PropertyEU - May 14, 2008
French property developer Icade has acquired two healthcare assets in Nantes for EUR 73 million from nursing home operator Vedici. The company bought the Polyclinique de l'Atlantique in Saint Herblain, France's leading maternity clinic with total capacity of 269 beds, and the Centre de Soins de Suite de Roz Arvor in Nantes with a capacity of 80 beds. The Vedici Group is leasing back the properties under a 12-year lease. Icade has a development portfolio of public and healthcare assets of about 205,000 m2. Other 158,000 m2 of space have already been brought to the market.
The French builder, which is chaired by Serge Grzybowski, added that it has been hired by Crédit Lyonnais’ bank LCL to construct its headquarters in Villejuif. LCL will rent back the Metropolitan office complex, which consists of 60,000 m2 of space across four buildings. The first asset is scheduled to be delivered in early 2009, while completion for the three others is expected for 2012.
In the beginning of May, Icade and its business partner ING Real Estate signed contracts with IVG to develop three buildings within the new Claude Bernard business park in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. The contracts are for the construction of 40,000 m2 of office space across three properties. Construction work is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2009, with completion in 2011. The company posted turnover of EUR 1.5bn in 2007.
Sphere: Related Content
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
AT&T Completes $275.2 Million Sale Leaseback of Atlanta Office Campus
Commercial Property News - May 9, 2008
Wells REIT II has acquired a five-building, 1 million-square-foot office campus in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, through a long-term sale-leaseback with AT&T. The campus will headquarter AT&T Wireless' operations in the city. The transaction's terms were not disclosed.
The property is located in the Lenox Park office park (pictured) on Lenox Park Boulevard, between Peachtree Road and Interstate 85. AT&T Services Inc. and its subsidiaries will occupy all five of the buildings under new leases running from 10 to 15 years. The buildings were constructed between 1992 and 2002 and range from four to 12 floors.
Jay Koster, senior managing director of Staubach Capital Markets, represented AT&T in the deal. Sphere: Related Content
Wells REIT II has acquired a five-building, 1 million-square-foot office campus in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, through a long-term sale-leaseback with AT&T. The campus will headquarter AT&T Wireless' operations in the city. The transaction's terms were not disclosed.
The property is located in the Lenox Park office park (pictured) on Lenox Park Boulevard, between Peachtree Road and Interstate 85. AT&T Services Inc. and its subsidiaries will occupy all five of the buildings under new leases running from 10 to 15 years. The buildings were constructed between 1992 and 2002 and range from four to 12 floors.
Jay Koster, senior managing director of Staubach Capital Markets, represented AT&T in the deal. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, May 09, 2008
Indian Overseas Bank Seeking Sale Leaseback of Bank Portfolio
Business Standard - May 7, 2008
High property prices have opened up new avenues for state-run banks to shore up their precious tier-I capital.
Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank is planning to sell its properties to self-promoted special purpose vehicle, thus realising the entire profit and then ploughing it back to its Tier-I capital. IOB will do a leaseback deal of properties that it had sold to the SPV.
According to the bank's estimates, the prices of its property has appreciated nearly 200 per cent over the last couple of years.
IOB has sought the approval of the finance ministry for implementing the idea, according to a top bank executive. If approved by the ministry, the government-owned bank's profit will soar by Rs 6 billion ($140 million) and the amount will be ploughed back to its Tier-I capital.
Banks are allowed to use 40 per cent of the rise in assets valuation to accrue to their Tier-II capital. In the current case, however, the bank will show the transaction as a sale and not revaluation. Hence the entire value of the property is accruable to its Tier-I capital.
The move followed a substantial depletion in the bank's capital adequacy ratio in the previous financial year as it had to comply with Basel-II norms. The capital adequacy ratio of the bank was 11.13 per cent as on March 31 compared with 13.27 per cent in the same period a year ago. The Tier-I capital stood at 7.31 per cent.
Since the government owns 61.23 per cent in the bank, it can dilute its stake to 51 per cent to raise equity capital. However, the bank is not considering a stake dilution at this point of time, the executive said.
Indian laws allow the state-owned banks to dilute up to 49 per cent governmental stake to retail and institutional investors. Sphere: Related Content
High property prices have opened up new avenues for state-run banks to shore up their precious tier-I capital.
Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank is planning to sell its properties to self-promoted special purpose vehicle, thus realising the entire profit and then ploughing it back to its Tier-I capital. IOB will do a leaseback deal of properties that it had sold to the SPV.
According to the bank's estimates, the prices of its property has appreciated nearly 200 per cent over the last couple of years.
IOB has sought the approval of the finance ministry for implementing the idea, according to a top bank executive. If approved by the ministry, the government-owned bank's profit will soar by Rs 6 billion ($140 million) and the amount will be ploughed back to its Tier-I capital.
Banks are allowed to use 40 per cent of the rise in assets valuation to accrue to their Tier-II capital. In the current case, however, the bank will show the transaction as a sale and not revaluation. Hence the entire value of the property is accruable to its Tier-I capital.
The move followed a substantial depletion in the bank's capital adequacy ratio in the previous financial year as it had to comply with Basel-II norms. The capital adequacy ratio of the bank was 11.13 per cent as on March 31 compared with 13.27 per cent in the same period a year ago. The Tier-I capital stood at 7.31 per cent.
Since the government owns 61.23 per cent in the bank, it can dilute its stake to 51 per cent to raise equity capital. However, the bank is not considering a stake dilution at this point of time, the executive said.
Indian laws allow the state-owned banks to dilute up to 49 per cent governmental stake to retail and institutional investors. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Orpea Ponders Sale Leaseback on Part of EUR 1.2 Billion French Care Home Portfolio
PropertyEU - May 5, 2008
French nursing home group Orpea said it plans to outsource part of its real estate portfolio in the second half of 2008. The company said it is considering different options, including the sale-and-leaseback of some of its development assets to one or more investors, and the direct sale of a number of properties. A third option would be to transfer part of the portfolio to a new OPCI property investment fund in which Orpea would retain a minimum of 60%.
The company added that it has already been approached by a number of French and foreign investors regarding the assets, but would not disclose the name of the interested parties.
Orpea, which made the announcement during the presentation of its results for the 2007 year, said that its property portfolio has a market value of EUR 1.2bn, of which development assets make up for EUR 350mln. The portfolio comprises of 103 buildings, of which 41 are partially owned, located in or near large towns in France.
'This real estate strategy aims to maintain robust margins while controlling the impact of rents on operating performance, in order to pursue the group's value creation policy,' the company said in a statement.
Orpea expects to open 13 new facilities totalling about 1,200 beds in 2008. The company is currently renovating or developing nearly 7,000 beds which are expected to increase its activities by 50% over the next three years. Sphere: Related Content
French nursing home group Orpea said it plans to outsource part of its real estate portfolio in the second half of 2008. The company said it is considering different options, including the sale-and-leaseback of some of its development assets to one or more investors, and the direct sale of a number of properties. A third option would be to transfer part of the portfolio to a new OPCI property investment fund in which Orpea would retain a minimum of 60%.
The company added that it has already been approached by a number of French and foreign investors regarding the assets, but would not disclose the name of the interested parties.
Orpea, which made the announcement during the presentation of its results for the 2007 year, said that its property portfolio has a market value of EUR 1.2bn, of which development assets make up for EUR 350mln. The portfolio comprises of 103 buildings, of which 41 are partially owned, located in or near large towns in France.
'This real estate strategy aims to maintain robust margins while controlling the impact of rents on operating performance, in order to pursue the group's value creation policy,' the company said in a statement.
Orpea expects to open 13 new facilities totalling about 1,200 beds in 2008. The company is currently renovating or developing nearly 7,000 beds which are expected to increase its activities by 50% over the next three years. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Citibank Completes $100 Million Sale Leaseback of 47 Bank Branches in New York City
Property Week - May 2, 2008
Dublin-based Markland holdings, jointly owned by Irish property entrepreneurs Sean Mulryan and Paddy Kelly, has made a $100m (£51m) New York purchase.
The investment and development group has bought 47 Citibank properties, which comprise bank branches and offices, across New York and the wider state that will be leased back to the bank. The price reflects a yield of around 6%.
Citibank will lease back the buildings for 15 years but has the right to occupy the properties for the next 30 years.
Markland Holdings is owned by Mulryan, founder of Ballymore, and Kelly, a fellow entrepreneur. It is run by managing director Aidan Scully. Mulryan first invested with Kelly in the late 1980s in Markland House Properties, before making his fortune with Ballymore in the 1990s.
Last year Ballymore International began equity raising through Irish stockbroker and investment bank Davy to raise more than €1bn (£785m) for overseas development and investments.
New York’s investment market is suffering from a seizure in debt markets and a stand-off between buyers and sellers that has resulted in a dramatic drop in sales – from $28.3bn (£14.3bn) during the first quarter of 2007 to just $5.1bn (£2.6bn) in 2008, according to Cushman and wakefield.
Markland could be trying to take advantage of this buyers’ market where UK and European investors can take advantage of the favourable exchange rate.
Savills Granite acted for Markland. Sphere: Related Content
Dublin-based Markland holdings, jointly owned by Irish property entrepreneurs Sean Mulryan and Paddy Kelly, has made a $100m (£51m) New York purchase.
The investment and development group has bought 47 Citibank properties, which comprise bank branches and offices, across New York and the wider state that will be leased back to the bank. The price reflects a yield of around 6%.
Citibank will lease back the buildings for 15 years but has the right to occupy the properties for the next 30 years.
Markland Holdings is owned by Mulryan, founder of Ballymore, and Kelly, a fellow entrepreneur. It is run by managing director Aidan Scully. Mulryan first invested with Kelly in the late 1980s in Markland House Properties, before making his fortune with Ballymore in the 1990s.
Last year Ballymore International began equity raising through Irish stockbroker and investment bank Davy to raise more than €1bn (£785m) for overseas development and investments.
New York’s investment market is suffering from a seizure in debt markets and a stand-off between buyers and sellers that has resulted in a dramatic drop in sales – from $28.3bn (£14.3bn) during the first quarter of 2007 to just $5.1bn (£2.6bn) in 2008, according to Cushman and wakefield.
Markland could be trying to take advantage of this buyers’ market where UK and European investors can take advantage of the favourable exchange rate.
Savills Granite acted for Markland. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Empire Completes $428 Million Sale Leaseback of 61 Sobeys Grocery Stores Across Canada
Empire Company Web Site - April 22, 2008
Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) today announced that it and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Sobey Leased Properties Limited (“SLP”), have closed the sale of 61 retail properties to Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (“Crombie”). The properties represent approximately 3.3 million square feet of gross leasable area and consist of 40 freestanding grocery stores carrying various Sobeys banners and 21 strip plazas all of which are also anchored by Sobeys bannered grocery stores. The sale was previously announced by Empire on February 25, 2008.
The selling price in respect of the 61 properties was $428.5 million representing an effective capitalization rate of 8.12 percent before transaction costs. Empire received net cash proceeds on closing of approximately $271 million. The difference between the $428.5 million sale price and the net cash proceeds received on closing is related to funds used for the retirement of debt and for additional equity investment in Crombie, in addition to closing and transaction costs.
Empire has realized a pre-tax gain of approximately $165 million on closing of this transaction. The net cash proceeds from the transaction will be utilized by both Empire and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sobeys Inc., to repay bank indebtedness. Immediately following this transaction, Empire indirectly has a 47.8 percent ownership interest in Crombie.
Empire is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia with approximately $13.8 billion in annual revenue and $5.9 billion in assets. Empire’s key businesses include food retailing and related real estate. Sphere: Related Content
Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) today announced that it and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Sobey Leased Properties Limited (“SLP”), have closed the sale of 61 retail properties to Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (“Crombie”). The properties represent approximately 3.3 million square feet of gross leasable area and consist of 40 freestanding grocery stores carrying various Sobeys banners and 21 strip plazas all of which are also anchored by Sobeys bannered grocery stores. The sale was previously announced by Empire on February 25, 2008.
The selling price in respect of the 61 properties was $428.5 million representing an effective capitalization rate of 8.12 percent before transaction costs. Empire received net cash proceeds on closing of approximately $271 million. The difference between the $428.5 million sale price and the net cash proceeds received on closing is related to funds used for the retirement of debt and for additional equity investment in Crombie, in addition to closing and transaction costs.
Empire has realized a pre-tax gain of approximately $165 million on closing of this transaction. The net cash proceeds from the transaction will be utilized by both Empire and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sobeys Inc., to repay bank indebtedness. Immediately following this transaction, Empire indirectly has a 47.8 percent ownership interest in Crombie.
Empire is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia with approximately $13.8 billion in annual revenue and $5.9 billion in assets. Empire’s key businesses include food retailing and related real estate. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Cramo Group Closes Sale Leaseback of Nine Properties in Finland
Aberdeen Property Fund - April 21, 2008
Cramo has signed an agreement on the sale of its real estate properties in Finland
Cramo Plc has signed an agreement on the sale of nine of its real estate properties in Finland to Aberdeen Property Fund Finland K Ky and one or several companies owned by Aberdeen Property Fund Finland I Ky, and on the simultaneous leaseback of the properties with an initial fixed term of 10 years.
The properties include the headquarters of Cramo Plc located at Kalliosolantie 2, Vantaa. the transaction is expected to be closed in the end of April 2008. The resulting capital gain is estimated at roughly EUR 3.9 million, to be booked in other operating income of the Cramo Group during Q2 2008.
"The sale of the real estate properties in Finland follows Cramo's strategy on focusing on its core businesses. The transaction will release capital for the Group's growth strategy in equipment rental and modular space, while at the same time release Cramo's balance sheet from non-core assets. Sphere: Related Content
Cramo has signed an agreement on the sale of its real estate properties in Finland
Cramo Plc has signed an agreement on the sale of nine of its real estate properties in Finland to Aberdeen Property Fund Finland K Ky and one or several companies owned by Aberdeen Property Fund Finland I Ky, and on the simultaneous leaseback of the properties with an initial fixed term of 10 years.
The properties include the headquarters of Cramo Plc located at Kalliosolantie 2, Vantaa. the transaction is expected to be closed in the end of April 2008. The resulting capital gain is estimated at roughly EUR 3.9 million, to be booked in other operating income of the Cramo Group during Q2 2008.
"The sale of the real estate properties in Finland follows Cramo's strategy on focusing on its core businesses. The transaction will release capital for the Group's growth strategy in equipment rental and modular space, while at the same time release Cramo's balance sheet from non-core assets. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tesco Enters $407 Million Sale Leaseback of Six UK Supermarkets
Property Week - April 15, 2008
Tesco, in its results for the year to 23 February 2008, revealed it had completed a £207m sale and leaseback deal with PruPIM at a 4.8% yield. (Tesco reportedly agreed to lease back the properties for 20 years with annual rent reviews linked to the Retail Prices Index and capped at 3.5 percent per annum.)
The deal is the third since Tesco revealed a new £5bn property plan last year which took the total earmarked for property sale and leasebacks and joint ventures to close to £9bn. It completed two transactions in 2007 which raised £1.2bn for the supermarket giant.
The first of these deals, with the British Airways Pension Fund, was a £445m deal completed at the end of the 2006/7 financial year. The second, a £650m deal with British Land, completed in March 2007.
Tesco said in a statement: ‘Whilst yields have increased modestly in recent months, appetite for Tesco's property and covenant remains strong, and if market conditions remain conducive, we expect to be able to complete further transactions on attractive terms in the months ahead. It added: ‘We are currently in discussion with potential counterparties.’
The proceeds from the property deals will be used to fund expansion and its share buy-back programme - which has so far re-purchased Tesco shares worth over £1.1bn.
The net book value of Tesco’s fixed assets is £19.8bn, up from around £17bn estimated last year. Most of this value is in its freehold store portfolio. It estimates the current market value to be £31bn, representing a 57% premium to book value. Sphere: Related Content
Tesco, in its results for the year to 23 February 2008, revealed it had completed a £207m sale and leaseback deal with PruPIM at a 4.8% yield. (Tesco reportedly agreed to lease back the properties for 20 years with annual rent reviews linked to the Retail Prices Index and capped at 3.5 percent per annum.)
The deal is the third since Tesco revealed a new £5bn property plan last year which took the total earmarked for property sale and leasebacks and joint ventures to close to £9bn. It completed two transactions in 2007 which raised £1.2bn for the supermarket giant.
The first of these deals, with the British Airways Pension Fund, was a £445m deal completed at the end of the 2006/7 financial year. The second, a £650m deal with British Land, completed in March 2007.
Tesco said in a statement: ‘Whilst yields have increased modestly in recent months, appetite for Tesco's property and covenant remains strong, and if market conditions remain conducive, we expect to be able to complete further transactions on attractive terms in the months ahead. It added: ‘We are currently in discussion with potential counterparties.’
The proceeds from the property deals will be used to fund expansion and its share buy-back programme - which has so far re-purchased Tesco shares worth over £1.1bn.
The net book value of Tesco’s fixed assets is £19.8bn, up from around £17bn estimated last year. Most of this value is in its freehold store portfolio. It estimates the current market value to be £31bn, representing a 57% premium to book value. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, April 11, 2008
Australian Defence Housing Authority Defers Sale Leaseback Program
The Australian - April 10, 2008
The Defence Housing Authority plans to sell $200-300 million worth of housing to pension funds and institutional investors in the next six months. DHA managing director Michael Del Gigante said: "We are holding off because of the current credit crunch and the decline in the listed property sector. "We are watching the market and getting ready to hold another tender, probably in the next six months," he said. Mr Del Gigante expects liquidity to improve in time, allowing for DHA to go back to the market to raise capital.
The Authority made its first sale to an institution in 2006, when Westpac won the tender to buy 441 houses in two tranches for a total of $220 million, which seeded Westpac's first unlisted residential trust.
Some institutions were looking for up to a billion dollars worth of assets to set up residential funds, but Mr Del Gigante said DHA would not have enough stock in its inventory to meet their requirement. The authority produces 1500 new houses a year for sale and lease-back.
"In order to meet DHA's growing capital program, I expect the volume of sale and lease-back to grow to between $400 and $500 million a year in the next three to five years." Mr Del Gigante said DHA, set up two decades ago to develop and provide housing to defence personnel, had been raising between $300 and $400 million a year from the program.
However, sales dropped to $270-300 million this financial year because of the weakness in the market, so the DHA held off making a bulk sale. Between 60 and 70 per cent of its capital program is channelled into refurbishment and maintenance of its pool of 17,000 houses across Australia, which are worth about $6 billion.
