Archive for Uncategorized
Self-Storage Asset Changes Hands in Maricopa County
Posted by: | CommentsMarcus & Millichap closed on the sale of a 26,875-square-foot self-storage property comprising 250 units. Yardi Matrix data shows that the facility traded for $2.4 million.
The Mele Group of Marcus & Millichap has announced the sale of Tolleson Self Storage in Tolleson, Ariz. Devin Beasley, Luke Elliott and Michael Mele, self-storage investment specialists at The Mele Group, marketed the 26,875-square-foot property on behalf of both the seller and the buyer. According to data provider Yardi Matrix, The Laurel Co. sold the facility to Clear Sky Capital for $2.4 million.
This $30 Billion Pension Pot Is Keeping Faith With Hedge Funds
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PPF says the much-maligned funds are useful for higher returns
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Hedge funds are part of firm’s alternative-investment strategy
The firm that compensates members of U.K. retirement pots when they run into trouble is keeping faith with hedge funds despite widespread criticism of their high fees and underwhelming returns.
The Pension Protection Fund has about 23 billion pounds ($30 billion) under management and a 4.1 billion-pound surplus, thanks in part to investing in assets other than stocks and bonds, according to Ian Scott, its head of investment strategy….
This $30 Billion Pension Pot Is Keeping Faith With Hedge Funds
Anadarko Shuts Wells in Colorado After Deadly Home Explosion
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Explorer shuts 3,000 vertical wells across state’s northeast
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April 17 blast killed at least two people; cause not known
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is shutting all its vertical wells across northeast Colorado following a home explosion in the town of Firestone earlier this month that killed two people.
The more than 3,000 vertical wells, which produce the equivalent of about 13,000 net barrels of oil a day, will remain shut until the company’s field personnel can conduct inspections and test equipment in facilities and underground lines associated with each wellhead, the oil explorer said in a statement Wednesday. The cause of the explosion is still being investigated…
Terreno Realty Lands Seattle Distribution Building
Posted by: | CommentsThe company paid $5.9 million to acquire the 35,000-square-foot property, which is located at 25-29 South Hanford St. in the SoDo district.
Terreno Realty Corp. has acquired an industrial property in Seattle for $5.9 million. The asset, a 35,000-square-foot industrial building, sits on roughly 1 acre. The property’s stabilized cap rate is estimated at 5 percent…
Terreno Realty Lands Seattle Distribution Building
In Dot-Com Bubble Time, It’s Still Only 1997 for U.S. Equities
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Tech giants such as Apple and Google dominating gains again
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Their valuations still far from extremes seen at 2000 peak
Terrified that rallies in Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google portend a millennial catastrophe along the lines of the dot-com bust? Relax. Going by one doomsday clock, it’s only 1997 in bubble years.
So says Leuthold Group LLC in a study that plots today’s valuations against the salad days of Internet mania. Based on its model, which measures the S&P 500 Index by six factors including earnings, dividends and cash flow, the Minneapolis-based firm found stocks currently trade at the multiple they first reached 20 years ago…
Ivanka Trump Said to Discuss Fund for Women With World Bank
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Discussions are in early stages and no structure is in place
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Ivanka Trump wouldn’t be involved in soliciting funds
Ivanka Trump is in discussions with the World Bank about setting up a fund that would pool resources from G-20 countries to support female entrepreneurs, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The project hasn’t been set up, and donors would need to agree on its structure, said officials from the World Bank and the White House, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The German government has taken a leading role in the effort, according to the officials. In addition to countries and foundations, corporations might be tapped for donations, a second World Bank official said…
If Paul Tudor Jones Was Janet Yellen, He’d Be Sh!tting His Pants Right Now
Posted by: | CommentsYou know things are getting weird out there when PTJ makes a quasi-public appearance and says something newsworthy:
Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones has a message for Janet Yellen and investors: Be very afraid.
The legendary macro trader says that years of low interest rates have bloated stock valuations to a level not seen since 2000, right before the Nasdaq tumbled 75 percent over two-plus years. That measure — the value of the stock market relative to the size of the economy — should be “terrifying” to a central banker, Jones said earlier this month at a closed-door Goldman Sachs Asset Management conference, according to people who heard him…
A Showdown Over Wells Fargo’s Board of Directors Looms
Posted by: | CommentsPONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The scandal at Wells Fargo over the creation of millions of fake bank accounts cost more than 5,300 people their jobs, many of them tellers and other low-level employees.
