- RioCan Reviews U.S. Property Unit for Possible Sale “RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, Canada’s largest retail landlord, said it’s studying how to get the most value from its U.S. assets as operating in the country gets more expensive and competitive. Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada have been hired for a strategic review that may result in RioCan selling all or some of its U.S. properties, forming a joint venture or continuing to operate and investing in the assets.” (Bloomberg)
- Goldman Sachs Chooses Not to Sell Hotels Worth $1.7 Billion “Goldman Sachs Group’s $1.73 billion deal to sell 149 U.S. hotels to Moody National REIT I Inc., a non-traded real estate investment trust, has collapsed after an increase in funding costs. Moody National disclosed the planned acquisition in a regulatory filing in May, without naming the seller. The portfolio was from Goldman Sachs’s Whitehall Street real estate unit.” (Bloomberg)
- Where to Invest in Housing? Rent or Own? “The U.S. home ownership rate is now at its lowest point in nearly half a century, which has investors asking if that's by default or choice? Certainly the recent recession has left fewer young Americans in a position to afford home ownership, but the argument is equally strong that young millennials, as well as downsizing baby boomers, prefer the financial and physical flexibility of renting.” (CNBC)
- Economy Watch: 2Q GDP and the State of Real Estate “Real GDP—which the Bureau of Economic Analysis defines as the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes—increased at an annualized rate of 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015, according to the BEA on Thursday. That wasn’t as much as expected; the consensus among economists was 2.9 percent. But it still represented a strong uptick from the first quarter, when real GDP increased only 0.6 percent.” (Commercial Property Executive)
- Fresh & Easy Closing 14 Stores “Fresh & Easy is closing 14 underperforming stores, a spokesman told SN Friday. The stores, which are closing as soon as Friday, are located throughout the retailer's territory including San Diego, Los Angeles, Arizona and Las Vegas, reports said. Fresh & Easy, which at one time ran more than 200 stores, will operate fewer than 100 stores following the closures.” (Supermarket News)
- Vornado Nets $242M on 100 West 33rd Street Refinancing “Steven Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust completed a $580 million refinancing of 100 West 33rd Street, netting a hefty profit of $242 million. A spokesperson for the real estate investment trust declined to identify the lender. The 13-story, 1.1 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex is comprised of 851,000 square feet of office space, and 256,000 square feet of retail space in the form of the Manhattan Mall.” (The Real Deal)
- Why It May be Time to Bet on Casino Stocks Again “The country's largest casino stocks have crapped out over the past 16 months, with Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, and MGM Resorts International taking huge hits largely due to their exposure to the battered Macau market. But industry experts and analysts believe the beaten-down stocks may have bottomed, and that it might be time to slowly start putting investment chips back on the table.” (The Street)
- U.S. Construction Spending Slows to 0.1% in June “Spending on U.S. construction projects rose just 0.1% in June, well below forecast. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 0.8% increase. The Commerce Department said construction outlays increased to an annual rate of $1.06 billion, adjusted for seasonal variations. Spending advanced 0.4% for new houses, condos, apartment buildings and other residential properties.” (MarketWatch)
- Which Company Leases the Most Office Space in Manhattan? “WeWork is the fastest-growing lessee of office space in New York City. So it's no surprise that the shared-workspace provider, now valued at $10 billion, has three of the top 15 deals on CoStar's ranking of the top Manhattan office leases from the first half of 2015. At 549,438 total square feet, no other tenant on the top 50 took over more space from January to June.” (Crain’s New York Business)
- 7 Kingmakers in Real Estate “There are innumerable lists of tech power players, but the world of Real Estate is brimming with equally brilliant academics, shrewd deal-makers, and hungry entrepreneurs with amazing stories to tell. Some broke into the business accidentally, others have a deep-seeded passion for buildings. Their focuses range from warehouses to luxury hotels and motels.” (Forbes)
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