
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.
Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 304.06 points, or 1.9%, to close at 16,776.43. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 35.69 points, or 1.8%, to 1,987.05. The NASDAQ composite rose 73.49 points, or 1.6%, to 4,781.26.
The price of oil rose Monday. U.S. crude gained 72 cents to close at $46.26 a barrel in New York. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $1.12 to close at $49.25 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 4.4 cents to close at $1.388 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2.8 cents to close at $1.548 a gallon. Natural gas fell 0.1 cents to close at $2.45 per 1,000 cubic feet.
American Apparel Files for Bankruptcy Protection “After months of warning investors that its sales and cash were dwindling, American Apparel has APP -6.34% filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the latest drama befalling a retailer trying to rebound since the ousting last year of its founder and former CEO Dov Charney.” (Fortune)
Despite Looming Crowds, Bright Forecast for U.S. Real Estate “The latest ULI Real Estate Consensus Forecast calls for relatively smooth sailing ahead as it relates to both continued economic growth and a favorable outlook for commercial real estate investment. Yet, the forecast is not as bullish as it was six months ago, and there are headwinds looming that are expected to temper growth heading into 2017.” (Urban Land)
Twin Cities Supporting Two Outlet Malls Just Fine “When the Twin Cities Premium Outlets in Eagan celebrated its first anniversary in August, another outlet center also celebrated. The Albertville Premium Outlets, which was the closest outlet mall to the Twin Cities before the Eagan center opened, came through its first year with the new competitor in solid shape, said executives at Simon Property Group, which runs both.” (Star Tribune)
Huge Mall Rising at Troubled Site in North Jersey “Most of the checkerboard walls on the mammoth shopping mall rising in the Meadowlands that Gov. Chris Christie once called ‘the ugliest damn building in New Jersey and maybe America’ have been replaced with muted white panels. And now, after six years of sitting dormant, the ill-fated project once known as Xanadu is moving into high gear as it is transformed into American Dream Meadowlands.” (New York Times)
Economy Watch: Office Market Recovery Accelerating “Reis Inc. reported last week that 2015 might well be the best U.S. office market in terms of absorption and dropping vacancies since before the recession. During 3Q 2015, net absorption nationwide exceeded construction, causing vacancy to drop by 10 basis points to 16.5 percent, the lowest level since 2009. Slowly but surely, the recovery finally seems to have found its legs, with year-to-date figures for most metrics well ahead of 2014 as well.” (Commercial Property Executive)
How Gary Barnett Made the Ring Bling “When Gary Barnett finally won a 14-building portfolio of properties owned by brothers Frank and Michael Ring in late 2013 it was viewed as a coup for one of New York’s savviest dealmakers. Though his Extell Development reportedly paid close to $450 million for control, Barnett was expected to reap serious profits from the 1 million-square-foot-plus portfolio, which the Ring brothers left dilapidated and largely vacant. But just how big a cash cow it was is only now beginning to come to light.” (The Real Deal)
It’s Time to Capitalize on Blackstone Mortgage, Now Yielding 9% “BXMT's latest dividend increase was the largest increase since the company began its reincarnation back in 2012. Blackstone Real Estate has become almost like a ‘kid in the candy store’ these days, taking advantage of the wave of REIT privatizations driven by REIT discounts. BXMT’s transformational portfolio is generating very reliable and predictable earnings.” (Seeking Alpha)
Suspect Arrested for Time Warner Center ISIS Threat “Police arrested a man suspected of leaving a threatening package inside a bathroom at the Time Warner Center on Wednesday. Jonathan Lamptey, 34, of 760 E 214 St. Bronx, was arrested Friday and charged with making terrorist threats and aggravated harassment. The package, a large envelope, contained a DVD and a note.” (New York Post)
Top 5 Foreign Investors in Commercial Real Estate “With $62B through Q2’ 15, cross-border investors are generating record numbers, an RCA report says, and are now the dominant source of commercial real estate deals in the US. While Asian activity ($18.8B) gets most of the press, Europeans and Canadians are getting busy, too. (And the busiest Asian entrant might actually surprise you.) So who are the investors—and where are they buying?” (Bisnow)
Westcore Gets Bullish on Growing Class B Industrial Markets “Westcore Properties has acquired an eight-building infill industrial portfolio totaling 634,289 square feet, located in four cities throughout Southern California from MetLife for $69.4 million. The deal increases Westcore’s commercial space in the Orange County and Inland Empire areas to more than 2.5 million square feet.” (Commercial Property Executive)
