Two Texas Cities Top San Francisco for Property Investors “Houston and Austin are the most attractive U.S. markets for buying and developing real estate, topping San Francisco, as growth potential in the Texas cities draws investors from popular coastal areas, a survey shows.” (Bloomberg)
Asian Money Pouring Into U.S. Multifamily Assets at Historic Pace “U.S. multifamily has seen a significant increase in investment volumes by Asian buyers so far in 2014, with $522 million of transactions completed from January through August. This figure has already surpassed the full year total for 2012 ($356 million) by a considerable margin and is close to bettering the 2013 total ($537 million).” (World Property Channel)
PwC Forecasts Higher Interest Rates, Strong Industrial Market in 2015 “The market expects interest rates to rise. ‘We are nearing the end of a historic opportunity to lock in long-term mortgage money at exceptionally cheap rates,’ the report says. ‘There should be a real sense of urgency to accomplish this in 2015, early in the year if at all possible.”’ (The Wall Street Journal)
Silverstein to Sell $1.6B of Tax-Exempt Bonds for 3 WTC “Developer Larry Silverstein’s Silverstein Properties plans to sell $1.6 billion of tax-exempt bonds as soon as next week, in an effort to finance the 3 World Trade Center project. Silverstein said he hopes an uptick in the municipal bond market makes for a successful sale.” (The Real Deal)
Brookfield Asset Bids for Brookfield Residential “Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM) plans to buy the 30 percent of Brookfield Residential (BRP) Properties Inc. that it doesn’t own for $846 million. The offer is for $23 in cash for each of the remaining 36.8 million shares, Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management said in a statement today. That’s about 20 percent more than yesterday’s closing price, the company said.” (Bloomberg)
London’s 90 North Enters North American Market with $750M to Invest “London-based 90 North Real Estate Partners comes across the pond to the U.S. to make its entrée into the North American market. The international real estate investment management and advisor has set up shop in Chicago with plans to invest $750 million over the next 18 to 24 months.” (Commercial Property Executive)
Kroger is Suddenly Whole Foods’ Biggest Threat “The supermarket chain is expected to surpass Whole Foods Market within two years and become the nation's top seller of organic and natural food, according to a recent report by JPMorgan.” (Business Insider)
530 Fifth Avenue is Sold for $595M “The owners of 530 Fifth Ave. have closed on the $595 million sale of the building to a partnership of Thor Equities, RXR Realty and General Growth Properties, sources told Crain’s. The 500,000-square-foot building was sold by a partnership between Rockwood Capital, Jamestown, Murray Hill Properties and Crown Acquisitions that purchased the building in 2011 for a reported $390 million.” (Crain’s New York Business)
Orlando Apartment Portfolio Sells for $150 Million “In a transaction handled by CBRE Capital Markets, a 1,024-unit multifamily portfolio in Orlando was acquired this week by Atlas Residential for $150 million. This transaction represents the largest apartment complex sale in the metropolitan Orlando area in 2014.” (World Property Journal)
The Rise of “Discountvenience” “Channel blurring has been a feature of grocery retailing for many years, but has become even more prominent in recent times. Shoppers have increased the number of channels they’ve been using, and retailers have been developing new formats that cross traditional channel boundaries in response to this. One of the most widespread examples has been the development of hybrid formats which bridge the divide between discount and convenience, a global phenomenon in grocery retailing that we’ve dubbed ‘discountvenience.’” (Supermarket News)