home Rents as Brexit Damps Demand
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A cyclist passes a row of residential homes on Vicarage Gate in London, U.K.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Rents for luxury homes in central London’s best districts fell 5.1 percent in February from a year earlier as the U.K.’s plan to quit the European Union discouraged companies from moving employees to the city, according to Knight Frank LLP.
The number of prime properties coming onto the market rose 24 percent, exceeding the number of additional prospective tenants, the property broker said in a report on Tuesday. That was partly caused by higher stamp-duty rates, which encouraged homeowners to rent out their properties rather than selling them…
Can 3G Capital Keep Thriving on Acquisitions and Cost Cutting?
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Harry Campbell
The investment firm 3G Capital, the driving force behind Kraft Heinz and the company that owns the Burger King and Tim Hortons chains, seems to have found the secret sauce of deal-making.
But could that sauce now be nearing its expiration date?
Until recently, 3G looked unstoppable. Founded in 2004 by Jorge Paulo Lemann and four other Brazilian deal makers, the firm made its name by relentlessly crossing the globe to buy companies and ultimately form the world’s biggest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch InBev. Since then, 3G has built up empires in food through bold and aggressive acquisitions…
C&W Tapped to Lease 109 KSF Miami-Area Office Asset
Posted by: | CommentsThe 108,550-square-foot Boca Village Corporate Center was constructed in 2008 and is LEED Silver-certified.
Boca Raton, Fla.—Cushman & Wakefield has been named exclusive leasing agent for Boca Village Corporate Center, a 108,550-square-foot, Class A office building located in the Miami metro area. Managing Director John Criddle and Senior Associate Joseph Freitas will handle leasing efforts on behalf of the owner, AGS Properties Corp.
Flipkart’s Hedge Fund Boss Is Looking for $1.5 Billion
Posted by: | CommentsThe Indian e-commerce giant’s third CEO in a year needs the cash to fight off Amazon and Alibaba.
No investor has more to lose from the potential implosion of Indian e-commerce company Flipkart than its biggest backer, New York’s Tiger Global Management.
Last summer, with Flipkart Online Services Pvt losing ground to Amazon.com Inc., Tiger sent in former EBay executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy to help turn around India’s most valuable internet startup. The two co-founders stood aside as Krishnamurthy took control of its biggest sale season, fired senior managers and set tough traffic and sales targets. After Flipkart narrowly outsold Amazon during the critical year-end shopping rush, he was named chief executive officer, the company’s third in the span of a year…
U.S. Zeal in Suing Banks for Lending Bias Is Expected to Cool
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Doug Hile, president and chief executive of KleinBank in Chaska, Minn. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that there would be any inclination that this organization should be serving the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul,” he said. CreditNate Ryan for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — A week before President Obama left office, the Justice Department sued a Minnesota community bank, saying it failed to offer enough loans to people in minority neighborhoods in the Twin Cities area.
Clark Grabs Contract to Construct San Antonio’s Frost Tower
Posted by: | CommentsSan Antonio—Weston Urban, KDC and TRT Holdings Inc. are developing Frost Tower in San Antonio, but someone’s got to build the 440,000-square-foot office structure—and that someone has been identified as Clark Construction. Clark won the contract to construct the trophy property, which is already underway.
News of Clark’s coming aboard the project emerges just two months after TRT came forward to provide joint venture equity for the endeavor, and roughly two years after the developers completed a rather complex land transfer arrangement with the city, effectively clearing a hurdle to the project’s commencement. It’s a prestigious assignment; Clark is tasked with building what will be the first office structure to rise in downtown San Antonio since 1989…
Apollo Seeks $20 Billion by May for New Buyout Fund
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Pool could be largest raised for buyouts post financial crisis
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Firm’s 2016 spending spree included ADT, Outerwall, Rackspace
Apollo Global Management LLC is seeking $20 billion for its latest global buyout fund, people with knowledge of the process said, setting its sights on the biggest pool of capital for private equity deals since the financial crisis.
The firm, which started gathering money for its ninth fund around December, could finish collecting commitments by May, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details are private…
Apollo Seeks $20 Billion by May for New Buyout Fund
HFF Arranges $45M Refi for Hotel Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsThe 441-key portfolio consists of two properties in Texas and two in Nashville.