The bank then clawed back tens of millions of dollars in pay from its retired chief executive and fired the former head of the retail operation.
The next group of employees who could lose their jobs are Wells Fargo’s board of directors, who face re-election on Tuesday at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting…
A Showdown Over Wells Fargo’s Board of Directors Looms
Baltimore Reclaims Its Charm
Posted by: | CommentsEmployment growth, coupled with the metro’s relatively affordable rental rates, should generate a solid absorption of the new apartment units coming online this year.
Baltimore’s multifamily market remains tepid, despite the continuing revival of downtown and surrounding areas. The metro is steadily overcoming decades of decline in blue-collar industries and population loss. It does, however, benefit from the proximity of Washington, D.C.’s less affordable market, where both renters and investors are slowly being priced out.
Foreign money has been a key ingredient in propping up home values in many cities across the United States. There is no doubt about this. If you look at places like Irvine, many new home communities are being sold largely to investors from China. This also applies to house mania happy San Francisco. Yet even if you question your own sanity regarding California crap shack prices, things may look affordable to certain people abroad. The amount of investment flowing in from China into the United States is amazing. A large part flows into real estate. This is how you get lower homeownership rates and also a drop in mortgage application volume yet somehow, you see home prices surging on low inventory. In a global market money can flow in and out of systems easily…
Fortune 500 Company Inks 80KSF in San Antonio
Posted by: | CommentsThe company leased 80,265 of the Enterprise Industrial’s total 324,363 square feet. This new lease brings Building 2 to a 62 percent occupancy rate.
Robinson Weeks Partners closed a new lease with a Fortune 500 company at Enterprise Industrial – Building 2, located at 17745 Lookout Road in Schertz, Texas.
Cooper Robertson Helms Drury University Campus Revamp
Posted by: | CommentsNew York-based architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson has been selected to develop a new master plan for Drury University. The project aims to “reshape and enhance the … campus and its surroundings,” Cooper Robertson announced late last week…
An Activist Investment in Whole Foods Exposes Shifting Power on Wall St.
Posted by: | CommentsAs a steward of pension funds and retirement accounts, Neuberger Berman has traditionally employed a staid strategy familiar among big Wall Street money managers: Buy and hold stocks, sit back, and hope for the best.
But recently, the firm has eschewed its nearly 80-year-old tactic of playing nice. Instead it turned to the bare-knuckled world of activist investors made famous by the likes of Carl C. Icahn and William A. Ackman…
An Activist Investment in Whole Foods Exposes Shifting Power on Wall St.
Omni Frisco Hotel Opens Doors
Posted by: | CommentsThe Omni Frisco Hotel located within The Star, which is anchored by the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and Ford Center, will be opening in July 2017.
The 16-story, 300-key Omni will feature 24,000 square feet of meeting space, a 13,000-square-foot ballroom, a restaurant, wine bar, a rooftop pool bar and grill on the fourth floor. Additional amenities include a luxury retail outlet that features merchandise produced by local artists and designers, a fitness center, laundry and dry cleaning services, pet-friendly accommodations, a business center and free Wi-Fi…
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Accelerate for a Fifth Month
Posted by: | CommentsHome prices in 20 U.S. cities accelerated in the year through February for a fifth month, while nationwide property values also picked up, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data reported Tuesday.
Key Points
- 20-city property values index climbed 5.9 percent from February 2016 (forecast was 5.8 percent), the fastest since July 2014, after increasing 5.7 percent in the year through January
- National home-price gauge rose 5.8 percent in the 12 months through February
- Seasonally adjusted 20-city index advanced 0.7 percent from a month earlier (matching the Bloomberg survey median)…
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Accelerate for a Fifth Month
Debt Crisis Shakes Chinese Town, Pointing to Wider Problems
Posted by: | CommentsSHANGHAI — In China, it’s all about whom you owe.
That precise question — who owes what to whom? — shook the Chinese industrial town of Zouping in recent weeks. Some businesses closed. City officials engineered a desperate corporate takeover. An executive was detained by the police.