DHA leases back properties for up to 15 years. The standard lease terms are nine or 12 years, with an option for a three-year extension. At the end of 15 years, the houses are usually redeveloped. Investors are able to resell the houses while they are still leased to DHA, but the lease has to be attached to the sale. Independent valuers set market-based rents for the properties. Currently, the rents range from $370 to under $700 a week, depending on the location and the state or territory. Sphere: Related Content
The Defence Housing Authority plans to sell $200-300 million worth of housing to pension funds and institutional investors in the next six months. DHA managing director Michael Del Gigante said: "We are holding off because of the current credit crunch and the decline in the listed property sector. "We are watching the market and getting ready to hold another tender, probably in the next six months," he said. Mr Del Gigante expects liquidity to improve in time, allowing for DHA to go back to the market to raise capital.
The Authority made its first sale to an institution in 2006, when Westpac won the tender to buy 441 houses in two tranches for a total of $220 million, which seeded Westpac's first unlisted residential trust.
Some institutions were looking for up to a billion dollars worth of assets to set up residential funds, but Mr Del Gigante said DHA would not have enough stock in its inventory to meet their requirement. The authority produces 1500 new houses a year for sale and lease-back.
"In order to meet DHA's growing capital program, I expect the volume of sale and lease-back to grow to between $400 and $500 million a year in the next three to five years." Mr Del Gigante said DHA, set up two decades ago to develop and provide housing to defence personnel, had been raising between $300 and $400 million a year from the program.
However, sales dropped to $270-300 million this financial year because of the weakness in the market, so the DHA held off making a bulk sale. Between 60 and 70 per cent of its capital program is channelled into refurbishment and maintenance of its pool of 17,000 houses across Australia, which are worth about $6 billion.
DHA leases back properties for up to 15 years. The standard lease terms are nine or 12 years, with an option for a three-year extension. At the end of 15 years, the houses are usually redeveloped. Investors are able to resell the houses while they are still leased to DHA, but the lease has to be attached to the sale. Independent valuers set market-based rents for the properties. Currently, the rents range from $370 to under $700 a week, depending on the location and the state or territory. Sphere: Related Content
Sainsbury Completes £191 Million Sale Leaseback of Four UK Distribution Centers
Property Week - April 9, 2008
Sainsbury’s has completed a £191m sale and leaseback deal on four of its distribution depots.
The money raised by the deals will be invested back into the supermarket’s property portfolio.
The deals, tipped in Property Week (23.11.07), have now completed. The four sites are:
•Tamworth, 423,494 sq ft, sold to BAE Capital Pension Fund Trustees for £38.5m
•Stoke, 561,203 sq ft sold to Canada Life for £40m
•Haydock, 626,624 sq ft sold to clients of Mutual Finance for £42.7m
•Hams Hall, 783,344 sq ft sold to Christian Vision for £70.1m.
All four deals have been secured on 25 year leases to Sainsbury’s with an average yield of 5.74%.
The move forms part of Sainsbury’s plans to actively manage its estate to ensure it maximises the value of each property.
Peter Baguley, Sainsbury’s property director said: ‘These are great deals for us and demonstrate the attractiveness of the Sainsbury’s covenant as we have managed to secure competitive terms during a set of very difficult market conditions. ‘It also demonstrates our continued commitment to supporting our operating business through delivering the active property strategy we set out a year ago.’
He said that the supermarket was also looking at options for a number of its other sites, particularly at the potential for redevelopment.
He added: ‘Where we have done as much as we can with a site, we see no reason to hold it freehold – it’s a dry asset. We’ve found that there’s a hardcore of good demand for good assets – not as much as a year ago but it’s still there.’
Sainsbury’s were advised on the deal by Cushman & Wakefield. Kitchen LaFrenais Morgan advised BAE; Atisreal advised Canada Life; Morgan Williams advised Mutual Finance and CGBA advised Christian Vision. Sphere: Related Content
Sainsbury’s has completed a £191m sale and leaseback deal on four of its distribution depots.
The money raised by the deals will be invested back into the supermarket’s property portfolio.
The deals, tipped in Property Week (23.11.07), have now completed. The four sites are:
•Tamworth, 423,494 sq ft, sold to BAE Capital Pension Fund Trustees for £38.5m
•Stoke, 561,203 sq ft sold to Canada Life for £40m
•Haydock, 626,624 sq ft sold to clients of Mutual Finance for £42.7m
•Hams Hall, 783,344 sq ft sold to Christian Vision for £70.1m.
All four deals have been secured on 25 year leases to Sainsbury’s with an average yield of 5.74%.
The move forms part of Sainsbury’s plans to actively manage its estate to ensure it maximises the value of each property.
Peter Baguley, Sainsbury’s property director said: ‘These are great deals for us and demonstrate the attractiveness of the Sainsbury’s covenant as we have managed to secure competitive terms during a set of very difficult market conditions. ‘It also demonstrates our continued commitment to supporting our operating business through delivering the active property strategy we set out a year ago.’
He said that the supermarket was also looking at options for a number of its other sites, particularly at the potential for redevelopment.
He added: ‘Where we have done as much as we can with a site, we see no reason to hold it freehold – it’s a dry asset. We’ve found that there’s a hardcore of good demand for good assets – not as much as a year ago but it’s still there.’
Sainsbury’s were advised on the deal by Cushman & Wakefield. Kitchen LaFrenais Morgan advised BAE; Atisreal advised Canada Life; Morgan Williams advised Mutual Finance and CGBA advised Christian Vision. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Amcol Enters $34 Million Build-to-Suit for New HQ Near Chicago
Crain's Chicago Real Estate Daily - April 7, 2008
Arlington Heights-based Amcol International Corp. is moving its headquarters to a new building in the Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates in a $33.57-million sale/leaseback deal.
Amcol, an industrial clay processor, has been headquartered since 1987 at 1500 W. Shure Drive in Arlington Heights, where it leases about 48,000 square feet, says Gary Castagna, Amcol's chief financial officer.
Adjacent to that building, the firm also leases 18,000 square feet of research and development space at 1350 W. Shure Drive, he says.
Amcol bought the land for its new headquarters, a 72,000-square-foot building at 2370 Forbs Ave. in Hoffman Estates. The company sold the site to Boston-based CRIC Capital LLC, a joint venture between Prudential Real Estate Investors and Corporate Realty Investment Co. The venture is constructing the building. Amcol hopes to move in by Nov.1, Mr. Castagna says.
As part of the deal, which closed March 12, Amcol agreed to lease back the completed two-story building for 20 years. Mr. Castagna says the move allows the company to consolidate its offices and research facility into one building.
"It just seemed like the right setup for us," he says.
CRIC Capital paid about $466 per square foot for Amcol's new building in Prairie Stone, the 780-acre mixed-use development near Interstate 90 and State Route 59 in Hoffman Estates. Marjorie Palace, a managing partner at CRIC Capital, couldn't be reached for comment.
CRIC financed the transaction with a $33.57-million loan from Greenwich Capital Financial Products Inc., a subsidiary of Edinburgh, Scotland-based Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC. Sphere: Related Content
Arlington Heights-based Amcol International Corp. is moving its headquarters to a new building in the Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates in a $33.57-million sale/leaseback deal.
Amcol, an industrial clay processor, has been headquartered since 1987 at 1500 W. Shure Drive in Arlington Heights, where it leases about 48,000 square feet, says Gary Castagna, Amcol's chief financial officer.
Adjacent to that building, the firm also leases 18,000 square feet of research and development space at 1350 W. Shure Drive, he says.
Amcol bought the land for its new headquarters, a 72,000-square-foot building at 2370 Forbs Ave. in Hoffman Estates. The company sold the site to Boston-based CRIC Capital LLC, a joint venture between Prudential Real Estate Investors and Corporate Realty Investment Co. The venture is constructing the building. Amcol hopes to move in by Nov.1, Mr. Castagna says.
As part of the deal, which closed March 12, Amcol agreed to lease back the completed two-story building for 20 years. Mr. Castagna says the move allows the company to consolidate its offices and research facility into one building.
"It just seemed like the right setup for us," he says.
CRIC Capital paid about $466 per square foot for Amcol's new building in Prairie Stone, the 780-acre mixed-use development near Interstate 90 and State Route 59 in Hoffman Estates. Marjorie Palace, a managing partner at CRIC Capital, couldn't be reached for comment.
CRIC financed the transaction with a $33.57-million loan from Greenwich Capital Financial Products Inc., a subsidiary of Edinburgh, Scotland-based Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
SunTrust Completes $736 Million Sale Leaseback of 433 Bank Branch Portfolio
Cityfeet / GlobeSt.com - April 7, 2008
Two affiliates of Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. Inc., based here, have completed the third and final closing of two portfolios for a total of $736 million from SunTrust Bank, a subsidiary of SunTrust Banks Inc., headquartered in Atlanta. The two affiliates acquired a total of 433 triple-net lease properties with nearly 2.3 million sf. Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc. recently closed on the final portion of the two portfolios, which includes 143 single tenant, triple-net lease properties for $230 million.
The affiliates had previously closed on 218 properties on Dec. 10, 2007 and 72 properties 10 days later, says Joe Cosenza, president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions. The cap rate for the acquisition of the two portfolios is approximately 7.25%, Cosenza tells GlobeSt.com.
There are 159 locations in Florida, 74 locations each in Georgia and North Carolina, 43 locations in Tennessee, and 12 locations in South Carolina with the rest in Alabama, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, Cosenza tells GlobeSt.com. Inland paid $93.7 million in cash and received a $281.2 million loan from LaSalle Bank NA, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on the portfolio acquisition. The interest-only loan matures Dec. 10, 2008, according to the filing.
SunTrust was looking to sell the portfolios for the same reasons a lot of banks and corporations are doing the same, Cosenza says. SunTrust did not want to “hold or own all of this real estate when the only thing you can do on your books is depreciate it every year,” he says. SunTrust builds approximately 40 to 50 branches each year. “Some of this money was actually put into a tax deferred exchange so they can apply it to the new facilities they are going to be building,” he says.
The majority of the properties in the two portfolios are retail bank facilities that are between 2,000 sf and 6,000 sf, Cosenza says. There are eight bank locations that also have some office space that average between 10,000 sf and 13,000 sf, he says. Additionally, there is a 78,308-sf data center in Virginia.
SunTrust Bank will lease all of the retail bank facilities for 10 years, with a 10-year renewal option and then subsequent five-year renewal options. The average rent is $23.34 per sf net with an annual 1.5% base rent increase, Cosenza tells GlobeSt.com. Inland was interested in the portfolio because “I have smaller type properties, in almost every case, (that) I can re-lease to any number of tenants who would love this kind of drive-up facility, including other banks,” Cosenza says.
Inland considers SunTrust a quality tenant. “We have over $25 billion in deposits at these locations,” Cosenza says. “These are very healthy retail branch locations.” SunTrust is also a subsidiary of a company with an S&P credit rating of AA- and that has “more than $18 billion in stockholder equity and they had virtually no sub-prime loans,” he says. Sphere: Related Content
Two affiliates of Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. Inc., based here, have completed the third and final closing of two portfolios for a total of $736 million from SunTrust Bank, a subsidiary of SunTrust Banks Inc., headquartered in Atlanta. The two affiliates acquired a total of 433 triple-net lease properties with nearly 2.3 million sf. Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc. recently closed on the final portion of the two portfolios, which includes 143 single tenant, triple-net lease properties for $230 million.
The affiliates had previously closed on 218 properties on Dec. 10, 2007 and 72 properties 10 days later, says Joe Cosenza, president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions. The cap rate for the acquisition of the two portfolios is approximately 7.25%, Cosenza tells GlobeSt.com.
There are 159 locations in Florida, 74 locations each in Georgia and North Carolina, 43 locations in Tennessee, and 12 locations in South Carolina with the rest in Alabama, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, Cosenza tells GlobeSt.com. Inland paid $93.7 million in cash and received a $281.2 million loan from LaSalle Bank NA, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on the portfolio acquisition. The interest-only loan matures Dec. 10, 2008, according to the filing.
SunTrust was looking to sell the portfolios for the same reasons a lot of banks and corporations are doing the same, Cosenza says. SunTrust did not want to “hold or own all of this real estate when the only thing you can do on your books is depreciate it every year,” he says. SunTrust builds approximately 40 to 50 branches each year. “Some of this money was actually put into a tax deferred exchange so they can apply it to the new facilities they are going to be building,” he says.
The majority of the properties in the two portfolios are retail bank facilities that are between 2,000 sf and 6,000 sf, Cosenza says. There are eight bank locations that also have some office space that average between 10,000 sf and 13,000 sf, he says. Additionally, there is a 78,308-sf data center in Virginia.
SunTrust Bank will lease all of the retail bank facilities for 10 years, with a 10-year renewal option and then subsequent five-year renewal options. The average rent is $23.34 per sf net with an annual 1.5% base rent increase, Cosenza tells GlobeSt.com. Inland was interested in the portfolio because “I have smaller type properties, in almost every case, (that) I can re-lease to any number of tenants who would love this kind of drive-up facility, including other banks,” Cosenza says.
Inland considers SunTrust a quality tenant. “We have over $25 billion in deposits at these locations,” Cosenza says. “These are very healthy retail branch locations.” SunTrust is also a subsidiary of a company with an S&P credit rating of AA- and that has “more than $18 billion in stockholder equity and they had virtually no sub-prime loans,” he says. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Bank of America Seeking Sale Leaseback of Chicago Landmark
Commercial Property News - April 3, 2008
Bank of America Corp. is reportedly putting the 135 S. LaSalle St. building in Downtown Chicago on the block. If all goes according to plan, the bank will then lease back the space it occupies in the building--most of its total of 1.25 million square feet.
The building, one of the last built in Chicago before the Great Depression put a halt to commercial development in the city for many years, had previously been owned by ABN AMRO, former parent of Chicago-based LaSalle Bank. When the consortium of Fortis N.V., The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.AU.K. bought the Dutch ABN AMRO last year, part of the deal was the sale of LaSalle Bank (along with the building) to San Francisco-based Bank of America.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Bank of America has a long-standing policy of selling off real estate it acquires during its frequent M&A activity, and then leasing the space back for continued operations. Bank of America Corp. has hired Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. to take the property to market.
The prospect of such a major Central Loop office property on the market comes at a time of a lull in investment sales in Chicago that's attributed to the credit squeeze. Still, office space absorption and occupancy rates have been up in Downtown Chicago recently, which may bode well for attracting buyers for a building such as 135 S. LaSalle.
According to Grubb & Ellis Co., some 2.3 million square feet of Downtown Chicago office space was absorbed in 2007, the most since 2001. Vacancies stand at 13.3 percent in the Central Loop--the lowest of any Downtown submarket, and tied with North Michigan Ave.--and at 13.9 percent in the Loop as a whole. Sphere: Related Content
Bank of America Corp. is reportedly putting the 135 S. LaSalle St. building in Downtown Chicago on the block. If all goes according to plan, the bank will then lease back the space it occupies in the building--most of its total of 1.25 million square feet.
The building, one of the last built in Chicago before the Great Depression put a halt to commercial development in the city for many years, had previously been owned by ABN AMRO, former parent of Chicago-based LaSalle Bank. When the consortium of Fortis N.V., The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.AU.K. bought the Dutch ABN AMRO last year, part of the deal was the sale of LaSalle Bank (along with the building) to San Francisco-based Bank of America.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Bank of America has a long-standing policy of selling off real estate it acquires during its frequent M&A activity, and then leasing the space back for continued operations. Bank of America Corp. has hired Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. to take the property to market.
The prospect of such a major Central Loop office property on the market comes at a time of a lull in investment sales in Chicago that's attributed to the credit squeeze. Still, office space absorption and occupancy rates have been up in Downtown Chicago recently, which may bode well for attracting buyers for a building such as 135 S. LaSalle.
According to Grubb & Ellis Co., some 2.3 million square feet of Downtown Chicago office space was absorbed in 2007, the most since 2001. Vacancies stand at 13.3 percent in the Central Loop--the lowest of any Downtown submarket, and tied with North Michigan Ave.--and at 13.9 percent in the Loop as a whole. Sphere: Related Content
Rexel Enters Sale Leaseback of Warehouse Portfolio in France
Gecina Web Site - April 3, 2008
GECINA is acquiring four logistics platforms in France from REXEL, representing a total surface area of nearly 76,000 sq.m.
This acquisition is part of a sale and leaseback operation with REXEL FRANCE, a subsidiary of the REXEL group, the world's leading distributor of electrical equipment, and is combined with the signature of commercial leases.
The four logistics platforms, located in Nancy-Champigneulles (East), Rouen-Grand-Quevilly (Normandy), Orl€ans-Meung-sur-Loire (Center) and Marseille-Miramas (South) offer surface areas from 15,800 sq.m up to around 26,000 sq.m. These assets are all located in key logistics centers and on major transport hubs.
GECINA has also signed a firm agreement with a view to acquiring a further three platforms from REXEL FRANCE shortly, with a total surface area of approximately 48,000 sq.m. Sphere: Related Content
GECINA is acquiring four logistics platforms in France from REXEL, representing a total surface area of nearly 76,000 sq.m.
This acquisition is part of a sale and leaseback operation with REXEL FRANCE, a subsidiary of the REXEL group, the world's leading distributor of electrical equipment, and is combined with the signature of commercial leases.
The four logistics platforms, located in Nancy-Champigneulles (East), Rouen-Grand-Quevilly (Normandy), Orl€ans-Meung-sur-Loire (Center) and Marseille-Miramas (South) offer surface areas from 15,800 sq.m up to around 26,000 sq.m. These assets are all located in key logistics centers and on major transport hubs.
GECINA has also signed a firm agreement with a view to acquiring a further three platforms from REXEL FRANCE shortly, with a total surface area of approximately 48,000 sq.m. Sphere: Related Content
NHS Ponders Multi-Billion Pound Sale Leaseback of London Hospitals
Times Online - April 5, 2008
Ministers have begun a review of London NHS property in a move that could lead to the sale of some or all of the capital’s biggest hospitals to raise billions of pounds for new projects.
The Times has learnt that the London strategic health authority, which includes the 31 primary healthcare trusts in the city, has hired investment bankers to advise it on the options. The NHS has one of the largest property estates in Europe, valued at more than £23 billion.
In London the huge and ageing property portfolio comprises nearly 100 hospitals and hundreds of smaller sites, which together cost £700 million a year to maintain. The review follows Gordon Brown’s plan to reap billions from selling off a swath of the Government’s £337 billion of assets.
The capital has 32 large acute hospitals, and 206,000 doctors, nurses and other NHS staff are deployed in the city. If the London NHS review proved successful, the model could be replicated across other NHS healthcare trusts around the country. “They are sitting on all this property and it is all such a waste,” one source said.
The most likely London options would include the Government selling off some of the prime hospital real estate in a process known as “sale and leaseback”, which would leave the NHS trust paying rent to the new owners for the continued lease of the building. Another option being considered is “securitisation”, where the Government would bundle together packages of buildings and use them as collateral to raise money in the markets, although that would leave the Government with a huge pile of debt.