Austin, Texas & Nashville, Tenn.—HFF announced it has facilitated a $45 million refinancing for a portfolio incorporating four Marriott-branded hotels located in College Station and Round Rock, Texas and Nashville, Tenn.
HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Wheelock Street Capital LLC, to place the three-year, floating-rate loan with two one-year extensions with a national bank. The investment was used to take out existing acquisition financing and provide capital to continue Wheelock’s property improvement plan…
HFF Arranges $45M Refi for Hotel Portfolio
Hedge Funds Are Bracing for a Market Selloff
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Managers cut holdings in U.S. banks, base metals and buy gold
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Hard economic data has yet to catch up with sentiment numbers
U.S. stocks have piled up $1.5 trillion in market value this year, but hedge funds are bracing for tough times ahead.
Based on buying and selling in 2017, managers have stopped loading up on bullish positioning. They’ve also become less reliant on U.S. stocks by selling economically sensitive bank shares and materials like copper, data compiled by Credit Suisse Group AG show. What are they buying? Gold…
Hedge Funds Are Bracing for a Market Selloff
Finmarc Buys Big Industrial Portfolio in NoVa
Posted by: | CommentsWoodbridge, Va.—In a $58 million deal, Finmarc Management Inc., of Bethesda, Md., has purchased a 15-building portfolio comprising more than 750,000 square feet of industrial and warehouse space in Northern Virginia’s I-95 corridor, Finmarc announced last Friday.
Thirteen of the buildings are in Featherstone Industrial Park in Woodbridge, and two are in Fredericksburg, Va., roughly 30 miles south. Overall, the portfolio has more than 25 tenants and is 91 percent leased…
U.K. House Price Growth Adds Weight to Predictions of a Slowdown
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Prices rose an annual 5.1%, around half last year’s peak
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Halifax says average British house now costs 219,949 pounds
The pace of U.K. annual house price growth slowed in February, adding weight to predictions of waning momentum in 2017, according to Halifax.
In the three months to February, prices rose an annual 5.1 percent compared with a 5.7 percent pace in January. That’s almost half the 10 percent peak seen in March. Values rose 0.1 percent from a month earlier…
U.K. House Price Growth Adds Weight to Predictions of a Slowdown
Rising European Bank Deposits Wind Up at ECB as Lending Sputters
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Negative interest rates have barely boosted borrowing
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Banks paid ECB $3.8 billion in interest on deposits last year
Banks in the euro zone, flush with new deposits, have turned few of them into loans to companies and consumers. Instead they’ve parked most of the money at the European Central Bank, where they’re paying billions of euros for the privilege of keeping it there.
Morgan Stanley Is Begging the Fed to Let Go of the Market’s Hand
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Fed’s communication strategy seen constraining bond activity
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Treasury yields will “remain subdued” until further Fedspeak
The Federal Reserve has been holding the hand of the world’s biggest debt market far too tightly.
So laments Morgan Stanley head of global interest-rate strategy Matthew Hornbach after a week in which a bevy of Fed officials telegraphed a March interest-rate hike, with the exclamation mark coming Friday from Chair Janet Yellen. So swift was the turnaround, that market-implied odds of a hike this month moved from less than 50 percent to a virtual certainty in the space of five days…
London Financial Jewel Brightens Even as Brexit Reckoning Looms
Posted by: | CommentsOne of London’s crown financial jewels — a business sought after by the rest of Europe — is shining brighter than ever before.
The U.K. capital’s LCH clearinghouse is the world’s biggest for interest-rate swaps, a market where trading has marched steadily higher in every survey since 1995. Last year, LCH’s swap clearing business enjoyed a 25 percent jump in volume to $666 trillion. And the regulatory incentives giving those operations a tailwind are just getting stronger…
London Financial Jewel Brightens Even as Brexit Reckoning Looms
Deutsche Bank Turnaround Plan Receives Mixed Investor Review
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Shares drop 6.9% on plan to offer $8.5 billion in new stock
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Key investor said to be undecided about participating in sale
Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer John Cryan needs to convince investors he’s finally on the right track after tearing up his own turnaround plan just 17 months into the revamp.