The problem: Local companies had agreed to guarantee hundreds of millions of dollars of one another’s loans. When some of those loans went bad, the impact rippled across the city…
Debt Crisis Shakes Chinese Town, Pointing to Wider Problems
Global Manufacturer Expands to NC with $13M Investment
Posted by: | CommentsThe refrigerant packaging company selected Martin County for a new facility, which will provide the area with 31 new jobs. Salaries at Weitron Inc. will be about $4,000 more than the $28,000 annual average income of the county.
Weitron Inc., a packager and distributor of refrigerant gases, has selected Martin County for a new production facility in Everetts, N.C. The $13 million investment will create 31 jobs, according to Governor Roy Cooper. A One North Carolina Fund performance-based grant of $90,000 will help facilitate the company’s expansion in Martin County. The company is expanding to meet growing demand for new refrigerant formulas with less environmental impact…
U.S. New-Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise to Highest Since July
Posted by: | CommentsPurchases of new U.S. homes unexpectedly increased in March to an eight-month high, indicating housing demand remained strong at the start of the spring buying season, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday.
Key Points
- Single-family home sales increased 5.8 percent to a 621,000 annualized pace (median forecast called for a 584,000 rate)
- The median sale price of a new house rose 1.2 percent from March 2016 to $315,100
- Supply of homes shrank to 5.2 months from 5.4 months; there were 268,000 new houses on the market at the end of March…
U.S. New-Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise to Highest Since July
Wells Fargo Shareholders Tepidly Re-elect Bank’s Directors
Posted by: | CommentsPONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Despite the turmoil that has engulfed Wells Fargo in the past year, shareholders voted on Tuesday to re-elect all of the bank’s 15 directors. But some of the board members edged in just barely, a sign that many shareholders want further changes in the bank’s leadership.
Activist shareholders had hoped to remove some or all of the board’s incumbents in the aftermath of the bank’s sales scandal, but every board member won support from at least 53 percent of the shareholders casting votes…
Wells Fargo Shareholders Tepidly Re-elect Bank’s Directors
Transwestern Expands Chicago Management Portfolio
Posted by: | CommentsBentall Kennedy (U.S.) Ltd., a Sun Life Investment Management company, has appointed Transwestern to provide management services for two of its properties in downtown Chicago: 100 N LaSalle St. and 29 N Wacker Drive. The company appointed Property Manager Julia Rabban and Vice President Katie Sakach to lead the management team…
China Markets Reel as $1.7 Trillion in Shadow Funds Unwinds
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Entrusted investments under scrutiny amid regulatory crackdown
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As banks pull out, Chinese bonds and equities retreat
A $1.7 trillion source of inflows into Chinese markets has suddenly switched into reverse, roiling the nation’s money management industry and sending local bonds and stocks to their biggest losses of the year.
The turbulence has centered on so-called entrusted investments — funds that Chinese banks farm out to external asset managers. After years of funneling money into such investments, banks are now pulling back in response to a series of regulatory guidelines over the past three weeks that put a spotlight on the risks. Critics have blamed entrusted managers for adding leverage to China’s financial system and reducing transparency…
A Whack at Dodd-Frank Could Hamstring the S.E.C.
Posted by: | CommentsThe draft of the Financial Choice Act 2.0, released last week by the House Financial Services Committee and aimed at overturning much of the Dodd-Frank Act, contains provisions that could change how the Securities and Exchange Commission polices the markets.
Unlike similar legislation introduced last year by Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas and chairman of the committee (which had zero chance of success with President Obama in office), the new draft may find a receptive audience with the Trump administration, and may result in Congress curtailing enforcement of securities laws…
A Whack at Dodd-Frank Could Hamstring the S.E.C.
Malaysia to Pay $1.2 Billion to Abu Dhabi Fund Over 1MDB Scandal
Posted by: | CommentsHONG KONG — In 2012, with help from Goldman Sachs, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad sold $3.5 billion worth of bonds backed by an Abu Dhabi government fund to help it purchase power plants.