But it is not just hospitals that are attractive for potential investors. The Times was told that the NHS was also sitting on vast plots of unused land and outbuildings that could be handed over to developers. Sphere: Related Content
Ministers have begun a review of London NHS property in a move that could lead to the sale of some or all of the capital’s biggest hospitals to raise billions of pounds for new projects.
The Times has learnt that the London strategic health authority, which includes the 31 primary healthcare trusts in the city, has hired investment bankers to advise it on the options. The NHS has one of the largest property estates in Europe, valued at more than £23 billion.
In London the huge and ageing property portfolio comprises nearly 100 hospitals and hundreds of smaller sites, which together cost £700 million a year to maintain. The review follows Gordon Brown’s plan to reap billions from selling off a swath of the Government’s £337 billion of assets.
The capital has 32 large acute hospitals, and 206,000 doctors, nurses and other NHS staff are deployed in the city. If the London NHS review proved successful, the model could be replicated across other NHS healthcare trusts around the country. “They are sitting on all this property and it is all such a waste,” one source said.
The most likely London options would include the Government selling off some of the prime hospital real estate in a process known as “sale and leaseback”, which would leave the NHS trust paying rent to the new owners for the continued lease of the building. Another option being considered is “securitisation”, where the Government would bundle together packages of buildings and use them as collateral to raise money in the markets, although that would leave the Government with a huge pile of debt.
But it is not just hospitals that are attractive for potential investors. The Times was told that the NHS was also sitting on vast plots of unused land and outbuildings that could be handed over to developers. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sainsbury Agrees to £1.2 Billion Sale Leaseback of 38 UK Supermarkets
Telegraph - March 27, 2008
Supermarket chain J Sainsbury has struck a £1.2bn property deal with developer British Land by placing 38 of its stores into a joint venture.
The purpose of the deal is to improve those stores, which were owned by British Land and leased back to Sainbury's on 20-year agreements, through extensions and developments. Sainsbury's chief executive, Justin King, has been under pressure to extract more value from its property portfolio.
Twenty-five of the 38 stores, which are valued at £1.2bn, have already been earmarked for expansion, increasing net selling area by about 500,000 sq ft. The joint venture also owns one Waitrose store.
Sainbury's is investing £273m into the 10-year partnership, and said that the deal was in line with its strategy of increasing control of those supermarkets which have development potential, while selling off its fully developed stores.
Last year the retailer came under pressure from 5pc shareholder Robert Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur, to sell off its freehold property and return cash to shareholders.
Referring to the joint venture, Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King, said: "This venture is an excellent opportunity for Sainsbury's to increase our interest in the future extension and development of many of our most important stores. "This will enable us to enhance the customer offer, increasing both the trading and property value of these assets."
British Land is the biggest owner of supermarkets, after retailers themselves, in the UK. Its total supermarket portfolio includes 97 stores, valued at £1.96bn. Sphere: Related Content
Supermarket chain J Sainsbury has struck a £1.2bn property deal with developer British Land by placing 38 of its stores into a joint venture.
The purpose of the deal is to improve those stores, which were owned by British Land and leased back to Sainbury's on 20-year agreements, through extensions and developments. Sainsbury's chief executive, Justin King, has been under pressure to extract more value from its property portfolio.
Twenty-five of the 38 stores, which are valued at £1.2bn, have already been earmarked for expansion, increasing net selling area by about 500,000 sq ft. The joint venture also owns one Waitrose store.
Sainbury's is investing £273m into the 10-year partnership, and said that the deal was in line with its strategy of increasing control of those supermarkets which have development potential, while selling off its fully developed stores.
Last year the retailer came under pressure from 5pc shareholder Robert Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur, to sell off its freehold property and return cash to shareholders.
Referring to the joint venture, Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King, said: "This venture is an excellent opportunity for Sainsbury's to increase our interest in the future extension and development of many of our most important stores. "This will enable us to enhance the customer offer, increasing both the trading and property value of these assets."
British Land is the biggest owner of supermarkets, after retailers themselves, in the UK. Its total supermarket portfolio includes 97 stores, valued at £1.96bn. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Creative Technology Enters $250 Million Sale Leaseback of Singapore Office Building
The Business Times - March 25, 2008
Creative Technology said yesterday it has entered into an agreement with a buyer to sell and lease back its 11-year-old Singapore office building at International Business Park.
The sale price for the proposed transaction is $250 million. Creative will lease back the whole building for five years with an option for additional periods of three and two years, the company said in a statement, without disclosing the identity of the buyer.
Creative said it expects to make a gain of about $200 million from the transaction. It said that in accordance with US accounting standards, this amount will be treated as a deferred gain and will be amortised and recognised in the company's income statements over the lease term of five years.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to be completed by end-June.
Creative has owned its flagship Singapore building - called Creative Resource - since it was completed in 1997. The MP3 player and PC sound card specialist moved into the building from its Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate premises that year.
Creative Resource houses the company's headquarters operations and subsidiaries in Singapore. Sphere: Related Content
Creative Technology said yesterday it has entered into an agreement with a buyer to sell and lease back its 11-year-old Singapore office building at International Business Park.
The sale price for the proposed transaction is $250 million. Creative will lease back the whole building for five years with an option for additional periods of three and two years, the company said in a statement, without disclosing the identity of the buyer.
Creative said it expects to make a gain of about $200 million from the transaction. It said that in accordance with US accounting standards, this amount will be treated as a deferred gain and will be amortised and recognised in the company's income statements over the lease term of five years.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to be completed by end-June.
Creative has owned its flagship Singapore building - called Creative Resource - since it was completed in 1997. The MP3 player and PC sound card specialist moved into the building from its Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate premises that year.
Creative Resource houses the company's headquarters operations and subsidiaries in Singapore. Sphere: Related Content
Kia Union to Strike Over $250 Million Sale Leaseback of Korean Auto Plant
Tradingmarkets.com - March 23, 2008
The labor union of Kia Motors said Monday that it will strike to protest the management's decision to generate liquidity through a sales and lease-back arrangement of manufacturing assets at one of its plants, which may affect workers' job stability.
The strike protesting the sale and lease-back of Kia's Sohari plant is expected to affect production in Sohari, Hwaseong and Gwangju, and will go into effect on Tuesday.
The labor leader said the strike will be maintained indefinitely, unless the management reconsiders the Sohari deal, which the company claims generated 250 billion won (US$250.7 million) in liquidity.
The labor activist claimed that the management broke a standing pact with the union by generating funds in a manner that can affect production and hurt job stability.
Labor experts, meanwhile, said the decision by Kia labor leaders to strike may be controversial because there was no union-wide vote. The motion was passed by a gathering of union representatives of Kia.
Kia Motors Corp. is South Korea's second-largest carmaker, and is an affiliate of the giant Hyundai Motor Co. Sphere: Related Content
The labor union of Kia Motors said Monday that it will strike to protest the management's decision to generate liquidity through a sales and lease-back arrangement of manufacturing assets at one of its plants, which may affect workers' job stability.
The strike protesting the sale and lease-back of Kia's Sohari plant is expected to affect production in Sohari, Hwaseong and Gwangju, and will go into effect on Tuesday.
The labor leader said the strike will be maintained indefinitely, unless the management reconsiders the Sohari deal, which the company claims generated 250 billion won (US$250.7 million) in liquidity.
The labor activist claimed that the management broke a standing pact with the union by generating funds in a manner that can affect production and hurt job stability.
Labor experts, meanwhile, said the decision by Kia labor leaders to strike may be controversial because there was no union-wide vote. The motion was passed by a gathering of union representatives of Kia.
Kia Motors Corp. is South Korea's second-largest carmaker, and is an affiliate of the giant Hyundai Motor Co. Sphere: Related Content
Kodak Nearing $80 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ Office in Israel
Globes Online - March 23, 2008
Sources inform "Globes" that Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd. (TASE: HARL) is in negotiations to buy the 25,000-square meter Kodak Israel building in Kiryat Arie, Petah Tikva, for $80 million in a sell and lease-back deal.
The building was built for Kodak Israel Ltd. by SGS Construction Company Ltd., Electra Real Estate Ltd. (TASE:ELCRE), and Prashkovsky Investments and Construction Ltd. (TASE:PRSK). The building was opened ten months ago. Sphere: Related Content
Sources inform "Globes" that Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd. (TASE: HARL) is in negotiations to buy the 25,000-square meter Kodak Israel building in Kiryat Arie, Petah Tikva, for $80 million in a sell and lease-back deal.
The building was built for Kodak Israel Ltd. by SGS Construction Company Ltd., Electra Real Estate Ltd. (TASE:ELCRE), and Prashkovsky Investments and Construction Ltd. (TASE:PRSK). The building was opened ten months ago. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Quest Communications Seeking $200 Million Sale Leaseback of Seattle Office Tower
Seattle Times - March 20, 2008
Qwest Communications International plans to sell and lease back its Bell Plaza office building in downtown Seattle as it consolidates operations.
"We have about 1,600 employees in the building right now, and most of those would remain," Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said Wednesday. "We would probably see a couple of hundred employees move to other facilities in downtown Seattle."
The 33-story Bell Plaza is on the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and Olive Way. It has 531,771 net square feet, King County property records show. Toevs declined to give an asking price for the building.
The median sale price for office buildings in downtown Seattle last year was $390 a square foot, according to real-estate broker Cushman & Wakefield. That would value the Qwest building at about $207 million. Sphere: Related Content
Qwest Communications International plans to sell and lease back its Bell Plaza office building in downtown Seattle as it consolidates operations.
"We have about 1,600 employees in the building right now, and most of those would remain," Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said Wednesday. "We would probably see a couple of hundred employees move to other facilities in downtown Seattle."
The 33-story Bell Plaza is on the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and Olive Way. It has 531,771 net square feet, King County property records show. Toevs declined to give an asking price for the building.
The median sale price for office buildings in downtown Seattle last year was $390 a square foot, according to real-estate broker Cushman & Wakefield. That would value the Qwest building at about $207 million. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, March 21, 2008
Couche-Tard Enters $131 Million Sale Leaseback of 83 Convenience Stores
CNW Telbec - March 19, 2008
On December 21, 2007, through our subsidiaries Circle K Stores Inc. and Mac's Convenience Stores LLC., Couche-Tard entered into a sale and leaseback transaction with Cole Credit Property Trust II, Inc. relating to 83 properties for a total selling price of $131.4 million. The proceeds were used namely to reduce its term revolving unsecured operating credit. The properties sold are located in several states and are subject to lease agreements with an initial average term of 20 years. Sphere: Related Content
On December 21, 2007, through our subsidiaries Circle K Stores Inc. and Mac's Convenience Stores LLC., Couche-Tard entered into a sale and leaseback transaction with Cole Credit Property Trust II, Inc. relating to 83 properties for a total selling price of $131.4 million. The proceeds were used namely to reduce its term revolving unsecured operating credit. The properties sold are located in several states and are subject to lease agreements with an initial average term of 20 years. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Shinsei Bank Completes $1.18 Billion Sale Leaseback of Tokyo HQ
Japan Economy News & Blog - March 13, 2008
Apparently burdened by heavy subprime-related losses, Shinsei Bank has announced the sale of its Tokyo head offices to a real estate fund connected with Morgan Stanley. About a month ago, Morgan paid about $440 million to acquire Citibank’s Tokyo headquarters in Shinagawa. Shinsei’s headquarters, located across from Hibiya Park, went for about $1.18 billion.
Shinsei appears to be in a bit of trouble, with a steadily eroding share price - down about 34% since the end of January - and about $2 billion still owed to the Japanese government, thanks to a bailout about a decade ago, when the bank was known as Long Term Credit Bank.
Shinsei apparently intends to remain in the building for now (and hopefully they keep that Starbucks on the ground floor), but will be looking to move to a new location in about three years.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Resona Bank would also be putting their Tokyo headquarters up for sale, at a price in the $1.75 billion range. Resona is also burdened with repayment obligations to the government, and also intends to move office within the next few years. Resona’s share price has fallen about 16% since the beginning of 2008. Sphere: Related Content
Apparently burdened by heavy subprime-related losses, Shinsei Bank has announced the sale of its Tokyo head offices to a real estate fund connected with Morgan Stanley. About a month ago, Morgan paid about $440 million to acquire Citibank’s Tokyo headquarters in Shinagawa. Shinsei’s headquarters, located across from Hibiya Park, went for about $1.18 billion.
Shinsei appears to be in a bit of trouble, with a steadily eroding share price - down about 34% since the end of January - and about $2 billion still owed to the Japanese government, thanks to a bailout about a decade ago, when the bank was known as Long Term Credit Bank.
Shinsei apparently intends to remain in the building for now (and hopefully they keep that Starbucks on the ground floor), but will be looking to move to a new location in about three years.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Resona Bank would also be putting their Tokyo headquarters up for sale, at a price in the $1.75 billion range. Resona is also burdened with repayment obligations to the government, and also intends to move office within the next few years. Resona’s share price has fallen about 16% since the beginning of 2008. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Marks & Spencer Enters $403 Million Sale Leaseback of Property Portfolio
Global Pensions - March 10, 2008
Marks & Spencer has said it would put £200m (US$403m) into its defined benefit pension scheme over the next three years by increasing the amount of property, the fund had in its portfolio.
Marks & Spencer said it would place additional M&S properties into the fund with a current market value of approximately £400m. The decision was part of the funding plan agreed with the pension trustees to address the scheme’s deficit.
The properties would be leased back to Marks & Spencer and the fixed annual distribution profits to the pension fund would be increased from £50m to approximately £72m for the remaining 14 year period.
The arrangements enabled Marks & Spencer to fund the £200m contribution at an effective financing rate of approximately 6.1%.
The fund would also hold the enhanced partnership interest as part of its total investment portfolio. This would be worth around £700m and represent the net present value of the future distributions. Sphere: Related Content
Marks & Spencer has said it would put £200m (US$403m) into its defined benefit pension scheme over the next three years by increasing the amount of property, the fund had in its portfolio.
Marks & Spencer said it would place additional M&S properties into the fund with a current market value of approximately £400m. The decision was part of the funding plan agreed with the pension trustees to address the scheme’s deficit.
The properties would be leased back to Marks & Spencer and the fixed annual distribution profits to the pension fund would be increased from £50m to approximately £72m for the remaining 14 year period.
The arrangements enabled Marks & Spencer to fund the £200m contribution at an effective financing rate of approximately 6.1%.
The fund would also hold the enhanced partnership interest as part of its total investment portfolio. This would be worth around £700m and represent the net present value of the future distributions. Sphere: Related Content
Kopeyka Seeking $350 Million Sale Leaseback of Store Portfolio in Russia
Kamcity.com / NAMNEWS - March 10, 2008
Discount grocery Kopeyka is reportedly in talks with several investment funds to sell and leaseback some of its stores, according to a report in local paper RBC Daily, which cited a source at UralSib Financial Corporation, the biggest shareholder in Kopeyka. Kopeyka operated 438 stores, covering 224,000 sq m, as of early 2008.
The report said Kopeyka plans to sell retail space of around 100,000 sq m, in a deal that may be concluded very soon. It added that Troika Dialog's real estate investment fund is one of the potential buyers, which was confirmed by the fund, although it noted that no agreement has been reached.
The paper said the stores Kopeyka plans to sell are estimated at $350m-$450m. It has had to take the decision to generate funds, as the stock market crisis has made it difficult for Kopeyka to offer bonds as it had originally planned. The paper added that the deal could allow Kopeyka to finance its investment programme for 2008, under which it plans to open 130 stores. Sphere: Related Content
Discount grocery Kopeyka is reportedly in talks with several investment funds to sell and leaseback some of its stores, according to a report in local paper RBC Daily, which cited a source at UralSib Financial Corporation, the biggest shareholder in Kopeyka. Kopeyka operated 438 stores, covering 224,000 sq m, as of early 2008.
The report said Kopeyka plans to sell retail space of around 100,000 sq m, in a deal that may be concluded very soon. It added that Troika Dialog's real estate investment fund is one of the potential buyers, which was confirmed by the fund, although it noted that no agreement has been reached.
The paper said the stores Kopeyka plans to sell are estimated at $350m-$450m. It has had to take the decision to generate funds, as the stock market crisis has made it difficult for Kopeyka to offer bonds as it had originally planned. The paper added that the deal could allow Kopeyka to finance its investment programme for 2008, under which it plans to open 130 stores. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Kuehne + Nagel Agrees to €220 Million Sale leaseback of 22 Warehouses Across Europe
Kuehne + Nagel Web Site - March 4, 2008
Goodman’s European Logistics Fund (‘GELF’) and Kuehne + Nagel, a leading global logistics provider have entered into a sale and lease-back agreement for 22 warehouse locations. The total transaction value amounts to approximately € 220 million with an average lease-back period of five years. The mutually beneficial agreement allows GELF to enlarge its portfolio with assets at locations that are complementary to its existing stock, while Kuehne + Nagel is able to streamline its freehold portfolio in line with its global corporate real estate strategy.
Together with the 22 properties, GELF has also acquired 18.8 ha of undeveloped land reserves. The combined portfolio is spread over five European countries with ten assets in Germany, nine in France, and one in Spain, Belgium and Austria, respectively. The assets cover approximately 430,000 sqm of warehouse space.
Peter Davies, Director Logistics Funds for Goodman in Europe said: "This transaction provides us with a large number of assets in good locations such as the greater Berlin area as well as the Lyon, Ile de France and Madrid hubs. In addition, the excess land and some of the older properties will provide the Fund with enhanced returns as they are developed or refurbished. The completion of this acquisition means that the Fund's size since its launch in December 2006 has more than quadrupled."
CBRE acted as the advisor for this transaction, which is subject to various conditions precedent. The transaction is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2008.
With more than 51,000 employees at over 830 locations in 100 countries, the Kuehne + Nagel Group is one of the world’s leading logistics companies. Sphere: Related Content
Goodman’s European Logistics Fund (‘GELF’) and Kuehne + Nagel, a leading global logistics provider have entered into a sale and lease-back agreement for 22 warehouse locations. The total transaction value amounts to approximately € 220 million with an average lease-back period of five years. The mutually beneficial agreement allows GELF to enlarge its portfolio with assets at locations that are complementary to its existing stock, while Kuehne + Nagel is able to streamline its freehold portfolio in line with its global corporate real estate strategy.
Together with the 22 properties, GELF has also acquired 18.8 ha of undeveloped land reserves. The combined portfolio is spread over five European countries with ten assets in Germany, nine in France, and one in Spain, Belgium and Austria, respectively. The assets cover approximately 430,000 sqm of warehouse space.
Peter Davies, Director Logistics Funds for Goodman in Europe said: "This transaction provides us with a large number of assets in good locations such as the greater Berlin area as well as the Lyon, Ile de France and Madrid hubs. In addition, the excess land and some of the older properties will provide the Fund with enhanced returns as they are developed or refurbished. The completion of this acquisition means that the Fund's size since its launch in December 2006 has more than quadrupled."
