Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz of the day will be.
Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.73 points, or 0.2%, to 17,758.21. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 3.14 points, or 0.2%, to 2,081.72. The tech-heavy NASDAQ composite gave up 12.06 points, or 0.2%, to 5,083.24.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 34 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $44.21 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, picked up 25 cents, or 0.5%, to close at $47.44 a barrel in London. Heating oil rose 0.9 cents to $1.487 and wholesale gasoline slipped 0.9 cents to $1.362 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2 cents to $2.32 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Albertsons Bids for 36 Stores as Haggen Auctions Kick Off “As many as 131 Haggen stores could find new owners this week as bankruptcy auctions kick off Monday in Los Angeles. As many as 36 of the stores could be going back to Albertsons LLC, according to a list of qualified bidders for individual stores filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, which is overseeing the liquidation. Of the 95 individual stores up for auction this week, 59 have baseline bids.” (Supermarket News)
Fed’s Rosengren Sees Possible Bubble in Commercial Real Estate “Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Fed, said Monday he is worried about the rapid rise in commercial real estate prices, becoming the latest U.S. central banker to be worried about financial stability concerns in the real estate sector with interest rates close to zero. With rates so low, the risk is that investors seeking a higher return could be taking on too much risk in order to improve returns, not fully preparing for the day that interest rates move higher.” (MarketWatch)
Blame Real Estate Lending. Then Rein It In “Left to themselves, banks and shadow banks are bound to create too much of the wrong sort of debt and leave economies facing severe debt overhangs. That raises the question: How can we prevent excessive credit creation? Following the 2007–2008 crisis, major reforms have sought to make the financial system more stable, ensuring better-run banks and fixing the problem of “too big to fail.” But this is insufficient.” (Bloomberg)
Where Every Fed Member Stands on Raising Interest Rates “Federal Reserve officials seem to be leaning towards a December rate hike. First was the October policy statement, where central bankers removed a key sentence citing global factors and suggested zero interest rate policy could end in December. Then Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said that December was a live policy option if the economic data followed through.” (MarketWatch)
Albertsons Bids for 36 Stores as Haggen Auctions Kick Off “As many as 131 Haggen stores could find new owners this week as bankruptcy auctions kick off Monday in Los Angeles. As many as 36 of the stores could be going back to Albertsons LLC, according to a list of qualified bidders for individual stores filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, which is overseeing the liquidation. Of the 95 individual stores up for auction this week, 59 have baseline bids.” (Supermarket News)
Downtown Office Building Sales Hit Record $6.1 Billion “It's official: 2015 is the best year ever for downtown Chicago office sales. With almost two months remaining, this year's total sales volume has reached $6.1 billion, eclipsing 2006's record mark of $5.3 billion, according to Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle. Recently completed deals include the $712 million sale of the 83-story Aon Center, the city's third-tallest building, and a $320.5 million sale of the 36-story tower at 333 W. Wacker Drive.” (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Spain’s Mango to Shut 450 U.S. Sales Outlets “Spanish fashion chain Mango will close 450 sales outlets in the United States early next year after ending a five-year deal to display its clothing lines at department store J.C. Penney , a spokesman said. The unlisted retail chain, which competes with Inditex brands such as Zara as well as Sweden's H&M , will not be renewing the expiring agreement and will close the outlets around February, the spokesman said, confirming a report on website moda.es.” (Reuters)
Black Friday Comes Early for REIT Investors “On Friday, REITs were not rewarded for their good grades in the third quarter reporting period. Most REITs have conveyed sound results for the latest quarter, many turning in solid marks, either hitting guidance or beating. However, on Friday, Mr. Market decided to penalize REITs again in another almost systematic round of ‘time out.’” (Forbes)
Monday Properties CEO Anthony Westreich on Why DC’s Tallest Building’s Still Empty “The tallest building in the Washington region, Monday Properties' 1812 North Moore in Rosslyn, has been empty since it opened in October 2013. But Monday CEO Anthony Westreich isn't panicking despite the poor market conditions in Arlington. So far, Anthony says he’s not considering changing tactics: he still is targeting an anchor tenant of at least 100k SF.” (Bisnow)
First Potomac’s CEO, CIO Resign “On Monday morning First Potomac Realty Trust announced that CEO Doug Donatelli and Chief Investment Officer Nicholas Smith were resigning from their respective positions. Chief Operating Officer Robert Milkovich will be assuming the role of CEO, in addition to his other responsibilities. He also joins the Board of Trustees, effective immediately.” (GlobeSt.)
Canadian-Anchored Tower Gets New Owner to Match “In an effort to expand its Twin Cities portfolio, Artis Real Estate Investment Trust of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has struck a deal to buy Canadian Pacific Plaza, a Class A office building located in downtown Minneapolis. The REIT purchased the 393,884-square-foot asset from New York-based Ladder Capital Corp. at a price of $68.6 million and a 7.5 percent cap rate. Artis will also assume the mortgage on the property.” (Commercial Property Executive)
US wholesale stockpiles up 0.5% in September — U.S. wholesalers boosted their stockpiles in September by the largest amount in three months, responding to a robust rebound in sales. Stockpiles at the wholesale level increased 0.5 per cent, the biggest increase since a 0.7% rise in June, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Inventories had risen 0.3% in August.