But behind the scenes, American officials have claimed, nearly $1.45 billion was illegally redirected to Swiss bank accounts and ultimately into the hands of some of the people involved in the deal…
Malaysia to Pay $1.2 Billion to Abu Dhabi Fund Over 1MDB Scandal
Normandy, NTT Urban Form Strategic Partnership
Posted by: | CommentsThis move guarantees both firms investment activity growth in the office and mixed-use sectors in various urban and transit-oriented areas in core markets, including New York and D.C.
Building on a successful history of transactions together, Normandy Real Estate Partners and NTT Urban Development Corp. recently took their relationship to the next level by entering into a strategic partnership. Per terms of the deal, NTTUD, the real estate division of Tokyo, Japan-based Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., acquired a 15 percent common equity interest in Normandy’s management platform…
Normandy, NTT Urban Form Strategic Partnership
Number of Unsold London Homes Under Construction Hits a Record
Posted by: | CommentsThe number of unsold London homes under construction rose to a record in the first quarter as higher taxes, affordability issues and economic uncertainty damp demand for the most expensive properties.
The number of properties being built or completed that have yet to find a buyer surged to 27,000 units from about 25,000 at the end of last year, according to a report by Molior London seen by Bloomberg News. That’s the highest level since the researcher began compiling data in 2009. A spokesman for Molior declined to comment…
Number of Unsold London Homes Under Construction Hits a Record
Terreno Realty Acquires 1MSF South Bay Industrial Property
Posted by: | CommentsThe 1989 property in Lynwood consists of three buildings just off Interstate 105 and is fully ground leased.
Terreno Realty Corp. acquired a one million-square-foot industrial property in the South Bay submarket of Los Angeles for $31.4 million. According to Yardi Matrix, the property was owned by Comstock Homes. The estimated stabilized cap rate of the property is 3.9 percent…
Terreno Realty Acquires 1MSF South Bay Industrial Property
Optimism Improves Among CRE Execs, Despite Uncertainties
Posted by: | CommentsAbout 64 percent of real estate executives interviewed after the election say the Trump administration’s agenda will have a moderately or significantly positive effect on the industry.
The U.S. CRE market is looking at a rising level of confidence, stiffer competition from single-family residential for the nation’s housing dollar, and concerns over rising prices and falling cap rates, according to the eighth annual Akerman U.S. Real Estate Sector Report, released last week.
Banks Are Backing Out of $1.7 Trillion in Chinese Investments
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Entrusted investments under scrutiny amid regulatory crackdown
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As banks pull out, Chinese bonds and equities retreat
A $1.7 trillion source of inflows into Chinese markets has suddenly switched into reverse, roiling the nation’s money management industry and sending local bonds and stocks to their biggest losses of the year.
The turbulence has centered on so-called entrusted investments — funds that Chinese banks farm out to external asset managers. After years of funneling money into such investments, banks are now pulling back in response to a series of regulatory guidelines over the past three weeks that put a spotlight on the risks. Critics have blamed entrusted managers for adding leverage to China’s financial system and reducing transparency…
Invesco Buys Stake in Austin Office Tower
Posted by: | CommentsThird + Shoal, a 345,000-square-foot skyscraper currently rising at the site of the former Austin Music Hall, is scheduled for completion later this year.
TIER REIT has sold 50 percent of its interest in Third + Shoal, an approximately 345,000-square-foot office tower currently under construction is Austin, Texas. Invesco Real Estate, a global real estate investment manager, acquired the stake in the project.
The new joint venture between TIER REIT and Invesco Real Estate closed on March 31…
Invesco Buys Stake in Austin Office Tower
Verbatim: Poloz on Housing, Geopolitics and Business Investment
Posted by: | CommentsBank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said he’s happy measures were taken by the Ontario government to slow Toronto’s housing market and expects the steps will have some impact. Here are highlighted quotes from a round-table with reporters that Poloz gave in Washington on April 22.
On Housing
“I’m happy there are measures. It’s a risk we’ve been highlighting and made it clear a week or two ago we didn’t think interest rates are the right tool for managing such a risk because they affect everybody. They are not localized…
Verbatim: Poloz on Housing, Geopolitics and Business Investment
London House Prices Post Biggest Annual Decline in Eight Years
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April asking values decrease 1.5% y/y, Rightmove says
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Central areas leading the drop as high prices put off buyers
London house prices posted their largest annual drop in almost eight years in April as buyers shunned the capital’s central areas.