CBRE acted as the advisor for this transaction, which is subject to various conditions precedent. The transaction is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2008.
With more than 51,000 employees at over 830 locations in 100 countries, the Kuehne + Nagel Group is one of the world’s leading logistics companies. Sphere: Related Content
Monday, March 03, 2008
UK Courts in £145 Million Build-to-Suit for Justice Center in Manchester
The Press Association - February 27, 2008
The Queen will visit the largest civil and family court to be built for more than 100 years in England and Wales.
Her visit will include the unveiling of a plaque at the official opening of the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, a new £145 million building in the city centre. The Queen will be accompanied by Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw and Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers.
The new courts building is a state of the art 14-storey landmark at the heart of Manchester's business area. The initial building costs of £110 million was paid by the developers, Allied London. It is then leased back to the government who effectively rent the building on a 35-year lease.
How much taxpayers money is spent renting the new building has not been disclosed as Her Majesty's Court Service say this is "commercially confidential." A spokesman said the rent was "competitive."
The Mondrian-style building was designed by Australian architects Denton Corker Marshall following an international design competition. Sphere: Related Content
The Queen will visit the largest civil and family court to be built for more than 100 years in England and Wales.
Her visit will include the unveiling of a plaque at the official opening of the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, a new £145 million building in the city centre. The Queen will be accompanied by Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw and Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers.
The new courts building is a state of the art 14-storey landmark at the heart of Manchester's business area. The initial building costs of £110 million was paid by the developers, Allied London. It is then leased back to the government who effectively rent the building on a 35-year lease.
How much taxpayers money is spent renting the new building has not been disclosed as Her Majesty's Court Service say this is "commercially confidential." A spokesman said the rent was "competitive."
The Mondrian-style building was designed by Australian architects Denton Corker Marshall following an international design competition. Sphere: Related Content
Regent Inns Seeking £25 Million in Sale Leaseback of Seven UK Bars
CatererSearch - March 3, 2008
Regents Inns has put seven of its Walkabout bars up for sale as part of a £25m sale and leaseback scheme. The seven bars are located in Barnsley, Blackpool, Derby, Exeter, Newquay, Shepherds Bush and Wigan.
Regent currently operates 50 Walkabout bars in its total estate of 98 sites which also includes the Jongleurs and Old Orleans brands. Bob Ivell, chairman of Regents Inns, said: “The sale and leaseback, together with our ongoing disposal of non core assets will deliver a more robust trading platform for the business going forward.”
Ivell added that all the sites were available with a 30 year lease structure which would provide sustainable rent levels while allowing room for reinvestment and development of the sites.
The operator is currently looking at ways to reduce its costs after it admitted to disappointing sales at the end of 2007 that had led to it entering early stage talks over the potential sale of the company. A sale and leaseback programme was one of the cost saving measures muted last month. Sphere: Related Content
Regents Inns has put seven of its Walkabout bars up for sale as part of a £25m sale and leaseback scheme. The seven bars are located in Barnsley, Blackpool, Derby, Exeter, Newquay, Shepherds Bush and Wigan.
Regent currently operates 50 Walkabout bars in its total estate of 98 sites which also includes the Jongleurs and Old Orleans brands. Bob Ivell, chairman of Regents Inns, said: “The sale and leaseback, together with our ongoing disposal of non core assets will deliver a more robust trading platform for the business going forward.”
Ivell added that all the sites were available with a 30 year lease structure which would provide sustainable rent levels while allowing room for reinvestment and development of the sites.
The operator is currently looking at ways to reduce its costs after it admitted to disappointing sales at the end of 2007 that had led to it entering early stage talks over the potential sale of the company. A sale and leaseback programme was one of the cost saving measures muted last month. Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Mervyn's Completes $400 Million Sale Leaseback of 39 Mervyn's Stores
CoStar Group - February 29, 2008
Shopping Mall REIT, Macerich (NYSE: MAC), is nearing completion on the acquisition of 43 Mervyn's department stores, totaling 3.4 million square feet, for $430 million. The transaction consummated at the end of 2007 and Macerich has already closed on 39 of the 43 stores for $400.2 million, the remainder will close this quarter. Leaseback terms include a 20-year initial term with extension options.
In its fourth quarter conference call, Arthur Coppola, president and CEO, said the portfolio sale-leaseback deal was one of the company's "most unique and diverse" deals. Coppola explained the company's decision to seize the opportunity; "Thirteen of these Mervyn's stores are located in Macerich malls. We immediately went to Mervyn's and the broker and attempted to buy those 13 stores because we certainly did not want to have a traditional buyer all of a sudden become the owner of the Mervyn's stores in our regional Centers. In many cases, large tracts of land were connected to the Mervyn's stores. As we got deeper into the transaction, we got more intrigued with it, because we realized that we will be able to buy both our stores as well as these others stores at a very attractive return. But, more importantly, we are able to open up redevelopment opportunities at all of our existing properties [giving] Mervyn's a restricted parking area surrounding their store...they essentially have given us Carte Blanche to do anything that we want at the center, which is a tremendous amount of redevelopment freedom that we have been able to obtain as a result."
Coppola said returns on the overall portfolio ended up "very attractive," at an average 7.25 percent. "This ranges from some of the centers internally on our books, in our minds being valued at 5% to 6% cap rates, to some of the strip center locations being valued at 9% and 10% returns," he said. In total, 30 of the stores are located in regional malls, while the balance are freestanding or part of community centers.
Aside those planned for redevelopment, Macerich expects to have disposed of most of the stores within the next 18 to 24 months.
Mervyn's operates 178 stores in eight southwest states. The retailer was bought from Target Corporation by private investors including Sun Capital and Cerberus Capital Management in 2004. It has since closed approximately 80 stores. Sphere: Related Content
Shopping Mall REIT, Macerich (NYSE: MAC), is nearing completion on the acquisition of 43 Mervyn's department stores, totaling 3.4 million square feet, for $430 million. The transaction consummated at the end of 2007 and Macerich has already closed on 39 of the 43 stores for $400.2 million, the remainder will close this quarter. Leaseback terms include a 20-year initial term with extension options.
In its fourth quarter conference call, Arthur Coppola, president and CEO, said the portfolio sale-leaseback deal was one of the company's "most unique and diverse" deals. Coppola explained the company's decision to seize the opportunity; "Thirteen of these Mervyn's stores are located in Macerich malls. We immediately went to Mervyn's and the broker and attempted to buy those 13 stores because we certainly did not want to have a traditional buyer all of a sudden become the owner of the Mervyn's stores in our regional Centers. In many cases, large tracts of land were connected to the Mervyn's stores. As we got deeper into the transaction, we got more intrigued with it, because we realized that we will be able to buy both our stores as well as these others stores at a very attractive return. But, more importantly, we are able to open up redevelopment opportunities at all of our existing properties [giving] Mervyn's a restricted parking area surrounding their store...they essentially have given us Carte Blanche to do anything that we want at the center, which is a tremendous amount of redevelopment freedom that we have been able to obtain as a result."
Coppola said returns on the overall portfolio ended up "very attractive," at an average 7.25 percent. "This ranges from some of the centers internally on our books, in our minds being valued at 5% to 6% cap rates, to some of the strip center locations being valued at 9% and 10% returns," he said. In total, 30 of the stores are located in regional malls, while the balance are freestanding or part of community centers.
Aside those planned for redevelopment, Macerich expects to have disposed of most of the stores within the next 18 to 24 months.
Mervyn's operates 178 stores in eight southwest states. The retailer was bought from Target Corporation by private investors including Sun Capital and Cerberus Capital Management in 2004. It has since closed approximately 80 stores. Sphere: Related Content
IHOP Planning $350 Million Sale Leaseback of 190 Applebee's Restaurants
IHOP Web Site - February 27, 2008
IHOP Corp. (NYSE: IHP) today provided financial guidance and highlighted key operational and financial benchmarks that will drive the performance of its IHOP and Applebee's businesses in fiscal 2008.
These benchmarks include the sale-leaseback of approximately 190 company-owned Applebee's restaurant locations as well as its Restaurant Support Center headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. These actions are expected to generate after-tax cash proceeds of approximately $350 million and approximately $40 million, respectively.
Based in Glendale, California, IHOP Corp. franchises and operates restaurants under the International House of Pancakes, or IHOP, and the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar brands. With more than 3,300 restaurants combined, IHOP Corp. is the largest full-service restaurant company in the world. Sphere: Related Content
IHOP Corp. (NYSE: IHP) today provided financial guidance and highlighted key operational and financial benchmarks that will drive the performance of its IHOP and Applebee's businesses in fiscal 2008.
These benchmarks include the sale-leaseback of approximately 190 company-owned Applebee's restaurant locations as well as its Restaurant Support Center headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. These actions are expected to generate after-tax cash proceeds of approximately $350 million and approximately $40 million, respectively.
Based in Glendale, California, IHOP Corp. franchises and operates restaurants under the International House of Pancakes, or IHOP, and the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar brands. With more than 3,300 restaurants combined, IHOP Corp. is the largest full-service restaurant company in the world. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sony Agrees to $1 Billion Sale Leaseback of European HQ in Berlin
February 28, 2008 - Reuters
Japanese consumer electronics maker Sony Corp said on Thursday that it has agreed to sell its European headquarters and entertainment complex in Berlin to a consortium led by Morgan Stanley-run funds.
Sony said it will remain as the main tenant in the eight-building Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz, which draws more than eight million visitors per year.
Morgan Stanley and Sony both declined to comment on the size and terms of the sale and leaseback, although a spokeswoman for Sony said the initial cost of the development was 750 million euros ($1.13 billion).
Reports put the size of the deal at between $940 million and $1.13 billion. Sphere: Related Content
Japanese consumer electronics maker Sony Corp said on Thursday that it has agreed to sell its European headquarters and entertainment complex in Berlin to a consortium led by Morgan Stanley-run funds.
Sony said it will remain as the main tenant in the eight-building Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz, which draws more than eight million visitors per year.
Morgan Stanley and Sony both declined to comment on the size and terms of the sale and leaseback, although a spokeswoman for Sony said the initial cost of the development was 750 million euros ($1.13 billion).
Reports put the size of the deal at between $940 million and $1.13 billion. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saint Vincent Signs 15-Year Lease for 64 Residences For Hospital Staff in Jersey City, NJ
Multi-Housing News - February 25, 2008
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent’s), the umbrella organization for several hospitals and healthcare facilities, has signed a 15-year lease with SK Properties, a Bridgewater, N.J.-based real estate company, for 65 apartments at Grove Pointe in downtown Jersey City, N.J. The lease is worth $34 million.
The residences in the 30-story luxury rental building, developed by SK Properties, is to be occupied by resident and intern physicians, doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel.
“Saint Vincent’s was unable to find a building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, close to the hospital facility, which is why they started looking at Jersey City,” says Jonathan Kushner, a principal of SK Properties.
Grove Pointe is a studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment complex accessible by the PATH trains from Saint Vincent’s location in Manhattan.
“We were very pleased to find an adequate number of residential units to meet our needs at Grove Pointe,” says James Woods, senior vice president, Real Estate Services at Saint Vincent’s. “The building is a short commute to the hospital.”
Rents for the studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments start at $1,950.
Amenities include outdoor landscaped deck with a pool and sundeck, fitness club, yoga studio, game room with billiard table, private screening room and catering kitchen. The building also has a 24-hour doorman and concierge, on-site parking garage, and 20,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space that is expected to include a Starbucks, Duane Reade Pharmacy and Valley National Bank. Sphere: Related Content
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent’s), the umbrella organization for several hospitals and healthcare facilities, has signed a 15-year lease with SK Properties, a Bridgewater, N.J.-based real estate company, for 65 apartments at Grove Pointe in downtown Jersey City, N.J. The lease is worth $34 million.
The residences in the 30-story luxury rental building, developed by SK Properties, is to be occupied by resident and intern physicians, doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel.
“Saint Vincent’s was unable to find a building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, close to the hospital facility, which is why they started looking at Jersey City,” says Jonathan Kushner, a principal of SK Properties.
Grove Pointe is a studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment complex accessible by the PATH trains from Saint Vincent’s location in Manhattan.
“We were very pleased to find an adequate number of residential units to meet our needs at Grove Pointe,” says James Woods, senior vice president, Real Estate Services at Saint Vincent’s. “The building is a short commute to the hospital.”
Rents for the studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments start at $1,950.
Amenities include outdoor landscaped deck with a pool and sundeck, fitness club, yoga studio, game room with billiard table, private screening room and catering kitchen. The building also has a 24-hour doorman and concierge, on-site parking garage, and 20,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space that is expected to include a Starbucks, Duane Reade Pharmacy and Valley National Bank. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, February 22, 2008
Coca Cola Enters $80 Million Sale Leaseback of Distribution Facility in Sydney
The Age - February 20, 2008
Goodman International Ltd says it has secured a 15-year commitment from Coca Cola Amatil Ltd (CCA) to develop its new western Sydney storage and distribution facility for $80 million.
The purpose-built CCA centre will be developed on a 9.25-hectare site at the 150-hectare M7 Business Hub at Eastern Creek. The CCA property will be owned by the Goodman Australia Industrial Fund (GAIF).
CCA purchased the land and has now has entered into a sale-and-lease back agreement for an initial term of 15 years on the 31,225-square-metre facility. The distribution centre is the second such facility Goodman has secured from CCA in recent years. The previous commitment included the initial development of a 27,399-square-metre storage and distribution facility in Mentone, Melbourne Sphere: Related Content
Goodman International Ltd says it has secured a 15-year commitment from Coca Cola Amatil Ltd (CCA) to develop its new western Sydney storage and distribution facility for $80 million.
The purpose-built CCA centre will be developed on a 9.25-hectare site at the 150-hectare M7 Business Hub at Eastern Creek. The CCA property will be owned by the Goodman Australia Industrial Fund (GAIF).
CCA purchased the land and has now has entered into a sale-and-lease back agreement for an initial term of 15 years on the 31,225-square-metre facility. The distribution centre is the second such facility Goodman has secured from CCA in recent years. The previous commitment included the initial development of a 27,399-square-metre storage and distribution facility in Mentone, Melbourne Sphere: Related Content
Monday, February 18, 2008
Greek Govt Planning $1.3 Billion Sale Leaseback of State Property Portfolio
Kathimerini - February 16, 2008
A plan by the Ministry of Finance is entering its final stages for the exploitation of a major part of state-owned properties. This will be done under a sale-and-leaseback scheme worked out by the Greek Public Real Estate Corporation (KED).
According to reports, KED has already finalized the list of state-owned properties that will make up the basic core of the specific portfolio. Its value is expected to amount to some –1.3 billion. The plan involves 26 properties, some of which are still under construction.
The main objective of KED is to include buildings “of a younger age,” currently occupied by state services, ministries, tax offices and police offices. The young age of a property is envisaged as making the relevant bids more attractive to private investors.
Each bid is to be drafted according to the special features of each property. In some cases, the model to be selected will be “lease and leaseback,” while others would follow the “sale and leaseback” model.
Property market operators are looking forward to the program’s commencement, stressing that it will almost certainly draw much interest from firms specializing in property investments, given that the specific product offers all of the desired qualities for such companies, and in addition guarantees steady and secure leases.
Eurobank Properties, according to reports, is to be among the first private companies to claim involvement in the scheme, when implemented.
Properties making up the sale-and-leaseback portfolio include buildings used by the ministries of Tourism and Culture, a Transport Ministry building on Mesogeion Avenue, the building occupied by the Press and Media Ministry, as well as the National Statistics Service building.
The portfolio’s final composition is to be decided next month, and its overall value is expected to be higher by at least –500 million, compared to the initial planning. Sphere: Related Content
A plan by the Ministry of Finance is entering its final stages for the exploitation of a major part of state-owned properties. This will be done under a sale-and-leaseback scheme worked out by the Greek Public Real Estate Corporation (KED).
According to reports, KED has already finalized the list of state-owned properties that will make up the basic core of the specific portfolio. Its value is expected to amount to some –1.3 billion. The plan involves 26 properties, some of which are still under construction.
The main objective of KED is to include buildings “of a younger age,” currently occupied by state services, ministries, tax offices and police offices. The young age of a property is envisaged as making the relevant bids more attractive to private investors.
Each bid is to be drafted according to the special features of each property. In some cases, the model to be selected will be “lease and leaseback,” while others would follow the “sale and leaseback” model.
Property market operators are looking forward to the program’s commencement, stressing that it will almost certainly draw much interest from firms specializing in property investments, given that the specific product offers all of the desired qualities for such companies, and in addition guarantees steady and secure leases.
Eurobank Properties, according to reports, is to be among the first private companies to claim involvement in the scheme, when implemented.
Properties making up the sale-and-leaseback portfolio include buildings used by the ministries of Tourism and Culture, a Transport Ministry building on Mesogeion Avenue, the building occupied by the Press and Media Ministry, as well as the National Statistics Service building.
The portfolio’s final composition is to be decided next month, and its overall value is expected to be higher by at least –500 million, compared to the initial planning. Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Jones Lang LaSalle Counts £7.7 Billion in Sale Leaseback Transactions in 2007
Property Week - February 15, 2008
The 2007 Jones Lang LaSalle Portfolio Market Review, published last week, showed that the volume of sale and leasebacks peaked in 2007, as growing numbers of occupiers looked to extract value from their property portfolios. The report identified a total of £7.7 billion in sales in 96 portfolios – up from £6.7 billion in 72 portfolios in 2006.
The report said: ‘Despite recent market conditions, these continued to sell where positive sentiment towards the leaseback covenant existed.’
Sale and leasebacks accounted for 43% of transactions, whereby corporate occupiers sold £3.3bn of property assets. The remaining 57% were investment property portfolios.
The most sizeable transactions the £400m Macdonald Hotels portfolio, the £400m Thistle Hotels portfolio and the £680m Capio Healthcare portfolio all took place in the first two quarters of 2007.
JLL states that, although the third quarter appeared to confirm a decline in activity as the credit crunch took hold, ‘the Royal Bank of Scotland’s £800m Acorn Portfolio bucked this trend and the year drew to a close with optimism for 2008’.
Mark Cotterall, head of global real estate for BT and CoreNet Global UK Chapter board member, said: ‘The reason corporates do sale and leasebacks is to release asset value.
Richard Shepherd-Cross, a director at Jones Lang Lasalle, said: ‘The portfolio market appeared to buck the trend of reduced market turnover, which we were seeing across the board last year this was a result of corporate sale and leasebacks, which propped up sales. Ignoring corporate sale and leaseback activity general market turnover in the portfolio market was down 20% in 2007.
He added: ‘Whereas corporate sale and leasebacks accounted for only 20% of portfolio sales in 2006, they accounted for over 40% in 2007. Of this, it was the banks and hoteliers who contributed to over 40% of the sale and leaseback activity.’