October Hike Rules Out as Economists Say 2015 Hike ‘Unlikely’ “The weaker-than-expected job report for September puts a 2015 rate hike by the Federal Reserve in doubt, economists said Friday. The U.S. economy added only 142,000 jobs in September, well below forecasts, and previous estimate of job gains in August and July were revised lower. There is now a less than one-third chance of a rate hike in December, said Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Tufts University.” (MarketWatch)
Blackstone’s Grey Says REIT Buyouts Loom Amid Bearish Market “Stock investors are too bearish on U.S. real estate, and the market’s decline probably will lead to more takeovers of publicly traded landlords, along with asset sales, said Jon Gray, global head of real estate at Blackstone Group LP, the largest private equity investor in property worldwide. Real estate investment trusts are trading at discounts to the values of their properties on the private markets.” (Bloomberg)
Atlantic Station Retail Core Sold “The retail town center at Atlantic Station has been sold. North American Properties and CBRE Global Investors sold the main cluster of shops and restaurants to an investment fund, a person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. Real estate and investor services firm Hines Interests will operate the retail center on behalf of the investor. A person with knowledge of the situation said the retail center sold for about $200 million.” (AJC.com)
Mall of America Unveils Another Addition With Luxury Retail, Hotel, Offices “The Mall of America is about to get bigger, again. TripleFive Group of Cos. and Ryan Cos. submitted plans to the city of Bloomington for the mall’s next expansion phase, which will add more than 1 million square feet and be connected by a multistory bridge across Lindau Lane. The move aims to keep the megamall’s consumers engaged by offering new destinations while also giving high-end retailers a chance to influence physical design.” (Star Tribune)
Dunkin’ Donuts to Close 100 Stores “Dunkin' Brands, the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, announced Thursday that one of its franchisees plans to close 100 Dunkin' Donuts stores in the United States this year and next. The company did not provide a list of what stores would be closed, but said that they were all owned by the Speedway gas station and convenience store chain.” (CNN Money)
Dallas-Based Neiman Marcus Cuts 500 Jobs in Reshuffling “Neiman Marcus laid off 500 employees Thursday, or about 3 percent of its workforce of 16,000, as it tries to cut costs to pay for new stores and acquisitions. The cuts include about 157 people in Dallas, where the luxury retailer is headquartered and employs about 4,800 people. CEO Karen Katz said no store sales associates were let go and all the job cuts were in corporate and support positions.” (The Dallas Morning News)
432 Park Ave. Partners Fighting Over Commission Fees “Manhattan developer Harry Macklowe cut a Saudi businessman out of a promised fee for pulling in $450 million of capital for the western hemisphere’s tallest residential tower, according to a new $9 million lawsuit. Dr. Hamza B. Alkholi says in Manhattan Supreme Court papers that he partnered with Macklowe to acquire and develop the retail portion of 432 Park Ave.” (New York Post)
First Look: Primark Boston “Move over H&M, Old Navy and Forever 21 — another retailer has entered the budget-friendly, fast-fashion marketplace. Irish retailer Primark, a division of Associated British Foods PLC, has dropped anchor in the United States, opening a 77,000-sq.-ft. store in Boston’s Downtown Crossing. And more are in the works: Primark plans to open a total of eight U.S. stores by the end of 2016, with the next opening in King of Prussia Mall, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in November.” (Chain Store Age)
Blackstone Raises Record-Breaking $15.8B Real Estate Fund “It’s official: The Blackstone Group raised the world’s largest-ever private real estate fund, totaling $15.8 billion. News of the fundraising broke in March, but it took several months to rake in all the cash. Twenty percent of the capital is already committed to projects, according to a press release.” (The Real Deal)
Congress Extends Popular EB-5 Program (But Not for Long) “After months of build-up and questions, the US Congress passed an extension of the EB-5 program through Dec. 11. The EB-5 community has been in a hubbub for months, wondering if the program would expire, although Congress never really made it seem like they would pull the plug on the wildly popular program. But now that the extension's official, EB-5 supporters are excited.” (Bisnow)
United States, 11 Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal — Having hammered out an ambitious trade deal with 11 Pacific Rim countries, the Obama administration now faces a potentially tougher task: selling the deal to a skeptical Congress. The countries reached a contentious trade pact Monday that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations’ intellectual property after marathon negotiating sessions in Atlanta through the weekend. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is designed to encourage trade between the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Together, the countries account for 40 per cent of world economic output.