Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Solyndra Signs Largest Bay Area Industrial Lease in 20 Years

Reuters - October 28, 2009

Overton Moore Properties (OMP), announced today that it has signed the largest warehouse/manufacturing lease that has been executed over the past 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area with Solyndra, Inc. Headquartered in Fremont, CA, Solyndra designs and manufactures photovoltaic systems, comprised of panels and mounting hardware, for the commercial rooftop market and has a contractual backlog of over $ 2 billion. OMP and Solyndra signed a 12 year lease for the 506,490 square foot Page Technology Park, in Fremont, CA. “This is a great way to finish up 2009 with the leasing of Page Technology Park. This is terrific news for the market and we successfully executed our business plan for this asset,” noted Timur Tecimer, President & COO of Overton Moore Properties.

Although the specific terms of the lease were not disclosed, it is reported that the total value of the lease is in excess of 45 million dollars. Solyndra also has an option to acquire the property during part of the lease term. “OMP believed, as did we, that the heavy infrastructure and clear height along with the building’s size were very desirable attributes for the emerging cleantech segment of the market. Solyndra was always on the radar given their pipeline of business, but we had very detailed discussions with a number of other larger tenants as well. We still see opportunity in this sector,” notes Rob Shannon, CBRE.

Page Technology Park will be a back-end facility for Solyndra that will support the recently announced construction of its second solar panel manufacturing plant. Solyndra is the first company to receive a loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Energy under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

OMP recently acquired the property in December 2008 from Hewlett- Packard (HP). The property was acquired when the capital markets were in a tailspin and when the commercial real state market had stalled. OMP was one of the few buyers in the marketplace that could actually close deals during the fourth quarter of 2008. OMP acquired the property in an all cash transaction with a six month lease back from HP. “We were very conservative in our underwriting and had a margin of safety with our downtime, free rent and rental rates,” noted Tecimer. OMP acquired the asset due to the acquisition price, unique features of the building infrastructure, lack of direct competition, freeway access and submarket location.

The property, built in 1982, consists of manufacturing, warehouse, labs, and office/work area representing 506,490 square feet on nearly 30 acres. OMP strongly believes in acquiring assets below replacement in exceptional infill locations. The property has substantial infrastructure in place including 21 kVA utility service, 100% air-conditioned facilities, epoxy-coated ESD concrete slab floors, overhead power distribution bars in the manufacturing area, emergency power, 25-28’ clear heights, fully calculated and ESFR sprinkler systems.

The acquisition by OMP in December 2008 was their first industrial acquisition in Northern California. OMP will continue to strategically acquire assets in Northern California as well as in other markets in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Assets that will be targeted include: vacant buildings, buildings with roll-over risk within the first two years, asset repositioning and re-development. OMP through its investment fund OMP Industrial III acquires industrial assets on an all cash basis.

OMP was represented by Rob Shannon, Joe Kelley and Ben Knight of CBRE and Greig Lagomarsino of Colliers International and Solyndra was represented by John Olenchalk of GVA Kidder Mathews. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Arizona Planning $735 Milion Sale Leaseback of State Buildings

New York Times - October 20, 2009

A tentative plan to implement a budget-balancing maneuver by raising $735 million from investors calls for allowing individuals and institutions to buy securities that would be backed by collateral consisting of a bulk package of prisons and other state buildings, officials said Monday.

The Department of Administration said it intends to implement the sale-leaseback strategy by assembling all the properties in a package that would be "nominally sold" to investors as part of securities sales in January.

The securities -- certificates of participation -- would entitle investors to proportional shares of annual lease payments by the state for up to 20 years.

Under the budget legislation signed into law by Gov. Brewer on Sept. 4, ownership of the properties would revert to the state at the end of the lease.

The financing arrangement is a key element of a range of strategies which Brewer and legislators used to close a projected $3 billion shortfall. However, the state still faces a projected $1.5 billion midyear gap because Brewer vetoed part of the budget and because of still-slumping revenue and a deficit carried forward from the last fiscal year.