Shepherd-Cross predicted that ‘2008 will see a reduction in sale and leaseback activity as current market yields make it less attractive to the corporate owner’. Sphere: Related Content
The 2007 Jones Lang LaSalle Portfolio Market Review, published last week, showed that the volume of sale and leasebacks peaked in 2007, as growing numbers of occupiers looked to extract value from their property portfolios. The report identified a total of £7.7 billion in sales in 96 portfolios – up from £6.7 billion in 72 portfolios in 2006.
The report said: ‘Despite recent market conditions, these continued to sell where positive sentiment towards the leaseback covenant existed.’
Sale and leasebacks accounted for 43% of transactions, whereby corporate occupiers sold £3.3bn of property assets. The remaining 57% were investment property portfolios.
The most sizeable transactions the £400m Macdonald Hotels portfolio, the £400m Thistle Hotels portfolio and the £680m Capio Healthcare portfolio all took place in the first two quarters of 2007.
JLL states that, although the third quarter appeared to confirm a decline in activity as the credit crunch took hold, ‘the Royal Bank of Scotland’s £800m Acorn Portfolio bucked this trend and the year drew to a close with optimism for 2008’.
Mark Cotterall, head of global real estate for BT and CoreNet Global UK Chapter board member, said: ‘The reason corporates do sale and leasebacks is to release asset value.
Richard Shepherd-Cross, a director at Jones Lang Lasalle, said: ‘The portfolio market appeared to buck the trend of reduced market turnover, which we were seeing across the board last year this was a result of corporate sale and leasebacks, which propped up sales. Ignoring corporate sale and leaseback activity general market turnover in the portfolio market was down 20% in 2007.
He added: ‘Whereas corporate sale and leasebacks accounted for only 20% of portfolio sales in 2006, they accounted for over 40% in 2007. Of this, it was the banks and hoteliers who contributed to over 40% of the sale and leaseback activity.’
Shepherd-Cross predicted that ‘2008 will see a reduction in sale and leaseback activity as current market yields make it less attractive to the corporate owner’. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, February 15, 2008
$A50 Million Supermarket Portfolio Coming to Market in Melbourne
Business Spectator / Australian Financial Review - February 13, 2008
A portfolio of five supermarkets will be auctioned in Melbourne in late February 2008. Three Woolworths supermarkets in three states and two Coles supermarkets in New South Wales comprise the $A50 million portfolio. The properties will be offered for sale and leaseback on terms of up to 60 years. Capitalisation rates are forecast to soften in 2008, but investors continue to have confidence in quality properties with secure leases. Sphere: Related Content
A portfolio of five supermarkets will be auctioned in Melbourne in late February 2008. Three Woolworths supermarkets in three states and two Coles supermarkets in New South Wales comprise the $A50 million portfolio. The properties will be offered for sale and leaseback on terms of up to 60 years. Capitalisation rates are forecast to soften in 2008, but investors continue to have confidence in quality properties with secure leases. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Stanchart Signs Build-to-Suit for Office Building in Singapore
The Straits Times - February 12, 2007
Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) has signed a $206 million deal to lease a customised building at Changi Business Park to house its backroom operations from 2010.
The deal, involving a 15-year lease, puts Stanchart's total spending on relocation and consolidation projects over the next 10 to 12 years at over $1 billion.
The six-storey building will have 225,000 sq ft to house up to 2,000 backroom staff. As the bank's business grows, it could add a second and third phase to increase its space there to 700,000 sq ft.
This move to an industrial location - after it leased 24 floors at the yet-to-be completed Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) last April - is to accommodate the bank's mid- to long- term expansion.
'The two properties will accommodate a projected increase in headcount from about 4,700 to over 6,000 by 2010,' said Stanchart chief executive Lim Cheng Teck on Tuesday.
These leasing deals allow the bank to lock in a significant chunk of future costs, giving it the opportunity to grow at a much faster pace, he said.
'There will always be cyclical challenges. We are very bullish on Singapore, which is why we are investing ahead,' he said.
When Stanchart moves to the new premises, it will vacate all its current office premises, apart from its 6 Battery Road location where it has a 30-year lease of the 10th floor due to expire in 2020.
The MBFC premises will be Stanchart's main business centre.
Mr Lim said the bank's business has performed strongly on the back of robust economic growth in Singapore and the region.
'We will build on the momentum to capture in-country and regional opportunities.'
The Changi Business Park building will be built by Ascendas. Stanchart will lease it for 15 years from late 2010, with a review every five years and an option to lease it for another 15 years. Sphere: Related Content
Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) has signed a $206 million deal to lease a customised building at Changi Business Park to house its backroom operations from 2010.
The deal, involving a 15-year lease, puts Stanchart's total spending on relocation and consolidation projects over the next 10 to 12 years at over $1 billion.
The six-storey building will have 225,000 sq ft to house up to 2,000 backroom staff. As the bank's business grows, it could add a second and third phase to increase its space there to 700,000 sq ft.
This move to an industrial location - after it leased 24 floors at the yet-to-be completed Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) last April - is to accommodate the bank's mid- to long- term expansion.
'The two properties will accommodate a projected increase in headcount from about 4,700 to over 6,000 by 2010,' said Stanchart chief executive Lim Cheng Teck on Tuesday.
These leasing deals allow the bank to lock in a significant chunk of future costs, giving it the opportunity to grow at a much faster pace, he said.
'There will always be cyclical challenges. We are very bullish on Singapore, which is why we are investing ahead,' he said.
When Stanchart moves to the new premises, it will vacate all its current office premises, apart from its 6 Battery Road location where it has a 30-year lease of the 10th floor due to expire in 2020.
The MBFC premises will be Stanchart's main business centre.
Mr Lim said the bank's business has performed strongly on the back of robust economic growth in Singapore and the region.
'We will build on the momentum to capture in-country and regional opportunities.'
The Changi Business Park building will be built by Ascendas. Stanchart will lease it for 15 years from late 2010, with a review every five years and an option to lease it for another 15 years. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
UK Govt Office Building in London Pre-Sold for $263 Million
PropertyWeek - February 11, 2008
Private clients of HSBC Private Bank have bought UBS’s 160 Tooley Street for around £135m. The price paid for the office development which is let to Southwark Council reflects an initial yield of around 5.25%.
Southwark Council will take occupation early next year and has signed a 25-year lease at £38.50/sq ft. UBS Global Asset Management put the building up for sale in November for around £140m. The rental income from Southwark Council at the 200,000 sq ft building is around £7.5m a year.
Tudor Toone advised UBS and Whitmarsh Holt Young advised HSBC private bank. Sphere: Related Content
Private clients of HSBC Private Bank have bought UBS’s 160 Tooley Street for around £135m. The price paid for the office development which is let to Southwark Council reflects an initial yield of around 5.25%.
Southwark Council will take occupation early next year and has signed a 25-year lease at £38.50/sq ft. UBS Global Asset Management put the building up for sale in November for around £140m. The rental income from Southwark Council at the 200,000 sq ft building is around £7.5m a year.
Tudor Toone advised UBS and Whitmarsh Holt Young advised HSBC private bank. Sphere: Related Content
UBS Completes $263 Million Sale Leaseback of London Office Tower
Reuters - February 11, 2008
UBS Global Asset Management said on Monday it has sold an office building near London's City financial district to HSBC Private Bank for 135 million pounds ($263 million) and a rental yield of around 5.3 percent.
Richard Tanner, director of UK property funds at UBS (UBSN.VX), said local government was poised to move into the new 200,000 square foot (18,580 sq metre) property in the London Bridge area, across the river from the City, on a 25-year lease.
"It's a quasi-bond type asset and the market is reasonably liquid for these types of assets," he told Reuters. "I wouldn't say the market is hot for all types of properties but, for London offices on reasonably good terms and solid covenants, there seems to be a fair degree of liquidity."
Benchmark data showed a 12 percent drop in average UK commercial property values from their summer peak to the end of last year -- a peak-to-trough fall which may yet grow to 25-30 percent in 2008/2009, according to the property derivatives market.
UK commercial property transactions have slumped as buyers and sellers adjust to a more bearish climate, and were 60 percent down in January compared with the same month last year.
Tanner said the London Bridge office sale was on behalf of UBS's 600 million pound South East Recovery Fund, a specialist office fund, out of a total UK property portfolio worth around 3 billion pounds.
He declined to comment on whether the asking price of the Tooley Street office was cut to secure a sale, although earlier media reports said it had been put on the market in November for 140 million pounds.
Tanner said UBS expected to buy and sell a few more UK property assets this year with a reasonably stable income.
"Accepting there is a very uncertain economic backdrop, there are a variety of areas of the property market which look attractive at current pricing and a couple of areas which look a bit sparky," he said.
HSBC Private Bank could not be immediately reached for comment. Sphere: Related Content
UBS Global Asset Management said on Monday it has sold an office building near London's City financial district to HSBC Private Bank for 135 million pounds ($263 million) and a rental yield of around 5.3 percent.
Richard Tanner, director of UK property funds at UBS (UBSN.VX), said local government was poised to move into the new 200,000 square foot (18,580 sq metre) property in the London Bridge area, across the river from the City, on a 25-year lease.
"It's a quasi-bond type asset and the market is reasonably liquid for these types of assets," he told Reuters. "I wouldn't say the market is hot for all types of properties but, for London offices on reasonably good terms and solid covenants, there seems to be a fair degree of liquidity."
Benchmark data showed a 12 percent drop in average UK commercial property values from their summer peak to the end of last year -- a peak-to-trough fall which may yet grow to 25-30 percent in 2008/2009, according to the property derivatives market.
UK commercial property transactions have slumped as buyers and sellers adjust to a more bearish climate, and were 60 percent down in January compared with the same month last year.
Tanner said the London Bridge office sale was on behalf of UBS's 600 million pound South East Recovery Fund, a specialist office fund, out of a total UK property portfolio worth around 3 billion pounds.
He declined to comment on whether the asking price of the Tooley Street office was cut to secure a sale, although earlier media reports said it had been put on the market in November for 140 million pounds.
Tanner said UBS expected to buy and sell a few more UK property assets this year with a reasonably stable income.
"Accepting there is a very uncertain economic backdrop, there are a variety of areas of the property market which look attractive at current pricing and a couple of areas which look a bit sparky," he said.
HSBC Private Bank could not be immediately reached for comment. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Raben Group Completes Sale Leaseback of Two Distribution Centers in Poland
PropertyEU - February 7, 2008
Pramerica Real Estate Investors has acquired two logistics centres in Poland on behalf of its open-ended fund TMW Immobilien Weltfonds from European logistics company Raben Group. The Polish investment team of Jones Lang LaSalle, which acted for Raben, described the dual deals as the 'first institutional quality sale-and-lease-back transactions' in Poland for the logistic sector.
JLL said the centres, totalling 70,500 m2, are strategically located in Gadki (near Poznan) and Grodzisk Mazowiecki (near Warsaw) on the main TIR routes. A 10-year lease was signed by Raben for 100% of the premises. Poland-based Raben carried out the transaction to generate additional financial means for expansion. Raben operates in Estonia, Holland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. It has over 260,000 m2 of warehousing space spread across a network of terminals in Europe. Sphere: Related Content
Pramerica Real Estate Investors has acquired two logistics centres in Poland on behalf of its open-ended fund TMW Immobilien Weltfonds from European logistics company Raben Group. The Polish investment team of Jones Lang LaSalle, which acted for Raben, described the dual deals as the 'first institutional quality sale-and-lease-back transactions' in Poland for the logistic sector.
JLL said the centres, totalling 70,500 m2, are strategically located in Gadki (near Poznan) and Grodzisk Mazowiecki (near Warsaw) on the main TIR routes. A 10-year lease was signed by Raben for 100% of the premises. Poland-based Raben carried out the transaction to generate additional financial means for expansion. Raben operates in Estonia, Holland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. It has over 260,000 m2 of warehousing space spread across a network of terminals in Europe. Sphere: Related Content
NuVasive Enters Long Term Lease for HQ in San Diego
Cityfeet - February 7, 2008
Medical device maker NuVasive Inc. has signed a $113 million, 15-year lease to relocate the company's headquarters to 143,614 sf of class A office and R&D space at Veralliance Properties Inc.'s Sorrento Summit life sciences campus. The new lease will approximately double the amount of headquarters space occupied by NuVasive, which designs, develops and markets products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders.
According to Daniel J. Ryan, principal with San Diego-based Veralliance, NuVasive will occupy the 143,614 sf in two existing buildings at 7473 Lusk Blvd. (71,112 sf) and at 7475 Lusk Blvd. (72,502 sf). NuVasive also has options to lease additional space in a third building that will begin construction in January 2009 and add approximately 125,000 sf to the Sorrento Summit campus.
NuVasive will pay base rent of $2.43 per sf, escalating at an annual rate of 3% over the 15-year period of the lease, according to public filings by the company, which is listed on Nasdaq. Relocation to the new facility is expected to be completed in phases in the first and second quarters of this year.
NuVasive says that the agreement with Veraillance provides for facility expansion rights to an aggregate of more than 300,000 leased sf, under terms of which the medical technology company is required to make minimum lease payments, including operating expenses, of $2.4 million in 2008, $6.1 million in 2009, $6.4 million in 2010, $6.6 million in 2011, $6.8 million in 2012 and $84.9 million thereafter for a total of $113.2 million over the 15-year period.
In the lease with Veraillance, NuVasive was represented by Jeff Manley of Cresa Partners West Inc. The building owner was represented by Chad Urie of Colliers International and Brian Driscoll of Grubb & Ellis|BRE. Sphere: Related Content
Medical device maker NuVasive Inc. has signed a $113 million, 15-year lease to relocate the company's headquarters to 143,614 sf of class A office and R&D space at Veralliance Properties Inc.'s Sorrento Summit life sciences campus. The new lease will approximately double the amount of headquarters space occupied by NuVasive, which designs, develops and markets products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders.
According to Daniel J. Ryan, principal with San Diego-based Veralliance, NuVasive will occupy the 143,614 sf in two existing buildings at 7473 Lusk Blvd. (71,112 sf) and at 7475 Lusk Blvd. (72,502 sf). NuVasive also has options to lease additional space in a third building that will begin construction in January 2009 and add approximately 125,000 sf to the Sorrento Summit campus.
NuVasive will pay base rent of $2.43 per sf, escalating at an annual rate of 3% over the 15-year period of the lease, according to public filings by the company, which is listed on Nasdaq. Relocation to the new facility is expected to be completed in phases in the first and second quarters of this year.
NuVasive says that the agreement with Veraillance provides for facility expansion rights to an aggregate of more than 300,000 leased sf, under terms of which the medical technology company is required to make minimum lease payments, including operating expenses, of $2.4 million in 2008, $6.1 million in 2009, $6.4 million in 2010, $6.6 million in 2011, $6.8 million in 2012 and $84.9 million thereafter for a total of $113.2 million over the 15-year period.
In the lease with Veraillance, NuVasive was represented by Jeff Manley of Cresa Partners West Inc. The building owner was represented by Chad Urie of Colliers International and Brian Driscoll of Grubb & Ellis|BRE. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, February 08, 2008
Continental Tire Agrees to 29.4 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ in Charlotte, NC
Tire Review Online - February 6, 2008
The sprawling Continental Tire North America headquarters site in Charlotte, N.C. will soon be re-born as a business complex following its sale to a developer.
Philadelphia-based Patriot Equities, a company specialising in the purchasing and leasing back of corporate buildings, has agreed to acquire the tyre manufacturer’s offices and former factory for $29.4 million.
CTNA has taken out a 10-year lease on a portion of the site, and will continue its tenancy there in a reduced capacity. Of the 1.7 million square feet of commercial space contained in the site, the company will now lease and occupy 600,000 square feet.
During January 2008 CTNA made the significant disclosure that its North American operations, in the red for several years, seem likely to have broken even in 2007. It is not clear if, or to what extent, the proceeds from the headquarters sale have contributed towards this return to the black. Sphere: Related Content
The sprawling Continental Tire North America headquarters site in Charlotte, N.C. will soon be re-born as a business complex following its sale to a developer.
Philadelphia-based Patriot Equities, a company specialising in the purchasing and leasing back of corporate buildings, has agreed to acquire the tyre manufacturer’s offices and former factory for $29.4 million.
CTNA has taken out a 10-year lease on a portion of the site, and will continue its tenancy there in a reduced capacity. Of the 1.7 million square feet of commercial space contained in the site, the company will now lease and occupy 600,000 square feet.
During January 2008 CTNA made the significant disclosure that its North American operations, in the red for several years, seem likely to have broken even in 2007. It is not clear if, or to what extent, the proceeds from the headquarters sale have contributed towards this return to the black. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, February 07, 2008
ANZ Seeking $100 Million Sale Leaseback of 47 Bank Branches
Sydney Morning Herald - February 5, 2008
ANZ Banking Group Ltd will sell and lease back 47 branch sites and three commercial office buildings across Australia as part of its long-term property strategy.
The 47 branches are the only remaining fully owned retail sites of ANZ's 800-plus national branch network.
The bank's global property head, Jane Hamilton, said the branches would remain an important part of ANZ's network.
The bank has opened more than 80 new branches since 2004 and chose to lease rather than purchase the sites outright, in line with its long-term property strategy, Ms Hamilton said.
The sale and lease back of the ANZ portfolio will be managed by Jones Lang LaSalle and has a potential end-value of more than $100 million.
Auctions will be held on March 18, 19 and 20 in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
(Link to the property offering web site) Sphere: Related Content
ANZ Banking Group Ltd will sell and lease back 47 branch sites and three commercial office buildings across Australia as part of its long-term property strategy.
The 47 branches are the only remaining fully owned retail sites of ANZ's 800-plus national branch network.
The bank's global property head, Jane Hamilton, said the branches would remain an important part of ANZ's network.
The bank has opened more than 80 new branches since 2004 and chose to lease rather than purchase the sites outright, in line with its long-term property strategy, Ms Hamilton said.
The sale and lease back of the ANZ portfolio will be managed by Jones Lang LaSalle and has a potential end-value of more than $100 million.
Auctions will be held on March 18, 19 and 20 in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
(Link to the property offering web site) Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
UnitedHealthcare Services Completes Sale Leaseback of Office Building in St. Louis
Commercial Property News - February 4, 2008
Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II has taken UnitedHealthcare Services’ five-story office building in suburban St. Louis, the fund has reported. The deal is a sale-leaseback, and UnitedHealthcare has signed a long-term lease for 100 percent of the property.
The building has 188,500 square feet on five floors, and was built for UnitedHealthcare a decade ago in Riverpor-Earth City, the area’s largest mixed-use business park, northeast of St. Louis. The park offers direct access to Interstates 70 and 270, and is just five minutes from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
No other terms of the deal were disclosed. Sphere: Related Content
Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II has taken UnitedHealthcare Services’ five-story office building in suburban St. Louis, the fund has reported. The deal is a sale-leaseback, and UnitedHealthcare has signed a long-term lease for 100 percent of the property.