The average asking price in the city fell 1.5 percent to 636,777 pounds ($813,000) this month from a year earlier, the largest annual decline since May 2009, property website Rightmove Plc said on Monday. On the month, London asking prices decreased 2 percent…
London House Prices Post Biggest Annual Decline in Eight Years
Coldwell Banker Debuts New Dallas Office
Posted by: | CommentsColdwell Banker Residential Brokerage hired Gaynelle Henger to manage the newest location of its recently rebranded Global Luxury program.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a subsidiary of NRT LLC, recently opened a new Global Luxury sales office in Dallas. The company hired Gaynelle Henger to manage the location.
The new office is located at 5950 Sherry Lane, Suite 200, in the Preston Center submarket. The nine-story, Class A, Energy Star-rated office building offers 196,386 square feet of rentable space and about 600 parking spots. According to Yardi Matrix, TIER REIT acquired the property in 2014 from RREEF Property Trust, with Cushman & Wakefield currently serving as leasing manager. The asset is within walking distance of Hilton Dallas Park Cities Hotel and various restaurants, including True Food Kitchen and Hillstone…
Canada Braces for a Lumber War Amid Its Home-Price Psychosis
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U.S. expected to impose duties of 20% to 30% this week: BMO
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Central bank already adding ‘negative judgement’ in forecasts
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz has been highlighting the dangers of protectionism, and the country will probably get a taste this week as the U.S. is expected to issue preliminary countervailing duties on softwood lumber.
Bank of Montreal said in a report last week it expects duties in the range of 20 percent to 30 percent, with additional anti-dumping duties coming later in the year that could reach another 15 percent. And in a round-table interview with reporters Saturday, Poloz said the measures will probably have some impact on the nation’s economy…
You Can Now Rent Hotel Rooms by the Minute
Posted by: | CommentsRenting rooms by the hour is not a new idea. Just ask any member of the world’s oldest profession.
But by the minute? Well, that’s relatively new. And getting to use a luxury hotel room for just enough time to do what you need to do and get on with your business—that’s a treat that’s only just now available, thanks to a new app called Recharge. An investment of JetBlue’s tech incubator, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Recharge Labs Inc. officially launched in 2015 in San Francisco. It expands to New York on April 24 with 16 luxury properties that range from the hipster-friendly Arlo, located in Hudson Square near the Financial District, to ritzy midtown five-stars such as the Quin and the Pierre…
CBRE Debuts New High-Tech Miami Office
Posted by: | CommentsCBRE is bringing its Workplace360 initiative down south with the opening of its new, state-of-the-art office on the 11th floor of 777 Brickell Ave., in Miami. The 18,921-square-foot office will feature both collaborative and private workspaces, as well as a Liquid Galaxy-powered theater. The theater’s advanced technology allows you to virtually navigate through different commercial real estate landscapes around the country on a 3D panoramic screen. The Workplace360 initiative’s goal is to provide a flexible, high-tech work environment that allows employees to choose their workspace. The office will be 100 percent free-address and paperless.
Canadian Housing Optimism Hits Record Amid Curbs on Toronto
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Share of people who see rising home prices highest since 2008
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Weekly polling also shows views on personal finances worsened
Optimism about home prices reached an all-time high in Canada just as policy makers stepped in to curb runaway prices in the country’s largest city.
The share of respondents in the weekly Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index who see home prices rising in the next six months climbed to 48.5 percent, the most in records back to mid-2008. The overall confidence index reached 59.1, the highest since March and exceeding the 12-month average of 57.4.
Retailers Are Going Bankrupt at a Record Pace
Posted by: | CommentsRetailers are filing for bankruptcy at a record rate as they try to cope with the rapid acceleration of online shopping.
In a little over three months, 14 chains have announced they will seek court protection, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence, almost surpassing all of 2016. Few retail segments have proven immune as discount shoe-sellers, outdoor goods shops, and consumer electronics retailers have all found themselves headed for reorganization…
Bring Back Glass-Steagall? Goldman Sachs Would Love That
Posted by: | CommentsAmong the many silly ideas floating around Washington these days about how to re-regulate Wall Street is that old chestnut about separating investment banking from commercial banking.