Reaction so far to his about-face — which includes an $8.5 billion rights offering, selling part of the asset-management business and reintegrating the consumer-banking unit — has been mixed. Cryan told Bloomberg TV on Monday that one key stakeholder had signaled willingness to participate in the share sale. Another large shareholder is undecided about the capital increase and will need convincing, a person familiar with the matter said…
Peugeot Maker PSA Agrees to Buy GM’s European Brands in $2.3 Billion Deal
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PSA’s $1.9 billion deal creates second-biggest EU carmaker
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GM takes on $4 billion to $4.5 billion charge, pension duties
PSA Group is betting that size is the answer in Europe’s saturated car market as it buys General Motors Co.’s ailing regional division despite years of losses.
The maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars will pay 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for GM’s Opel unit and its U.K. sister brand Vauxhall, as the French manufacturer bolsters its defenses in a peaking market that’s being transformed by technology, new competitors and Brexit. GM, which is taking a charge of between $4 billion and $4.5 billion, will retain a toehold in the area by continuing to sell Chevrolets in small volumes…
Ten Months At Bridgewater Enough To Send iPod Inventor Running Back To Silicon Valley
Posted by: | CommentsRay Dalio says it takes a year-and-a-halfto get acclimated to the—shall we say unique?—culture at Bridgewater Associates: the radical truth-seeking, the asking of oneself whether one has a right to an opinion, the strip-team-building exercises and scrums. For some, it takes quite a bit less time to realize that they won’t be “getting to the other side” and aren’t cut out for having their every word recorded and made available to colleagues, even if they’ve just been named co-CEO of the place.
Napa Valley Hotel Sells for $1.2M per Key
Posted by: | CommentsYountville, Calif.—Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc., of Dallas, has entered into a definitive agreement to buy the 80-room Hotel Yountville in Yountville for $96.5 million, or $1.2 million per key.
Yountville is about 60 miles north of San Francisco and is known as the “Culinary Capital of the Napa Valley,” with its restaurants reportedly earning more Michelin stars per capita than any other place in North America.
The Hotel Yountville was built in 1998 and in 2011 underwent an expansion and renovation that upgraded all existing guest rooms and added 29 more, as well as a restaurant, spa, meeting and event space, an outdoor pool, and lounge patio…
Another U.S. Auto Lender Is Being Probed Over Kill Switches
Posted by: | CommentsU.S. regulators have asked auto finance company Westlake Financial Services for information about technology like kill switches that makes it easier for lenders to repossess cars when borrowers fall behind.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a civil investigative demand to Westlake in November, seeking information on the devices, according to private bond-offering documents from this month obtained by Bloomberg. The government agency has sought information from at least two other lenders as it probes subprime collection practices, Bloomberg reported last month…
Another U.S. Auto Lender Is Being Probed Over Kill Switches
Amazon to Mount Solar Panels on 50 Facilities by 2020
Posted by: | CommentsThe company will kick off the endeavor by peppering the rooftops of more than 15 U.S. locations in 2017.
Seattle—Amazon has just laid out a bright new goal for itself. The e-commerce giant announced the launch of a clean energy initiative that calls for the installation of solar panels on 50 fulfillment and sortation centers around the world by 2020. The Seattle-based company will kick off the endeavor by peppering the rooftops of more than 15 U.S. facilities in 2017…
Amazon to Mount Solar Panels on 50 Facilities by 2020
Mexico Currency Hedges See Strong Demand as Pessimists Abound
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Officials receive bids for two times the amount of contracts
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Mexican peso has recovered from worst of Trump-driven rout
Strong demand for contracts that protect from declines in Mexico’s peso shows lingering concern the currency is vulnerable to a fresh selloff after a six-week rally.
In its first auction of foreign-exchange hedges, Mexico’s central bank got $2 billion of bids for the $1 billion of securities it offered. Monday’s sale marked the first time authorities have offered the non-deliverable forwards in an attempt to tame the volatility seen since Donald Trump entered the presidential race vowing to crack down on Mexican exports…