The building has 188,500 square feet on five floors, and was built for UnitedHealthcare a decade ago in Riverpor-Earth City, the area’s largest mixed-use business park, northeast of St. Louis. The park offers direct access to Interstates 70 and 270, and is just five minutes from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
No other terms of the deal were disclosed. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, February 01, 2008
National Grid Agrees to 20-Year Build-to-Suit HQ Near Boston
The Boston Globe - January 20, 2008
National Grid has taken a 20-year lease on an entire building at the East Campus of Reservoir Woods in Waltham. Reservoir Woods is being developed by Davis Marcus Partners of Boston.
The 312,000-square-foot building at 40 Sylvan St. will hold a high Gold environmental rating from the US Green Building Council, an industry group, according to the council. The building was designed by ADD Inc. of Cambridge. Jones Lang LaSalle represented National Grid, the energy provider.
CB Richard Ellis represented David Marcus Partners. The three-story building is expected to be ready for occupancy in mid-2009. Sphere: Related Content
National Grid has taken a 20-year lease on an entire building at the East Campus of Reservoir Woods in Waltham. Reservoir Woods is being developed by Davis Marcus Partners of Boston.
The 312,000-square-foot building at 40 Sylvan St. will hold a high Gold environmental rating from the US Green Building Council, an industry group, according to the council. The building was designed by ADD Inc. of Cambridge. Jones Lang LaSalle represented National Grid, the energy provider.
CB Richard Ellis represented David Marcus Partners. The three-story building is expected to be ready for occupancy in mid-2009. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, January 31, 2008
AT&T Completes $242 Million Sale Leaseback of Two Office Towers in Atlanta
Atlanta Journal & Constitution - January 31, 2008
A German real estate investment company purchased two former BellSouth buildings - Midtown I and II.
KanAm Grund paid $242 million for the buildings at 754 and 725 Peachtree St., according to Databank. That equates to about $304 a square foot.
AT&T put the buildings on the market last year after acquiring BellSouth in December 2006. The office space is being leased back to AT&T and is full.
Gregory Moore, president of KanAm Grund America, said AT&T's long-term lease and Midtown's bright future made the property attractive.
"We like the way that Midtown Mile is developing," Moore said. The two buildings are KanAm Grund's first Atlanta acquisitions. CB Richard Ellis brokered the deal.
Last summer, a Chicago company bought the prominent Midtown building Campanile, formerly the headquarters of BellSouth, for nearly $98 million. Sphere: Related Content
A German real estate investment company purchased two former BellSouth buildings - Midtown I and II.
KanAm Grund paid $242 million for the buildings at 754 and 725 Peachtree St., according to Databank. That equates to about $304 a square foot.
AT&T put the buildings on the market last year after acquiring BellSouth in December 2006. The office space is being leased back to AT&T and is full.
Gregory Moore, president of KanAm Grund America, said AT&T's long-term lease and Midtown's bright future made the property attractive.
"We like the way that Midtown Mile is developing," Moore said. The two buildings are KanAm Grund's first Atlanta acquisitions. CB Richard Ellis brokered the deal.
Last summer, a Chicago company bought the prominent Midtown building Campanile, formerly the headquarters of BellSouth, for nearly $98 million. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Mitchells & Butlers Unwinds Sale Leasebck of 1,300 UK Pub Portfolio
Telegraph - January 29, 2008
Mitchells & Butlers' finance director has resigned and the chief executive has offered to go after an attempt at a complex financial plan went wrong in the face of the credit crunch, costing the owner of the All Bar One chain £274m.
Tim Clarke, M&B's chief executive, also offered to resign, but the offer was rejected. All executive directors, including Mr Naffah, have agreed to forego their 2007 bonuses.
The losses were made when M&B decided to close interest rate and inflation hedges that were put in place to protect plans for a property joint venture that was shelved with the onset of the credit crisis. The property deal would have seen M&B sell about 1,300 pubs into a specially created company and then lease them back.
The idea was to give M&B a cash windfall from the sale of property to return to shareholders. On the advice of bankers from Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland, Mr Naffah opted to take out inflation and interest rate hedges to protect M&B against the extra debt it was taking on to do the deal and to hedge against long-term rises in pub rents.
The trouble was that recent turmoil in the financial markets has meant that long-term expectations for interest rates and inflation have shifted. M&B expected long-term inflation to fall and interest rates to rise.
In a sign of how rapidly M&B's position got worse, post-tax losses associated with the hedges stood at £180m in early January, but as economic conditions worsened and the expectation that interest rates will be cut has grown, the loss has escalated to £274m in a matter of days and weeks. Sphere: Related Content
Mitchells & Butlers' finance director has resigned and the chief executive has offered to go after an attempt at a complex financial plan went wrong in the face of the credit crunch, costing the owner of the All Bar One chain £274m.
Tim Clarke, M&B's chief executive, also offered to resign, but the offer was rejected. All executive directors, including Mr Naffah, have agreed to forego their 2007 bonuses.
The losses were made when M&B decided to close interest rate and inflation hedges that were put in place to protect plans for a property joint venture that was shelved with the onset of the credit crisis. The property deal would have seen M&B sell about 1,300 pubs into a specially created company and then lease them back.
The idea was to give M&B a cash windfall from the sale of property to return to shareholders. On the advice of bankers from Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland, Mr Naffah opted to take out inflation and interest rate hedges to protect M&B against the extra debt it was taking on to do the deal and to hedge against long-term rises in pub rents.
The trouble was that recent turmoil in the financial markets has meant that long-term expectations for interest rates and inflation have shifted. M&B expected long-term inflation to fall and interest rates to rise.
In a sign of how rapidly M&B's position got worse, post-tax losses associated with the hedges stood at £180m in early January, but as economic conditions worsened and the expectation that interest rates will be cut has grown, the loss has escalated to £274m in a matter of days and weeks. Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Santander Completes EUR 605 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ Near Madrid
Reuters - January 25, 2008
Spanish bank Santander (SAN.MC) will make a capital gain of 605 million euros ($886 million) from a leaseback deal on its headquarters at Boadilla del Monte on the outskirts of Madrid, sources said on Friday.
Santander confirmed the 1.9 billion-euros deal with a consortium led by property investment firm Propinvest which will lease back the complex to Santander for 40 years with the bank having an option to purchase at that time.
The bank has already made disposals which produced 2 billion euros in profit, after selling 1,152 bank branches and other buildings in Spain to a company owned by British insurer Pearl Group in November, a deal leading to a capital gain of 860 million euros.
The same month, Santander sold 10 buildings to an investment vehicle owned by Armancio Ortega, the founder of retail group Inditex (ITX.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), for 458 million euros, making a capital gain of 216 million euros.
The headquarters complex, known as "Santander Financial City", has more than 400,000 square metres of office space plus other facilities such as a hotel and an 18-hole golf course.
The bank said the headquarters deal concluded the sale of its real estate assets through sale and leaseback deals which have totalled nearly 4.4 billion euros and generated a net capital gain of 1.7 billion euros. Sphere: Related Content
Spanish bank Santander (SAN.MC) will make a capital gain of 605 million euros ($886 million) from a leaseback deal on its headquarters at Boadilla del Monte on the outskirts of Madrid, sources said on Friday.
Santander confirmed the 1.9 billion-euros deal with a consortium led by property investment firm Propinvest which will lease back the complex to Santander for 40 years with the bank having an option to purchase at that time.
The bank has already made disposals which produced 2 billion euros in profit, after selling 1,152 bank branches and other buildings in Spain to a company owned by British insurer Pearl Group in November, a deal leading to a capital gain of 860 million euros.
The same month, Santander sold 10 buildings to an investment vehicle owned by Armancio Ortega, the founder of retail group Inditex (ITX.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), for 458 million euros, making a capital gain of 216 million euros.
The headquarters complex, known as "Santander Financial City", has more than 400,000 square metres of office space plus other facilities such as a hotel and an 18-hole golf course.
The bank said the headquarters deal concluded the sale of its real estate assets through sale and leaseback deals which have totalled nearly 4.4 billion euros and generated a net capital gain of 1.7 billion euros. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, January 25, 2008
Berry Plastics Enters $87 Million Sale Leaseback for Three US Facilities
CoStar Group - January 23, 2008
Berry Plastics sold its headquarters and three facilities to affiliates of W.P. Carey & Co. LLC in an $87 million sale-leaseback deal. W. P. Carey’s REIT affiliate, CPA(R):16-Global, and fund, CPA(R):17-Global, acquired more than 1.4 million square feet in flex/industrial space in Indiana, Maryland and Kansas.
The portfolio includes:
Berry Plastics’ headquarters and largest production facility at 101 Oakley St., a 96-year-old, 552,000-square-foot, Class B flex building in Evansville, IN;
A manufacturing plant at 1810 Portal St., a 25-year-old, 244,000-square-foot, Class B industrial facility in Baltimore, MD; and,
2330 Packer Road, a 37-year-old Class C industrial property in Lawrenceville, KS.
Berry Plastics, a plastic packaging products manufacturer, leased back all three properties on a long-term basis. The deal allowed the manufacturer to raise needed financing.
"The sale-leaseback of these three facilities allowed us to raise funds for an add-on acquisition," said Ira G. Boots, chairman and CEO of Berry Plastics Corp.
Another W. P. Carey fund, CPA(R):15, completed a $33 million sale-leaseback with Berry Plastics five years ago. Sphere: Related Content
Berry Plastics sold its headquarters and three facilities to affiliates of W.P. Carey & Co. LLC in an $87 million sale-leaseback deal. W. P. Carey’s REIT affiliate, CPA(R):16-Global, and fund, CPA(R):17-Global, acquired more than 1.4 million square feet in flex/industrial space in Indiana, Maryland and Kansas.
The portfolio includes:
Berry Plastics’ headquarters and largest production facility at 101 Oakley St., a 96-year-old, 552,000-square-foot, Class B flex building in Evansville, IN;
A manufacturing plant at 1810 Portal St., a 25-year-old, 244,000-square-foot, Class B industrial facility in Baltimore, MD; and,
2330 Packer Road, a 37-year-old Class C industrial property in Lawrenceville, KS.
Berry Plastics, a plastic packaging products manufacturer, leased back all three properties on a long-term basis. The deal allowed the manufacturer to raise needed financing.
"The sale-leaseback of these three facilities allowed us to raise funds for an add-on acquisition," said Ira G. Boots, chairman and CEO of Berry Plastics Corp.
Another W. P. Carey fund, CPA(R):15, completed a $33 million sale-leaseback with Berry Plastics five years ago. Sphere: Related Content
White Water Auto Care Center Seeking $92.5 Million Sale Leaseback of 15 Car Washes in CA
CSP Daily News - January 23, 2008
A dozen full-service car-wash and convenience-store sites in Southern California hit the sale market at an asking price of $92.5 million, as reported in a CSP Daily News Flash yesterday, as White Water Auto Care Center prepares to access some of the capital tied up in its real estate.
The 12 sites—nine in Bakersfield, two in Ventura and one in San Fernando—include full-service car washes, convenience stores and gas pumps at all the sites, and quick-lube services at seven of the sites and quick-service restaurants at two sites.
The centers range from 4,650 to 16,800 square feet. The gasoline stations sell national brands such as Union 76 and Chevron, with a number of other national brands, such as Circle K and Jiffy Lube Quick Lube, as part of the operations.
"The company is indeed selling its real estate in a sale-leaseback transaction," Greg Landry, managing director of Trefethen & Co., Scottsdale, Ariz., who serves as the investment banker for Whitewater Auto Care Center, told CSP Daily News. "But the operating company will remain in the hands of John Aminpour, who has long been the owner and operator and will continue to be the owner and operator of these locations."
The properties are all on 25-year triple-net leases and in locations that historically have attracted high investor demand and aggressive pricing, Glen Kunofsky, senior associate at New York-based Marcus & Millichap, told GlobeSt.com.
Kunofsky and Lior Regenstreif, senior vice president in Marcus & Millichap’s Encino office, are representing the seller.
Regenstreif said the 25-year triple-net leases are all new, having commenced in September. He said investors are likely to be drawn to the “very strong backing offered by both a corporate and personal guarantee from the tenant with a net worth well over $100 million.”
The seller is offering the properties to be acquired either individually or as a customized portfolio of three or more centers. Prices for individual stores range from $4.2 million for a 4,650-square-foot store on less than half an acre to $13.7 million for an 8,104-square-foot store on 1.26 acres (2007 net operating income: $943,032). Sphere: Related Content
A dozen full-service car-wash and convenience-store sites in Southern California hit the sale market at an asking price of $92.5 million, as reported in a CSP Daily News Flash yesterday, as White Water Auto Care Center prepares to access some of the capital tied up in its real estate.
The 12 sites—nine in Bakersfield, two in Ventura and one in San Fernando—include full-service car washes, convenience stores and gas pumps at all the sites, and quick-lube services at seven of the sites and quick-service restaurants at two sites.
The centers range from 4,650 to 16,800 square feet. The gasoline stations sell national brands such as Union 76 and Chevron, with a number of other national brands, such as Circle K and Jiffy Lube Quick Lube, as part of the operations.
"The company is indeed selling its real estate in a sale-leaseback transaction," Greg Landry, managing director of Trefethen & Co., Scottsdale, Ariz., who serves as the investment banker for Whitewater Auto Care Center, told CSP Daily News. "But the operating company will remain in the hands of John Aminpour, who has long been the owner and operator and will continue to be the owner and operator of these locations."
The properties are all on 25-year triple-net leases and in locations that historically have attracted high investor demand and aggressive pricing, Glen Kunofsky, senior associate at New York-based Marcus & Millichap, told GlobeSt.com.
Kunofsky and Lior Regenstreif, senior vice president in Marcus & Millichap’s Encino office, are representing the seller.
Regenstreif said the 25-year triple-net leases are all new, having commenced in September. He said investors are likely to be drawn to the “very strong backing offered by both a corporate and personal guarantee from the tenant with a net worth well over $100 million.”
The seller is offering the properties to be acquired either individually or as a customized portfolio of three or more centers. Prices for individual stores range from $4.2 million for a 4,650-square-foot store on less than half an acre to $13.7 million for an 8,104-square-foot store on 1.26 acres (2007 net operating income: $943,032). Sphere: Related Content
Monday, January 21, 2008
VeriSign Seeking Sale Leaseback of Silicon Valley HQ
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - January 21, 2008
VeriSign Inc. has put its Mountain View corporate headquarters up for sale. According to offering documents, VeriSign will entertain several purchase options, including the sale of the entire campus to a single buyer or the sale of its "North Buildings," to one party and the sale of its "South Buildings" to another.
The North Buildings consist of a 32,500 square-foot data center, two matching office buildings with a total of just less than 100,000 square-feet and a four-story parking garage with 454 stalls, all on nearly 11 acres. The South Buildings consist of two office buildings with nearly 160,000 square feet on 10.6 acres.
The company intends to lease back the offices in the second pool for the next 10 years but is guaranteeing that it will occupy the data center only through March 2013 and the two office buildings in the same pool only through March 2010.
Because the site is close to light rail, the site could be expanded with an additional 173,000 square feet of new office development.
VeriSign acquired the property from Cupertino's Sobrato Development Cos. in the second half of 2001 for approximately $885 a square foot, the largest commercial real estate transaction in the preceding year. The sale brought Sobrato more than twice as much per square foot as the next-largest sale in that time frame, according to Business Journal research.
VeriSign is in the security-services business for both data and voice networks. Sphere: Related Content
VeriSign Inc. has put its Mountain View corporate headquarters up for sale. According to offering documents, VeriSign will entertain several purchase options, including the sale of the entire campus to a single buyer or the sale of its "North Buildings," to one party and the sale of its "South Buildings" to another.
The North Buildings consist of a 32,500 square-foot data center, two matching office buildings with a total of just less than 100,000 square-feet and a four-story parking garage with 454 stalls, all on nearly 11 acres. The South Buildings consist of two office buildings with nearly 160,000 square feet on 10.6 acres.
The company intends to lease back the offices in the second pool for the next 10 years but is guaranteeing that it will occupy the data center only through March 2013 and the two office buildings in the same pool only through March 2010.
Because the site is close to light rail, the site could be expanded with an additional 173,000 square feet of new office development.
VeriSign acquired the property from Cupertino's Sobrato Development Cos. in the second half of 2001 for approximately $885 a square foot, the largest commercial real estate transaction in the preceding year. The sale brought Sobrato more than twice as much per square foot as the next-largest sale in that time frame, according to Business Journal research.
VeriSign is in the security-services business for both data and voice networks. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Best Buy Leases 517,000 SF Distribution Center in NJ
CoStar Group - January 15, 2008
Consumer electronics and appliance retailer Best Buy has pre-leased a 517,000-square-foot distribution center being developed by Morris Cos. in the Amboy Corporate Center.
Best Buy will fully occupy the facility when construction completes in July. The property is located in Perth Amboy, NJ, south of the New Jersey Turnpike and just across the river from Staten Island. It broke ground in mid-2006 and includes 140 industrial trailer parking spaces.
Doug Bansbach of Colliers Houston represented Morris Cos. in the lease, and Mindy Lissner of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant.
Amboy Corporate Center is slated to total more than 1.1 million square feet on about 64 acres. U.S. Foodservice has signed on to occupy more than 450,000 square feet at the center.
Best Buy operates more than 1,200 retail stores across the United States, Canada and China. Sphere: Related Content
Consumer electronics and appliance retailer Best Buy has pre-leased a 517,000-square-foot distribution center being developed by Morris Cos. in the Amboy Corporate Center.
Best Buy will fully occupy the facility when construction completes in July. The property is located in Perth Amboy, NJ, south of the New Jersey Turnpike and just across the river from Staten Island. It broke ground in mid-2006 and includes 140 industrial trailer parking spaces.
Doug Bansbach of Colliers Houston represented Morris Cos. in the lease, and Mindy Lissner of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant.
Amboy Corporate Center is slated to total more than 1.1 million square feet on about 64 acres. U.S. Foodservice has signed on to occupy more than 450,000 square feet at the center.
Best Buy operates more than 1,200 retail stores across the United States, Canada and China. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Swedish Gov't Signs Build to Suit for $102 Million Detention Facility Near Stockholm
Skanska Web Site - January 9, 2008
Skanska will be responsible for a total solution, including planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the new detention facility in Sollentuna, north of Stockholm. The construction project is valued at an estimated SEK 650 M and is being included in order bookings for the first quarter.
A 25-year lease has been signed with Kriminalvården (Swedish Prison and Probation Service) for the new detention facility. The 23,600-square-meter facility will house 10 floors with 240 detention cells and an administration section.