It’s getting a fresh look after Gary Cohn, the powerful head of President Trump’s National Economic Council, supposedly told a private gathering of the Senate Banking Committee recently that the Trump administration would be open to the idea. The president has yet to confirm publicly that he would support such legislation…
Bring Back Glass-Steagall? Goldman Sachs Would Love That
Highly Coveted Orlando Mall Hits the Market
Posted by: | CommentsTranswestern has been retained to sell Sand Lake Corners North, a 151,487-square-foot, Class A community shopping center in Orlando.
The property, shadow-anchored by Wal-Mart, is located at 8115 – 8379 S. John Young Parkway in the area’s tourist corridor…
London House Prices Post Biggest Annual Decline in Eight Years
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April asking values decrease 1.5% y/y, Rightmove says
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Central areas leading the drop as high prices put off buyers
London house prices posted their largest annual drop in almost eight years in April as buyers shunned the capital’s central areas.
The average asking price in the city fell 1.5 percent to 636,777 pounds ($813,000) this month from a year earlier, the largest annual decline since May 2009, property website Rightmove Plc said on Monday. On the month, London asking prices decreased 2 percent.
Trump’s Industry, Real Estate, Poses Hurdle to Tax Overhaul
Posted by: | CommentsPresident Trump has promised a sweeping tax plan, arriving in the days ahead, that will be “bigger, I believe, than any tax cut ever.” It will aim to bring down individual and corporate rates, simplify the overall tax code and unleash economic growth.
Many tax experts say a key element to any fundamental overhaul is getting rid of certain deductions for businesses — the “special-interest giveaways that are masked as tax breaks,” as House Republicans describe many of them in their own proposal. That is the only way tax rates for much of the country can go down without starving the Treasury, the experts say…
Dollar Tree Unveils $110M Project in Missouri
Posted by: | CommentsThe footprint of Dollar Tree’s distribution center portfolio is about to increase by 1.2 million square feet, and the City of Warrensburg, Mo., has been selected to play host to the new facility, the Missouri Department of Economic Development just revealed. The project will cost $110 million to complete…
DHL to Invest $268 Million in India as National Tax Spurs Demand
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Appel sees warehousing needs realignment on India tax reform
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Investment to cover all units including air cargo facilities
Deutsche Post DHL Group will invest 250 million euros ($268 million) in India by 2020 to expand its logistics business and tap demand as the South Asian nation introduces a national sales tax that is set to boost movement of freight.
The goods and services tax will help create bigger distribution centers, Deutsche Post AG Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel said in an interview in Mumbai on Friday. Until now, Indian companies were setting up warehouses in all states to avoid tax burden while the new tax reform may realign the needs of local companies toward larger and fewer mother warehouses, he said…
Bayer Taps JLL to Market Memphis R&D Asset
Posted by: | CommentsBayer U.S. hired JLL to market for sale or lease its research and development center in Memphis, Tenn. Vice President Jack Wohrman and Managing Director of Brokerage Russ Westlake will be marketing the property…
Hedge Funds Jump on Gold as Life Raft Amid Dollar’s Sinking Ship
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SPDR Gold sees biggest daily fund inflow in seven months
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Investors boost net-long position to highest since November
There’s no stopping the gold bulls.
Hedge funds increased their wagers on a gold rally to the highest since November, betting that this year’s 12 percent advance has more to go. Investors are also loading up on the metal through exchange-traded products, pouring $487 million into SPDR Gold Shares on Wednesday. That was the biggest daily inflow into the world’s top bullion ETF in seven months…
Hedge Funds Jump on Gold as Life Raft Amid Dollar’s Sinking Ship
Bank of England Deputy Governor Hogg to Leave at End of Week
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Hogg resigned after controversy surrounding appointment
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Departure may leave the MPC short a member for a while
Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlotte Hogg will leave the bank this week, which probably means the Monetary Policy Committee will be one member short for its next meeting.
Hogg, who is also chief operating officer, will serve her final day on Friday. She announced her resignation last month, within weeks of being appointed as deputy governor, after failing to inform the BOE that her brother works for Barclays Plc, which the central bank is partly responsible for regulating.