Though state officials have tentatively settled on an approach to use to implement the budget strategy through the sale of certificates of participation, they also are open to any suggested alternatives, said department Comptroller Clark Partridge said. "We're looking for the best deal for Arizona."

The properties included on a tentative list for use in the budget plan range from a park visitor center to the House and Senate buildings and various prisons.

The nature of the assets -- they generally are properties the state could not or would not give up -- would provide some peace of mind to investors that the state intends to stick with the deal, department spokesman Alan Ecker.

Ecker said the state has received "hundreds of phone calls" from real estate brokers and others concerning the investment opportunity.

He declined to release a list of the callers, saying it was being treated as a confidential procurement matter. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, October 19, 2009

Eurohold Completes EUR 27 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ in Sofia

PropertyEU - October 16, 2009

Bulgarian industrial and financial group Eurohold has sold the Avto Union Centre office building in Sofia in a sale-and-leaseback transaction to private equity firm Bluehouse Capital Partners. The transaction price amounts to some EUR 27 mln.

Located on Christopher Columbus Boulevard, the scheme is currently 95%-let to Eurohold which will continue to use the property as its main headquarters. The scheme also houses the first car mall in Bulgaria with nine car brands and 47 different car models on display.

Eurohold said that it will use EUR 16.8 mln of proceeds from the sale to repay a construction loan to Piraeus Bank Bulgaria, while the remaining EUR 10.5 mln will be invested in its core business.

'The deal is part of the continuing efforts of Eurohold to divest non-core assets,' the company said. The accounting gain from the sale is EUR 7 mln, it added.

Focused on the South Eastern European markets, Bluehouse manages around EUR 320 mln of assets through three opportunity funds. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Virgin Blue Seeks Sale Leaseback of Brisbane HQ

Jones Lang LaSalle Web Site - October 16, 2009

Jones Lang LaSalle has been appointed to provide tenant representation and transaction management services for the Virgin Blue property portfolio in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands.

The three-year contract appoints Jones Lang LaSalle, Corporate Solutions, to handle all real estate transactions for the entire Virgin Blue property portfolio in the Asia Pacific region, which is made up of 144 individual leases, licences and owned assets.

This includes 131 in Australia, eight in New Zealand, and one each in Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Rarotonga and Papua New Guinea.

The first project for Jones Lang LaSalle will be to manage the sale of ‘Virgin Village’, Virgin Blue’s Brisbane Headquarters located at 56 Edmonstone Road, on a sale and leaseback arrangement.

The one-year-old campus style headquarters is made up of three buildings totalling 13,220 sqm net lettable area. ‘Virgin Village’ currently houses approximately 1,000 Virgin Blue employees. Virgin Blue will continue to occupy the entire campus.

Tony Wyllie, National Head, Corporate Solutions for Jones Lang LaSalle, said, “This important contract further strengthens Jones Lang LaSalle’s position in the Asia Pacific market as the only service provider that combines transactional expertise, facilities management with national, regional and global capabilities for clients.

“As part of a tailored corporate real estate solution for Virgin Blue, our specialist property services will support Virgin Blue’s core business and allow them to continue to focus on what they do best for their customers, as we use our expertise to make maximum use of their property portfolio,” he said. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, October 12, 2009

B&Q Agrees to "Blend and Extend" Deal on UK Store Portfolio to Reduce Costs

Property Week - October 9, 2009

B&Q and British Land have agreed a landmark lease transaction that will enable the retailer to reduce its costs and the landlord to improve property values. B&Q has reduced its rent by 10% at seven of its warehouse-format stores, in return for extending the lease length. The new arrangement allows B&Q to reduce its rent by 10% in exchange for taking on new 20-year leases with no breaks and rents linked to the Retail Prices Index (RPI).

After the 10% reduction the average rent is £14.85/sq ft. The transaction also includes a new lease at a mini-warehouse at Cwmbran in Wales. British Land bought the seven B&Q stores in a £198m purchase and leaseback in 2005. The seven stores total around 700,000 sq ft. B&Q has 330 stores in the UK and Ireland.