Construction will be carried out by Skanska Sweden and begins in January 2008, with completion scheduled for spring 2010. The new detention facility will be located adjacent to the existing police station and the new Attunda courthouse, which is currently under construction by Skanska in a similar type of project.
In similar projects, Skanska has developed, built and been responsible for leasing of premises in Sweden to the police, the public prosecutor office and correctional authorities in Uppsala, Växjö, Flemingsberg and Malmö. Sphere: Related Content
Skanska will be responsible for a total solution, including planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the new detention facility in Sollentuna, north of Stockholm. The construction project is valued at an estimated SEK 650 M and is being included in order bookings for the first quarter.
A 25-year lease has been signed with Kriminalvården (Swedish Prison and Probation Service) for the new detention facility. The 23,600-square-meter facility will house 10 floors with 240 detention cells and an administration section.
Construction will be carried out by Skanska Sweden and begins in January 2008, with completion scheduled for spring 2010. The new detention facility will be located adjacent to the existing police station and the new Attunda courthouse, which is currently under construction by Skanska in a similar type of project.
In similar projects, Skanska has developed, built and been responsible for leasing of premises in Sweden to the police, the public prosecutor office and correctional authorities in Uppsala, Växjö, Flemingsberg and Malmö. Sphere: Related Content
Ponto Frio Completes $62 Million Sale Leaseback of Four Distribution Centers in Brazil
Gazeta Mercantil - January 9, 2008
Bracor real estate investment company bought four distribution centers (CDs) of Globex Utilidades - which controls the retail chain Ponto Frio - for R$109 million.
The operation was carried out through the sale-leaseback system, in which the owner sells the real estate and rents it by means of long-term contracts. In this case, the rent contract closed between Bracor and Globex has an initial term of 180 months or 15 years, renewable for the same period. The CDs purchased by Bracor are located in Guarulhos (São Paulo), Irajá (Rio de Janeiro), BrasÃlia (Federal District) and Goiânia (Goiás).
'It is a trend that has been growing every year in Brazil,' observed Ricardo Betancourt, director of Colliers International no Brasil, a Canadian consulting company specialized in administering real estate properties. He noted the maturing among companies of the concept of focusing investments on primary activities and not immobilizing capital. 'In the United States and Europe, only 20% of companies own their own buildings. Here approximately 80% of them do,' he said.
Another indicator of the expanding practice is the length of the contract, 180 months, renewable for equal and successive periods. 'That's equivalent to 15 years. Until recently, contracts were not closed for periods of more than ten years,' said Betancourt. The stability of the economy has contributed positively to this trend. Sphere: Related Content
Bracor real estate investment company bought four distribution centers (CDs) of Globex Utilidades - which controls the retail chain Ponto Frio - for R$109 million.
The operation was carried out through the sale-leaseback system, in which the owner sells the real estate and rents it by means of long-term contracts. In this case, the rent contract closed between Bracor and Globex has an initial term of 180 months or 15 years, renewable for the same period. The CDs purchased by Bracor are located in Guarulhos (São Paulo), Irajá (Rio de Janeiro), BrasÃlia (Federal District) and Goiânia (Goiás).
'It is a trend that has been growing every year in Brazil,' observed Ricardo Betancourt, director of Colliers International no Brasil, a Canadian consulting company specialized in administering real estate properties. He noted the maturing among companies of the concept of focusing investments on primary activities and not immobilizing capital. 'In the United States and Europe, only 20% of companies own their own buildings. Here approximately 80% of them do,' he said.
Another indicator of the expanding practice is the length of the contract, 180 months, renewable for equal and successive periods. 'That's equivalent to 15 years. Until recently, contracts were not closed for periods of more than ten years,' said Betancourt. The stability of the economy has contributed positively to this trend. Sphere: Related Content
BVIC Group Signs EUR 80 Million Sale Leaseback of New Building in Athens
BVIC Group Web Site - January 9, 2008
BVIC Group is pleased to announce that a sale and leaseback agreement for €80 million was signed with Emporiki Leasing and ATE Leasing. The 20 year sale and leaseback agreement covers all of the lettable area, and common area, as well as the parking spaces of the development under construction at 340 Syggrou Avenue. Specifically, it covers 4,587sqm of office space, 9,185sqm of retail space and 2,133 sqm of storage space, as well as 400 parking spaces.
The Group has already signed a lease agreement with Media Markt for 81% of the retail space and 86% of the storage space. The total annual rental revenue for the space that has already been leased is € 2,340,000 for the first year leased. The remaining retail space is under negotiation and is expected to be let before the development is completed in July 2008. The completion of 340 Syggrou Avenue is expected to contribute circa €1.6 per share to our NAV, to be booked in Q3 2008.
This sale and leaseback agreement reaffirms BVIC’s strong ability to raise financing, as well as the confidence placed by major financial institutions in the quality of the Group’s projects, and the secure leasing agreements it obtains with blue chip tenants. Sphere: Related Content
BVIC Group is pleased to announce that a sale and leaseback agreement for €80 million was signed with Emporiki Leasing and ATE Leasing. The 20 year sale and leaseback agreement covers all of the lettable area, and common area, as well as the parking spaces of the development under construction at 340 Syggrou Avenue. Specifically, it covers 4,587sqm of office space, 9,185sqm of retail space and 2,133 sqm of storage space, as well as 400 parking spaces.
The Group has already signed a lease agreement with Media Markt for 81% of the retail space and 86% of the storage space. The total annual rental revenue for the space that has already been leased is € 2,340,000 for the first year leased. The remaining retail space is under negotiation and is expected to be let before the development is completed in July 2008. The completion of 340 Syggrou Avenue is expected to contribute circa €1.6 per share to our NAV, to be booked in Q3 2008.
This sale and leaseback agreement reaffirms BVIC’s strong ability to raise financing, as well as the confidence placed by major financial institutions in the quality of the Group’s projects, and the secure leasing agreements it obtains with blue chip tenants. Sphere: Related Content
Home Depot Enters $41 Million Sale Leaseback of Distribution Center in Virginia
The Winchester Star - January 12, 2008
The Home Depot Distribution Center at Eastgate Commerce Center has been sold to a private equity firm as part of 10-year lease-back agreement that will keep the massive warehouse operating in Frederick County for at least another decade.
Equity Industrial Winchester LLC and Equity Industrial Winchester LP, both based in Needham, Mass., bought the 842,000-square-foot warehousing facility for $41 million, according to Frederick County’s electronic property records.
Home Depot USA bought the 60-acre property at Eastgate Commerce Center, on U.S. 522 South and Tasker Road, in 2003 because of its proximity to the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County.
The port provides a central location to transfer goods to and from the Virginia Port Authority’s marine terminals in the Hampton Roads region to warehouses in Winchester, Front Royal, and beyond.
Anne Manning, senior manager of field communications for The Home Depot’s southern division, confirmed that the company entered into the lease-back agreement.
The building has 40-foot ceilings and about 350 truck bays. When it opened in January 2004, it featured a fitness room, training classrooms, showers, lockers, and a recreation with table games such as ping-ping and air hockey. Sphere: Related Content
The Home Depot Distribution Center at Eastgate Commerce Center has been sold to a private equity firm as part of 10-year lease-back agreement that will keep the massive warehouse operating in Frederick County for at least another decade.
Equity Industrial Winchester LLC and Equity Industrial Winchester LP, both based in Needham, Mass., bought the 842,000-square-foot warehousing facility for $41 million, according to Frederick County’s electronic property records.
Home Depot USA bought the 60-acre property at Eastgate Commerce Center, on U.S. 522 South and Tasker Road, in 2003 because of its proximity to the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County.
The port provides a central location to transfer goods to and from the Virginia Port Authority’s marine terminals in the Hampton Roads region to warehouses in Winchester, Front Royal, and beyond.
Anne Manning, senior manager of field communications for The Home Depot’s southern division, confirmed that the company entered into the lease-back agreement.
The building has 40-foot ceilings and about 350 truck bays. When it opened in January 2004, it featured a fitness room, training classrooms, showers, lockers, and a recreation with table games such as ping-ping and air hockey. Sphere: Related Content
Gambro AB Agrees to $62 Million Sale Leaseback of Properties in Germany
Trading Markets / Nordic Business Report - January 9, 2008
Swedish property company AB Sagax said on Wednesday (9 January) that it has signed a SEK395m property sales and lease-back agreement with the Swedish medical technology group Gambro AB.
The agreement, based on an option agreement initially announced in December 2007, covers Gambro's properties in Hechingen, Germany.
Sagax, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, acquires, develops and manages mainly warehouse and industrial properties. The company's property portfolio comprises 98 properties of a total of 742,000 square metres. Sagax is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. Sphere: Related Content
Swedish property company AB Sagax said on Wednesday (9 January) that it has signed a SEK395m property sales and lease-back agreement with the Swedish medical technology group Gambro AB.
The agreement, based on an option agreement initially announced in December 2007, covers Gambro's properties in Hechingen, Germany.
Sagax, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, acquires, develops and manages mainly warehouse and industrial properties. The company's property portfolio comprises 98 properties of a total of 742,000 square metres. Sagax is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, January 11, 2008
California Pacific Medical Center Signs 10 Year Lease For San Francisco Office Building
The Swig Company Web Site - January 9, 2008
A 171,000-sf office building here being vacated by Wells Fargo at the end of the month has been scooped up by the city’s largest hospital, California Pacific Medical Center, which signed a 10- year lease for the entire building. Built in the mid-1960s at 633 Folsom St. and renovated twice in the 1990s, the seven-story structure is owned by Swig Co., a locally based real estate company.
CPMC says it will begin moving some of its administrative operations into the building early this year. While the negotiated lease rate was not disclosed local industry sources tell GlobeSt.com that CPMC likely received a break from the asking lease rate of $45 per sf per year because it will occupy the space largely as is, saving the building owner the cost of tenant improvements, which are typically built into the asking rate. At $40 per sf, the value of the lease would be approximately $68 million.
The lease is related to CPMC’s effort to comply with state seismic requirements by 2013. A CPMC source tells GlobeSt.com that the lease will allow the hospital to consolidate a good portion of its administrative operations in a single building while also freeing up other locations for redevelopment. Sphere: Related Content
A 171,000-sf office building here being vacated by Wells Fargo at the end of the month has been scooped up by the city’s largest hospital, California Pacific Medical Center, which signed a 10- year lease for the entire building. Built in the mid-1960s at 633 Folsom St. and renovated twice in the 1990s, the seven-story structure is owned by Swig Co., a locally based real estate company.
CPMC says it will begin moving some of its administrative operations into the building early this year. While the negotiated lease rate was not disclosed local industry sources tell GlobeSt.com that CPMC likely received a break from the asking lease rate of $45 per sf per year because it will occupy the space largely as is, saving the building owner the cost of tenant improvements, which are typically built into the asking rate. At $40 per sf, the value of the lease would be approximately $68 million.
The lease is related to CPMC’s effort to comply with state seismic requirements by 2013. A CPMC source tells GlobeSt.com that the lease will allow the hospital to consolidate a good portion of its administrative operations in a single building while also freeing up other locations for redevelopment. Sphere: Related Content
Ogilvy New York Signs Long Term Lease for 554,800 SF HQ Building in Manhattan
Ogilvy Web Site - January 9, 2008
Ogilvy New York will move its entire New York agency and New York-based operating units to 636 Eleventh Avenue in 2009. Ogilvy will occupy all of the 11-story, 554,800 sq. ft building that encompasses the entire eastern block on 11th Avenue between West 46th and West 47th Streets in a long term lease signed with owner, The Hakimian Organization and its partners Peykar Brothers Realty & Gorjian Properties.
The building will carry the "Ogilvy" name and offers unobstructed 360 degree window views of the Hudson River and Midtown Manhattan. Ogilvy has hired award winning architect, Gensler, to reconfigure and design the space according to the agency's specifications. The building will house all of Ogilvy's New York based companies and employees in one building, including Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyOne, OgilvyInteractive, Neo@Ogilvy, OgilvyPR, OgilvyAction, the Brand Integration Group, RedWorks and Ogilvy Healthworld.
Ogilvy expects to move to the new space in the spring of 2009. The location is close to a long-proposed extension of the number seven New York Subway Line and several new developments including a luxury hotel by Kimpton.
The building at 636 Eleventh Avenue was built in 1913 and originally housed the Auerbach Chocolate factory. Ogilvy is calling its new space the "Candy Factory." It has high ceilings on the first floor, a courtyard and a roof-top terrace that Ogilvy plans to design as a garden space.
The agency will work with Gensler and other partners to bring the best energy efficient attributes to the space. "Sustainability is a key priority for Ogilvy," said Gunther Schumacher, Ogilvy's Chief Business Operations Officer. "We are working very closely with The Hakimian Organization to make the 'Candy Factory' a green building and get it LEED certified." Sphere: Related Content
Ogilvy New York will move its entire New York agency and New York-based operating units to 636 Eleventh Avenue in 2009. Ogilvy will occupy all of the 11-story, 554,800 sq. ft building that encompasses the entire eastern block on 11th Avenue between West 46th and West 47th Streets in a long term lease signed with owner, The Hakimian Organization and its partners Peykar Brothers Realty & Gorjian Properties.
The building will carry the "Ogilvy" name and offers unobstructed 360 degree window views of the Hudson River and Midtown Manhattan. Ogilvy has hired award winning architect, Gensler, to reconfigure and design the space according to the agency's specifications. The building will house all of Ogilvy's New York based companies and employees in one building, including Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyOne, OgilvyInteractive, Neo@Ogilvy, OgilvyPR, OgilvyAction, the Brand Integration Group, RedWorks and Ogilvy Healthworld.
Ogilvy expects to move to the new space in the spring of 2009. The location is close to a long-proposed extension of the number seven New York Subway Line and several new developments including a luxury hotel by Kimpton.
The building at 636 Eleventh Avenue was built in 1913 and originally housed the Auerbach Chocolate factory. Ogilvy is calling its new space the "Candy Factory." It has high ceilings on the first floor, a courtyard and a roof-top terrace that Ogilvy plans to design as a garden space.
The agency will work with Gensler and other partners to bring the best energy efficient attributes to the space. "Sustainability is a key priority for Ogilvy," said Gunther Schumacher, Ogilvy's Chief Business Operations Officer. "We are working very closely with The Hakimian Organization to make the 'Candy Factory' a green building and get it LEED certified." Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Future Electronics Signs 10 Year Lease For New UK HQ
Property Week - January 8, 2007
Future Electronics, a global electronic company, has agreed terms to move its European headquarters to one of Staines’ most prominent office buildings. The company has taken the entire 68,000 sq ft Aura building, owned by GE in partnership with Steve Morgan and Trevor Silver’s Landid.
Future Electronics will pay £29/sq ft on a 10-year lease for the refurbished building following a two year search. The deal completed just before Christmas.
It is vacating its Colnbrook HQ. CB Richard Ellis acted for the landlord and Colliers CRE acted for Future Electronics. Sphere: Related Content
Future Electronics, a global electronic company, has agreed terms to move its European headquarters to one of Staines’ most prominent office buildings. The company has taken the entire 68,000 sq ft Aura building, owned by GE in partnership with Steve Morgan and Trevor Silver’s Landid.
Future Electronics will pay £29/sq ft on a 10-year lease for the refurbished building following a two year search. The deal completed just before Christmas.
It is vacating its Colnbrook HQ. CB Richard Ellis acted for the landlord and Colliers CRE acted for Future Electronics. Sphere: Related Content
Monday, January 07, 2008
GE Energy Signs Long Term Lease for New HQ in Stamford
The Advocate - January 5, 2008
GE Energy Financial Services plans to move into the 275,000-square-foot former Xerox Corp. headquarters at 800 Long Ridge Road in Stamford about a year from now, the building's owner said yesterday.
Norwalk-based Building & Land Technology said GE Energy Financial Services will begin its 15-year lease in January 2009, when renovations are scheduled to be completed.
GE Energy Financial Services, the growing energy investment arm of Fairfield-based General Electric Co., will remain at 120 Long Ridge Road in Stamford for another year, Building & Land said.
The landlord and developer also owns the 300,000-square-foot office complex on 60 acres at 120 Long Ridge Road that formerly housed GE Commercial Finance, the parent unit of Energy Financial Services.
In October, Xerox relocated its headquarters and 330 employees from Stamford to a Building & Land-owned office structure at 45 Glover Ave. in Norwalk. Xerox, the world's largest copier company, had been in Stamford for 38 years. The company moved to Norwalk because it no longer needed a building of the size it had in Stamford, where it used to employ about 600 people.
An affiliate company of Building & Land Technology bought the Xerox property a year ago for $54.8 million. Sphere: Related Content
GE Energy Financial Services plans to move into the 275,000-square-foot former Xerox Corp. headquarters at 800 Long Ridge Road in Stamford about a year from now, the building's owner said yesterday.
Norwalk-based Building & Land Technology said GE Energy Financial Services will begin its 15-year lease in January 2009, when renovations are scheduled to be completed.
GE Energy Financial Services, the growing energy investment arm of Fairfield-based General Electric Co., will remain at 120 Long Ridge Road in Stamford for another year, Building & Land said.
The landlord and developer also owns the 300,000-square-foot office complex on 60 acres at 120 Long Ridge Road that formerly housed GE Commercial Finance, the parent unit of Energy Financial Services.
In October, Xerox relocated its headquarters and 330 employees from Stamford to a Building & Land-owned office structure at 45 Glover Ave. in Norwalk. Xerox, the world's largest copier company, had been in Stamford for 38 years. The company moved to Norwalk because it no longer needed a building of the size it had in Stamford, where it used to employ about 600 people.
An affiliate company of Building & Land Technology bought the Xerox property a year ago for $54.8 million. Sphere: Related Content
Nokia Siemens Networks Closes Sale Leaseback of Office Complex in Finland
Aberdeen Property Investors - January 4, 2008
Aberdeen Real Estate Fund Finland L.P. has acquired the Hatanpään valtatie 30 property in Tampere, Finland. The property was built in three phases between 1998 and 2000 with a total area of approximately 50,000 square metres. The transaction is structured as a sale and lease-back transaction involving the Fund, Nokia Siemens Networks and Nordea Finance Finland Ltd. Nokia Siemens Networks will continue to use the space as tenant. Sphere: Related Content
Aberdeen Real Estate Fund Finland L.P. has acquired the Hatanpään valtatie 30 property in Tampere, Finland. The property was built in three phases between 1998 and 2000 with a total area of approximately 50,000 square metres. The transaction is structured as a sale and lease-back transaction involving the Fund, Nokia Siemens Networks and Nordea Finance Finland Ltd. Nokia Siemens Networks will continue to use the space as tenant. Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Ebrex France Enters EUR 30 Million Sale Leaseback of 13 Refrigerated Warehouses Across France
PropertyEU - January 4, 2008
French property company Fonciere LFPI has acquired a portfolio of 13 refrigeration warehouses across France from logistics provider Ebrex France for EUR 30 mln. The portfolio represents all of Ebrex's warehouses in France, and covers more than 42,000 m2 of logistics space built on an area of 248,000 m2. The transaction reflects a net initial yield of over 7%. Ebrex France is leasing back the assets on a 12-year lease contract.