CBRE Lines Up $49M Loan for Seattle Mixed-Use Project
Posted by: | CommentsWorking on behalf of Kennedy Wilson, the company has secured the acquisition financing for a nearly 422,000-square-foot office and warehouse property in Redmond, Wash.
CBRE has arranged the $48.9 million sale of Willows Commerce Park, a Class A, 421,415-square-foot office and warehouse property in Redmond, Wash. Brad Zampa, Mike Walker and Megan Woodring of CBRE’s San Francisco office arranged the five-year, non-recourse, full-term interest only, floating-rate acquisition financing. CBRE worked on behalf of the borrower, Kennedy Wilson’s Fund V.
Citic Sees Buyers Covet Dollar Funds as Capital Controls Tighten
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Citic Capital rejects requests to act as an acquisition bridge
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‘Normal investments’ should be allowed, Chairman Zhang urges
Chinese companies seeking overseas acquisitions increasingly covet offshore dollar funds as capital controls make it hard for even state-controlled investment firms to finance deals with domestic resources.
Citic Capital Holdings Ltd., the alternative-investment arm of China’s largest state-owned conglomerate, has been rejecting requests from firms asking to use its dollars as a bridge for buying assets, Chairman Zhang Yichen said in an interview Saturday. The company’s offshore dollar funds have become the only funding option for its own deals, as moving yuan overseas for itself has become “very difficult,” he said…
Blavatnik Not to Blame for LyondellBasell Bankruptcy, Judge Says
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Billionaire stood accused of benefiting from 2007 merger
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Creditors had sought $3 billion but will get only $7.2 million
After almost a decade of being haunted by the failure of a leveraged buyout of LyondellBasell Industries NV, billionaire Len Blavatnik has prevailed.
A Manhattan bankruptcy court judge on Friday threw out claims seeking about $3 billion from Blavatnik and his businesses, finding that they hadn’t improperly extracted money from a company while it was already insolvent. The finding, which shows the challenge of blaming leveraged deals or pre-bankruptcy transactions for a company’s failure, could chill optimism among distressed debt investors that they can prevail in similar lawsuits…
JLL Inks 22 KSF Leases in Fort Lauderdale
Posted by: | CommentsCypress Financial Center, an 11-story office building at 5900 North Andrews Ave., has secured new commitments from TD Bank and Allied Integrated Marketing.
JLL has closed a lease renewal with long-time tenant TD Bank and a new lease with Allied Integrated Marketing at Cypress Financial Center, a 198,525-square-foot, Class A office building in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sandra Andersen, senior vice president at JLL, represented landlord Steelbridge Capital in both transactions, totaling 22,000 square feet.
Putin Looks for Answers as Investment Flop Shows Flawed Recovery
Posted by: | CommentsFor an economy safely out of recession, the tidings on investment in Russia are increasingly grim.
As a broader recovery gathers pace, capital spending by companies is off to a poor start in 2017 after contracting in the past three years. A close proxy for investment — the value of construction works completed — shrank for a fourth month in March in the biggest decline this year, according to data published last week…
Putin Looks for Answers as Investment Flop Shows Flawed Recovery
Should DeVos Block an Embattled Student Loan Giant’s Expansion?
Posted by: | CommentsMonths after state and federal regulators sued Navient Corp. for “systematically” cheating student debtors, the company wants to add more borrowers.
Student loan giant Navient Corp. shouldn’t be allowed to buy $3.7 billion of federal student loans from JPMorgan Chase & Co., current and former government officials have said, because pending government allegations of wrongdoing against the company raise concerns that new customers would similarly be mistreated.
David Bergeron, a former senior U.S. Department of Education official who served under Republican and Democratic administrations, called on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to block the planned transaction…
Should DeVos Block an Embattled Student Loan Giant’s Expansion?
Before Ouster, Arconic C.E.O. Accused Hedge Fund Founder of Wild Antics
Posted by: | CommentsIn the sleepy world of corporate governance, allegations of extortion are not exactly commonplace. But one of the most contentious showdowns between an activist hedge fund and a public company just got bizarre.
When Klaus Kleinfeld stepped down as the chairman and chief executive of Arconic on Monday, the company said his departure was for showing “poor judgment” in sending a letter to the big hedge fund that had been calling for his ouster.