Iain Small, B&Q’s director of property acquisition and management, said: “This regear is in line with our company-wide policy to reduce costs across the business. We have achieved an immediate 10% rent reduction across seven key trading stores.” John Madison, director at British Land, said: “This meets our strategy to drive values and shape the portfolio into well-let, long-term investments.”

Martin Supple, joint head of out-of-town retail at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “This regear is a win-win solution for both parties. It shows opportunities exist in the current market for landlords to sit down with key tenants and find ways to help them reduce costs, while still enhancing their own capital asset value.”

B&Q hopes to enter into similar arrangements with other landlords. It believes that, by offering something in return, landlords will agree to a rent reduction. Parent company Kingfisher last month reported that B&Q’s UK and Ireland sales were up 1.2% and profit was up 66% for the 26-week period to 1 August, compared with the previous year.

David Childs, director of B&Q Properties, is to leave the business after 17 years. His responsibilities will be divided among the existing team. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Unicredit Completes EUR 1.1 Billion Sale Leaseback of Banking Properties in Italy

PropertyEU - October 5, 2009

Italian bank Unicredit has sold EUR 1.1 bn of property assets in two separate transactions in a bid to boost liquidity. The Milan-based lender is 'looking to reduce its property holdings from EUR 8.8 bn at present to around EUR 6 bn in the next two to three years,' Unicredit's Deputy CEO Paolo Fiorentino told Italian media during a press conference held to present the operation.

Unicredit has disposed of 13 properties for a total of EUR 574 mln, consisting of EUR 230 mln of equity and EUR 344 mln of bank financing. The assets, which have been sold to an investment vehicle managed by Italian fund manager Ream SGR, include trophy buildings such as the Milan headquarter of Banca di Roma in Piazza Edison and the head office of the former Credito Italiano in Genoa's Via Dante. The majority of the buildings will be leased back to Unicredit with rental contracts of six and 18 years. The bank realises a capital gain of EUR 110 mln through the transaction, it said.

The fund, with a life of 15 years, is targeting annual returns of 11%. It is 35%-controlled by several institutional investors including Fondazione Crt while Unicredit holds a further 35%, which it committed to sell by the first half of 2010.

The Milan-base lender is selling a further 179 properties in a EUR 530 mln sale and leaseback with fund manager Fimit. The properties will be transferred to Fimit's Omicron Plus fund, which was launched at the end of 2008 in tandem with the purchase of a first tranche of Unicredit properties for EUR 800 mln. The properties are fully let to the Italian bank with rental contracts of 18 years, with an option for a further six years. The operation results in capital gains of EUR 163 mln for Unicredit.

Finally, Unicredit has announced the sale of 3,200 units in the Omicron fund to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Real Estate for a total of EUR 78 mln. After the disposal, the Italian bank will have completed the sale of all its units in Omicron Plus. Sphere: Related Content

Acciona Seeking EUR 60 Million Sale Leaseback of Two Buildings in Madrid

PropertyEU - October 5, 2009

Spanish construction group Ferrovial has received a number of bids for its Madrid headquarters which would see the building taken over under a sale-and-leaseback structure. The firm is now considering the offers for the headquarters located at Principe de Vergara in the Spanish capital, a spokesperson for the company told news agency Reuters. Ferrovial is said to be targeting a price of EUR 43 mln for the building.

Separately, Spanish infrastructure and renewable energy company Acciona is said to have put on the market two of its buldings in the La Moraleja de Alcobendas business park in Madrid. According to an article in Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias, the building could fetch up to EUR 60 mln. The operation, which is being managed by CBRE, is planned as a sale-and-leaseback deal.

A number of Spanish companies have been trying to sell their properties over the past months in an effort to generate cash. Last week, Spain's second-largest bank BBVA unveiled the EUR 1.1 bn sale of its bank branch portfolio consisting of 948 assets. Spanish manufacturer Gallina Blanca Star also sold its head office in Barcelona this week to real estate firm Iberfindim, owned by the Fossati family, for around EUR 15 mln. Aguirre Newman advised the company in the sale process. Sphere: Related Content

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