The assets are located in the cities of Lyons, Le Mans, Orleans, Reims, Toulouse, Niort, St Lo, Clermont-Ferrand, St Pierre des Corps, Lorient, Bourges, Nantes, and Narbonne.
Atis Real Bruxelles and Immoeuropean acted as advisors in this transaction. Credit Foncier de France is providing the financing.
Ebrex France was created in May last year from the merger of DKTrans, a pan-European logistics provider, and the French food logistics provider Nexia Froid. Sphere: Related Content
French property company Fonciere LFPI has acquired a portfolio of 13 refrigeration warehouses across France from logistics provider Ebrex France for EUR 30 mln. The portfolio represents all of Ebrex's warehouses in France, and covers more than 42,000 m2 of logistics space built on an area of 248,000 m2. The transaction reflects a net initial yield of over 7%. Ebrex France is leasing back the assets on a 12-year lease contract.
The assets are located in the cities of Lyons, Le Mans, Orleans, Reims, Toulouse, Niort, St Lo, Clermont-Ferrand, St Pierre des Corps, Lorient, Bourges, Nantes, and Narbonne.
Atis Real Bruxelles and Immoeuropean acted as advisors in this transaction. Credit Foncier de France is providing the financing.
Ebrex France was created in May last year from the merger of DKTrans, a pan-European logistics provider, and the French food logistics provider Nexia Froid. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, January 04, 2008
AT&T Completes $275 Million Sale Leaseback of Chicago Office Tower
Crains Chicago Business News - January 2, 2007
A New Jersey real estate firm has purchased the 31-story West Loop office of AT&T Inc. for $275 million in a sale-leaseback deal.
Kushner Cos. closed on the purchase Friday of 225 W. Randolph St. from the San Antonio-based telecom giant, according to a source familiar with the matter. AT&T signed a 15-year lease for all the office space in the building, which is roughly 900,000 square feet.
The purchase marks the first in Chicago for Florham Park, N.J.-based Kushner, which was primarily a residential developer in the Northeast but is now buying office properties in major metropolitan markets nationwide after selling its residential business last year. The company financed the deal with $40 million in equity and a short-term temporary loan that it plans to replace with permanent financing possibly as soon as this week.
A Kushner executive declines to comment, and a spokesman for AT&T didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
AT&T hired the Chicago office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. to market the building in the summer. AT&T or a predecessor had owned the building since it was built in 1966. Sphere: Related Content
A New Jersey real estate firm has purchased the 31-story West Loop office of AT&T Inc. for $275 million in a sale-leaseback deal.
Kushner Cos. closed on the purchase Friday of 225 W. Randolph St. from the San Antonio-based telecom giant, according to a source familiar with the matter. AT&T signed a 15-year lease for all the office space in the building, which is roughly 900,000 square feet.
The purchase marks the first in Chicago for Florham Park, N.J.-based Kushner, which was primarily a residential developer in the Northeast but is now buying office properties in major metropolitan markets nationwide after selling its residential business last year. The company financed the deal with $40 million in equity and a short-term temporary loan that it plans to replace with permanent financing possibly as soon as this week.
A Kushner executive declines to comment, and a spokesman for AT&T didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
AT&T hired the Chicago office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. to market the building in the summer. AT&T or a predecessor had owned the building since it was built in 1966. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Banco Popular Completes $26 Million Sale leaseback of Five Bank Branches in New York City
CoStar Group - December 28, 2007
MLM Partners LLC has acquired a portfolio of five New York properties owned and occupied by financial services firm Banco Popular for a total of $26.25 million, or about $690 per square foot.
The properties are at 2927 3rd Ave. and 1046-50 Southern Blvd. in the Bronx, 162-66 E. 116th St. in Harlem, and 918 Seneca Ave. in Flushing. The deal also included a parking lot adjacent to the Flushing building, at 1734 Hancock St.
Banco Popular has leased back the facilities for a 20-year term. The Puerto Rico-based bank operates in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, and has approximately 46 branches in New York and New Jersey. Sphere: Related Content
MLM Partners LLC has acquired a portfolio of five New York properties owned and occupied by financial services firm Banco Popular for a total of $26.25 million, or about $690 per square foot.
The properties are at 2927 3rd Ave. and 1046-50 Southern Blvd. in the Bronx, 162-66 E. 116th St. in Harlem, and 918 Seneca Ave. in Flushing. The deal also included a parking lot adjacent to the Flushing building, at 1734 Hancock St.
Banco Popular has leased back the facilities for a 20-year term. The Puerto Rico-based bank operates in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, and has approximately 46 branches in New York and New Jersey. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Goodyear Agrees to 20 Year Lease on New Build-to-Suit HQ in Akron, OH
Site Selection Online - December 31, 2007
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Wednesday it plans to sell its headquarters to a firm that would redevelop the site and lease a new office to the nation's biggest tire maker. The tentative deal would keep Goodyear's corporate offices in the city where it was founded in 1898.
Goodyear's new 450,000-sq.-ft. (40,500-sq.-m.) world headquarters will be built by California developer Industrial Realty Group (IRG.) IRG, which has a history of remaking old industrial sites across the country, will buy the Goodyear property, build the new headquarters and lease it back.A
n estimated $700 million of private capital will go into the project, which is linked to an array of public incentives. The redevelopment plan will also include other office buildings, an industrial park, hotels, stores and restaurants, said Stuart Lichter, president and senior managing partner of IRG, based in Downey, Calif., near Los Angeles. State and local governments will provide an additional $200 million.
Goodyear seems set to stay in Akron for decades. The company will sign a 20-year lease with IRG on its new headquarters, followed by 11 five-year renewal options. (The financial terms of the lease haven't been made public.) In addition, the assistance that the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved, which is valued at about $30 million, includes a clawback provision that Goodyear must stay at the new location for 30 years. Sphere: Related Content
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Wednesday it plans to sell its headquarters to a firm that would redevelop the site and lease a new office to the nation's biggest tire maker. The tentative deal would keep Goodyear's corporate offices in the city where it was founded in 1898.
Goodyear's new 450,000-sq.-ft. (40,500-sq.-m.) world headquarters will be built by California developer Industrial Realty Group (IRG.) IRG, which has a history of remaking old industrial sites across the country, will buy the Goodyear property, build the new headquarters and lease it back.A
n estimated $700 million of private capital will go into the project, which is linked to an array of public incentives. The redevelopment plan will also include other office buildings, an industrial park, hotels, stores and restaurants, said Stuart Lichter, president and senior managing partner of IRG, based in Downey, Calif., near Los Angeles. State and local governments will provide an additional $200 million.
Goodyear seems set to stay in Akron for decades. The company will sign a 20-year lease with IRG on its new headquarters, followed by 11 five-year renewal options. (The financial terms of the lease haven't been made public.) In addition, the assistance that the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved, which is valued at about $30 million, includes a clawback provision that Goodyear must stay at the new location for 30 years. Sphere: Related Content
Monday, December 31, 2007
Flextronics Completes Sale Leaseback of 500,000 SF Industrial Complex in Silicon Valley
Commercial property News - December 28, 2007
Westcore Properties L.L.C. has snapped up a nine-structure manufacturing complex in Milpitas, Calif., owned by electronics manufacturing services provider Flextronics International USA Inc. Flextronics will stay put as the sole occupant of the buildings, which account for an aggregate 499,200 square feet of industrial space, under a 10-year lease agreement with the new owner.
Carrying addresses on Gibraltar Dr., the multi-structure complex occupies 33.5 acres in Silicon Valley's South 88 Corridor, less than nine miles from San Jose. Singapore-based Flextronics came into possession of the buildings, which average 15 years of age, when it acquired rival Solectron in a $3.6 billion deal earlier this year.
Westcore, which purchased the property through its Westcore Milpitas L.L.C. entity, relied on Bank of America for financing for the acquisition and turned to CPS/CORFAC International for representation in the deal; CPS/CORFAC also represented Flextronics. Specific terms of the sale and lease agreements have not been disclosed; however, the average asking rate for manufacturing space in Milpitas is $0.73 per-square-foot, triple-net, according to a third quarter report by real estate services firm NAI BT Commercial.
Flextronics' decision to leaseback the space as opposed to leasing elsewhere was a practical one, according to Dan Hollingsworth, senior vice president & principal with CPS/CORFAC. "These are nine individual buildings; that's a campus," Hollingsworth told CPN today. "To find a campus of 500,000 square feet--that you (typically) can't find." Sphere: Related Content
Westcore Properties L.L.C. has snapped up a nine-structure manufacturing complex in Milpitas, Calif., owned by electronics manufacturing services provider Flextronics International USA Inc. Flextronics will stay put as the sole occupant of the buildings, which account for an aggregate 499,200 square feet of industrial space, under a 10-year lease agreement with the new owner.
Carrying addresses on Gibraltar Dr., the multi-structure complex occupies 33.5 acres in Silicon Valley's South 88 Corridor, less than nine miles from San Jose. Singapore-based Flextronics came into possession of the buildings, which average 15 years of age, when it acquired rival Solectron in a $3.6 billion deal earlier this year.
Westcore, which purchased the property through its Westcore Milpitas L.L.C. entity, relied on Bank of America for financing for the acquisition and turned to CPS/CORFAC International for representation in the deal; CPS/CORFAC also represented Flextronics. Specific terms of the sale and lease agreements have not been disclosed; however, the average asking rate for manufacturing space in Milpitas is $0.73 per-square-foot, triple-net, according to a third quarter report by real estate services firm NAI BT Commercial.
Flextronics' decision to leaseback the space as opposed to leasing elsewhere was a practical one, according to Dan Hollingsworth, senior vice president & principal with CPS/CORFAC. "These are nine individual buildings; that's a campus," Hollingsworth told CPN today. "To find a campus of 500,000 square feet--that you (typically) can't find." Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, December 30, 2007
SEB Group Completes EUR 185 Million Sale Leaseback of 54 Properties in the Baltics
CNW Group - December 28, 2007
Homburg Invest Inc. announces that it has finalized its acquisition of the “Baltic” portfolio consisting of 54 properties located in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (the “Baltic’s”) from SEB Group (“SEB”). The transaction was previously announced on April 26, 2007, when SEB and Homburg Invest entered into an agreement to acquire the Baltic portfolio. Due to the exercise of pre-emptive rights by third parties for certain of the properties, the acquired portfolio consists of 54 properties instead of the original 63 properties previously announced. With respect to the properties, 39 are occupied by SEB under long-term leases and 15 properties are primarily leased to other tenants or have short-term leases with SEB.
The transaction was completed at an aggregate purchase price of approximately CAD 268,250,000 (EURO 185,000,000) with a long-term debt financing of CAD 194,100,000 (EURO 134,000,000) from SEB Merchant Bank with the remainder of the purchase price being paid in cash. Sphere: Related Content
Homburg Invest Inc. announces that it has finalized its acquisition of the “Baltic” portfolio consisting of 54 properties located in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (the “Baltic’s”) from SEB Group (“SEB”). The transaction was previously announced on April 26, 2007, when SEB and Homburg Invest entered into an agreement to acquire the Baltic portfolio. Due to the exercise of pre-emptive rights by third parties for certain of the properties, the acquired portfolio consists of 54 properties instead of the original 63 properties previously announced. With respect to the properties, 39 are occupied by SEB under long-term leases and 15 properties are primarily leased to other tenants or have short-term leases with SEB.
The transaction was completed at an aggregate purchase price of approximately CAD 268,250,000 (EURO 185,000,000) with a long-term debt financing of CAD 194,100,000 (EURO 134,000,000) from SEB Merchant Bank with the remainder of the purchase price being paid in cash. Sphere: Related Content
Amazon.com Enters 1.6 Million SF Build-to-Suit for New Headquarters in Seattle
Cityfeet / GlobeSt - December 27, 2007
Amazon.com has inked a 1.6-million-sf headquarters deal with Vulcan Inc. and Schnitzer West. The deal calls for the online retailer to occupy 11 new buildings to be built on six blocks located immediately north of the Seattle CBD in the South Lake Union area.
Amazon.com expects to begin moving into its new office space in mid-2010, with full occupancy in 2011. The company said in an SEC filing that it will pay as much as $1.5 billion over 16 years to occupy the full 1.6 million sf, and that is also has options for additional space. An Amazon executive was not immediately available Thursday morning for further comment.
The developers are billionaire Paul Allen’s real estate investment arm Vulcan Inc., which controls some 60 blocks in the South lake Union area, and Schnitzer West, a partnership Schnitzer Investment Corp. of Portland, OR, and Dan Ivanoff of Seattle. To help seal the deal, the City of Seattle approved increased building heights in the immediate area and the developers agreed to contribute $6.4 million for affordable housing in the area.
Amazon.com’s new headquarters will be anchored by three 12-story, 160-foot high buildings on one-and-a-half blocks bounded by Terry and Boren avenues and John and Harrison streets. The buildings are known as Interurban Exchange II, IV and V.
Vulcan and Schnitzer West will jointly develop the buildings to a LEED Silver or Gold standard as the project’s first phase. The other eight buildings are slated to be developed exclusively by Vulcan. In addition to the office space, the buildings will hold about 100,000 sf of street-level space for restaurants and shops.
The company’s headquarters complex will be on the city’s new Streetcar line, which will connect to the city’s bus and light rail systems. Tim Halladay, vice president of real estate and finance operations at Amazon.com says proximity to public transit was an important factor in the selecting the location, as was the opportunity to enhance employee collaboration and productivity by consolidating employees on larger floor plates in fewer, adjacent buildings.
Amazon's current headquarters is located in a 16-story former hospital southeast of the Downtown core in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. It would vacate the hospital and several other leased locations around the city when it consolidates operations in the South Lake Union area. In total, the company reportedly occupies approximately 650,000 sf in the city. Sphere: Related Content
Amazon.com has inked a 1.6-million-sf headquarters deal with Vulcan Inc. and Schnitzer West. The deal calls for the online retailer to occupy 11 new buildings to be built on six blocks located immediately north of the Seattle CBD in the South Lake Union area.
Amazon.com expects to begin moving into its new office space in mid-2010, with full occupancy in 2011. The company said in an SEC filing that it will pay as much as $1.5 billion over 16 years to occupy the full 1.6 million sf, and that is also has options for additional space. An Amazon executive was not immediately available Thursday morning for further comment.
The developers are billionaire Paul Allen’s real estate investment arm Vulcan Inc., which controls some 60 blocks in the South lake Union area, and Schnitzer West, a partnership Schnitzer Investment Corp. of Portland, OR, and Dan Ivanoff of Seattle. To help seal the deal, the City of Seattle approved increased building heights in the immediate area and the developers agreed to contribute $6.4 million for affordable housing in the area.
Amazon.com’s new headquarters will be anchored by three 12-story, 160-foot high buildings on one-and-a-half blocks bounded by Terry and Boren avenues and John and Harrison streets. The buildings are known as Interurban Exchange II, IV and V.
Vulcan and Schnitzer West will jointly develop the buildings to a LEED Silver or Gold standard as the project’s first phase. The other eight buildings are slated to be developed exclusively by Vulcan. In addition to the office space, the buildings will hold about 100,000 sf of street-level space for restaurants and shops.
The company’s headquarters complex will be on the city’s new Streetcar line, which will connect to the city’s bus and light rail systems. Tim Halladay, vice president of real estate and finance operations at Amazon.com says proximity to public transit was an important factor in the selecting the location, as was the opportunity to enhance employee collaboration and productivity by consolidating employees on larger floor plates in fewer, adjacent buildings.
Amazon's current headquarters is located in a 16-story former hospital southeast of the Downtown core in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. It would vacate the hospital and several other leased locations around the city when it consolidates operations in the South Lake Union area. In total, the company reportedly occupies approximately 650,000 sf in the city. Sphere: Related Content
Friday, December 28, 2007
FBI Enters $100 Million Build-to-Suit For Denver HQ
CoStar Group - December 26, 2007
Alex S. Palmer & Co. has emerged as the winner of a $100 million contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a new office building in Denver for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Nashville-based development group was awarded the contract after a more than six-month competition with national developers including Hines International, Opus Group, Highwoods Properties and CB Richard Ellis.
"A competitive procurement was conducted by GSA that included several other distinguished developers from across the country," GSA Contracting Officer Mark Pearce said in a statement.
Under current plans, Alex Palmer & Co. will develop a 216,322-square-foot office building with expansion rights up to 292,034 square feet, as well as an adjoining parking garage. The new facility will sit on a 10-acre FBI campus at the former site of the Denver Stapleton Airport. It is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The FBI has signed a 20-year lease with Alex Palmer & Co., which will own the building. Ground breaking is planned in the second quarter of 2008, with completion slated by the end of 2009.
The building is part of a broader effort to replace outdated FBI offices in several cities with state-of-the-art facilities. Its glass exterior and energy efficient design also signify another step toward more modern and eco-friendly government buildings.
Peter Ruggiero, a partner with Chicago-based Skidmore Owings & Merrill and the designer of 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan, will lead the design team for the project. Bovis Lend Lease will serve as lead contractor.
Alex Palmer & Co. has built other federal buildings in recent years including the Veterans Administration building in San Diego, a government office building for the County of Alameda in San Francisco, and the IRS building in Fresno, CA. Sphere: Related Content
Alex S. Palmer & Co. has emerged as the winner of a $100 million contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a new office building in Denver for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Nashville-based development group was awarded the contract after a more than six-month competition with national developers including Hines International, Opus Group, Highwoods Properties and CB Richard Ellis.
"A competitive procurement was conducted by GSA that included several other distinguished developers from across the country," GSA Contracting Officer Mark Pearce said in a statement.
Under current plans, Alex Palmer & Co. will develop a 216,322-square-foot office building with expansion rights up to 292,034 square feet, as well as an adjoining parking garage. The new facility will sit on a 10-acre FBI campus at the former site of the Denver Stapleton Airport. It is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The FBI has signed a 20-year lease with Alex Palmer & Co., which will own the building. Ground breaking is planned in the second quarter of 2008, with completion slated by the end of 2009.
The building is part of a broader effort to replace outdated FBI offices in several cities with state-of-the-art facilities. Its glass exterior and energy efficient design also signify another step toward more modern and eco-friendly government buildings.
Peter Ruggiero, a partner with Chicago-based Skidmore Owings & Merrill and the designer of 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan, will lead the design team for the project. Bovis Lend Lease will serve as lead contractor.
Alex Palmer & Co. has built other federal buildings in recent years including the Veterans Administration building in San Diego, a government office building for the County of Alameda in San Francisco, and the IRS building in Fresno, CA. Sphere: Related Content
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