As it turns out, the letter in question was quite a bit stranger than that.
Regulators Accuse Subprime Mortgage Servicer of Years of Abuses
Posted by: | CommentsFederal and state regulators unleashed a fusillade of lawsuits and enforcement orders on Thursday against the Ocwen Financial Corporation, a large mortgage servicer, aimed at curbing what they said had been years of flagrant and repeated abuses, including illegal foreclosures, deceptive fees and extensive mishandling of customers’ home loan payments.
Some of the regulatory orders directly questioned Ocwen’s ability to continue operating, and the market responded accordingly: Shares of the company fell 54 percent, closing at $2.49 per share…
Regulators Accuse Subprime Mortgage Servicer of Years of Abuses
American Realty Moves to DTLA
Posted by: | CommentsAmerican Realty Advisors will be relocating from Glendale, Calif., to downtown Los Angeles in June. ARA has also recently completed a major rebranding to further support the firm’s growth.
The company will move to the 49th floor of 515 S. Flower St. in the City National Plaza. The new office will provide open workspaces and expanded conference and meeting rooms. Current building tenants include international law firm Paul Hastings.
Goodman Leases First Building of Santa Fe Logistics Campus
Posted by: | CommentsGoodman Group has pre-leased 295,267 square feet of infill logistics space to an e-commerce customer at Goodman Logistics Center in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. The company secured a seven-year lease from an online supplier of automotive parts on the first of three logistics facilities currently under construction at the center. The customer is scheduled to take occupancy in the summer of 2017.
RBC Seeks to Join Canada Mortgage-Bond Fray on Nonprime Deal
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The bank has held meetings to gauge investor interest in bond
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MBS would be backed by ‘alt-A’ nonprime residential mortgages
Royal Bank of Canada is the latest Canadian firm to explore a sale of bonds backed by uninsured residential mortgages.
The bank is testing investor interest in a deal that would bundle mortgage loans to borrowers with credit ratings just below prime, known as “alt-A” mortgages, according to Tim Wilson, chief financial officer of Equitable Group Inc., one of the lenders which is originating the loans being bundled…
RBC Seeks to Join Canada Mortgage-Bond Fray on Nonprime Deal
Hedge-Fund Manager Crispin Odey Says It’s Lonely Being Bearish
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Odey says reflation trade faltering, cites threat of subprime
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He predicts the Fed is done tightening U.S. monetary policy
Crispin Odey, whose main hedge fund lost almost 50 percent last year as his wagers on falling asset prices failed to pay off, says he feels “lonely” in betting against growth.
“A year ago it was easy,” the 58-year-old wrote in an investor letter seen by Bloomberg News. “China was slowing, world trade was creaking, Europe was not recovering and the oil price was hitting new lows. A year later, to be bearish feels lonely, despite the fact that the reflationary story of the past year looks difficult to sustain and auto-loan lending has joined a long list of risks, along with Trump and Brexit.”
Financing Industrial: PGIM Real Estate Finance CIO Talks Discipline, Disruption
Posted by: | CommentsPGIM Real Estate Finance CIO & Senior Portfolio Manager Paige Hood sat down with Commercial Property Executive at the Mortgage Bankers Association CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo in San Diego to share his views on market volatility, discipline and potential opportunities and challenges that will impact commercial real estate finance and investment in 2017 and beyond.
Stay tuned for more video viewpoints on commercial real estate financing, as part of CPE’s ongoing coverage of the Mortgage Bankers Association CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo…
Financing Industrial: PGIM Real Estate Finance CIO Talks Discipline, Disruption
U.S. Mortgage Rates Drop to Five-Month Low With 30-Year at 3.97%
Posted by: | CommentsU.S. mortgage rates dropped for a fifth week, sending home-loan costs down to their lowest point since the week after the presidential election.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.97 percent, down from 4.08 percent last week and the lowest since November, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The average 15-year rate decreased to 3.23 percent from 3.34 percent, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company said.
Yields for the Treasuries that guide mortgage costs have dropped on investor expectations that an economy under President Donald Trump won’t be as robust as anticipated, according to Guy Cecala, publisher of the newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance…