- Morgans Shareholder Rambleside to Offer $507 Million for Hotels “Real estate investment firm Rambleside Holdings is offering to buy two Morgans Hotel Group Co. lodging properties for about $507 million in cash to speed up efforts to maximize shareholder value. Rambleside, owner of about 4 percent of Morgans stock, said it’s prepared to bid $313 million for Manhattan’s Hudson Hotel and $194 million for the Delano South Beach in Florida, unencumbered of management contracts.” (Bloomberg)
- Report: Chico’s Considers Private Equity Sale “Chico’s has been approached by Sycamore Partners and is also in talks with other private equity groups about a possible sale. Chico’s is said to be working with investment bank Peter J. Solomon. Sycamore Partners attempted to purchase Chico’s in February 2015, but the deal fell apart due to financing issues. Activist investor group Blue Harbour, Chico’s biggest shareholder, has been pushing the retailer to sell itself since 2013.” (Chain Store Age)
- Sheldon Silver, Former Assembly Speaker, Helped Developer Block Methadone Clinic’s Relocation, U.S. Says “When a methadone clinic sought to relocate to Manhattan’s financial district in 2011, parents, local business owners and others rallied in opposition. Perhaps the most prominent opponent was Sheldon Silver, then the powerful speaker of the State Assembly who represented that neighborhood. But what Mr. Silver did not reveal then was that a real estate developer who owned a building near the proposed location had asked him for his help in blocking the project.” (The New York Times)
- The Battle Over Prized Land Under Silicon Valley’s Trailer Parks “The free market wouldn't plop down a trailer park just a few miles from downtown San Jose. At least not today, in a sharply spiking housing market that has made the metropolitan area one of the most expensive in the U.S. But that's where you'll find Winchester Ranch and its 111 mobile-home lots, just down the street from an upscale shopping mall, a newly created development zone, and a major highway interchange.” (Bloomberg)
- Elizabeth Warren Changes Mind, Sides With Frannie and Freddie “The Fannie Mae saga continues to make strange political bedfellows. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), patron saint of the left, has ditched her support for a bill that would shut down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replace them with a private system. The legislation would block Treasury from ever paying the mortgage giants’ current shareholders.” (New York Post)
- The 10 Most Overvalued Housing Markets in America “Buyers and investors beware: the number of real-estate markets that are now overvalued is growing rapidly. Of the top 100 real-estate markets in the U.S., 14 are now overvalued -- more than double the number that were at the end of the first quarter in 2015, according to a report released on Monday by real estate analytics firm CoreLogic, which examines market data for the first half of 2015.” (MarketWatch)
- TIAA-CREF, Norges Move in on San Francisco “The latest acquisition by the joint venture between TIAA-CREF and Norges Bank Investment Management, manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, is a 1918-vintage office building in San Francisco’s South of Market submarket, TIAA-CREF announced Monday. NBIM has acquired a 49.9 percent stake and TIAA-CREF a 50.1 percent interest in 888 Brannan St., a 445,000-square-foot Class A office building.” (Commercial Property Executive)
- Can Gristedes Clean Up its Act? “Tony Najjar squeezed down the narrow aisle at a Gristedes supermarket in Battery Park City to investigate the blue-and-white floor tiles scuffed and stained by years of traffic and spills. Mr. Najjar has one of the toughest jobs in New York retailing: persuading shoppers to take another look at Gristedes, the supermarket chain owned by billionaire and former mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis.” (Crain’s New York Business)
- Manhattan Office Leasing Activity Dips 14 Percent Below 5-Year Average in August “According to CBRE, Manhattan office leasing activity totaled 1.88 million square feet in August 2015, 14% below its five-year monthly average of 2.20 million sq. ft. The availability rate was stable over the past month and down 20 basis points from August 2014. Year-to-date net absorption remains negative and is largely unchanged from last month.” (World Property Journal)
- HFF Lands a Hand in Downtown Seattle “HFF proves that age is just a number as it lands $69.5 million in financing the century-old Medical Dental Building in Seattle. The commercial real estate and capital markets services provider orchestrated the deal on behalf Goodman Real Estate Inc., owner of the 294,300-square-foot medical office building. Medical Dental boasts a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.” (Commercial Property Executive)
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