- Blackstone Seeks Up to $15 Billion for Real Estate Fund “Blackstone Group LP, the largest private-equity investor in real estate, is seeking to raise as much as $15 billion of equity for its latest global property fund, surpassing its own record for funds of this type.” (Bloomberg)
- Economy Watch: Construction Costs Outplace Inflation “For 12 months ending in January 2015, the all-items index was down 0.1 percent, the first annual negative reading since October 2009. Take away energy and food, and prices are up 1.6 percent. Compare those meager rates of inflation to a metric that more directly affects the commercial real estate industry — construction costs, — and it’s clear that the resurgence of development is putting some upward pressure on costs.” (Commercial Property Executive)
- Sternlicht’s Starwood Gets $500M Loan for 85-Hotel Portfolio “Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group landed a $500 million loan to refinance 85 of its extended-stay hotels across 18 states, The Real Deal has learned. Credit Suisse provided the five-year, floating-rate loan for the InTown Suites portfolio, which includes nearly 10,800 hotel rooms.” (The Real Deal)
- Real Estate Notes: A Smart Investment Alternative “One key reason to focus on buying notes in the present market is simply because there are so many of them out there following the nation’s most recent foreclosure crisis that began in 2006. Ample supply is one thing, but nationally recognized experts teaching and coaching investors in buying notes point to a more important reason to specialize in notes, instead of purchasing brick-and-mortar real estate: the greater number of exit strategies available to note buyers.” (U.S. News & World Report)
- Here are Google’s Plans for a Crazy New Campus “Google is planning a futuristic campus that it hopes will live up to its innovative image. Renderings, submitted to the Internet giant’s hometown of Mountain View, Calif., show office buildings enclosed in tents of glass that look like undulating greenhouses.” (Fortune)
- Welcome to Houston, Texas—Still America’s Economic Miracle “The numbers don’t lie: Since 2000, Texas has created 2.1 million jobs, more than double any other state – that’s 30 percent of all the jobs created in the U.S. of A. Seven of the top 10 cities for projected job growth through 2015 will be in Texas. Analysts predict during the next five years, Texas will record an annual job growth rate of 2.7 percent – the fastest and best in the country.” (Forbes)
- ARCP Sees Issuing Financial Restatements on March 2 “American Realty Capital Properties Inc., the U.S. landlord that disclosed accounting errors last year, said it expects to release revised financial statements on March 2. The real estate investment trust plans to issue amendments to its annual report for 2013 as well as restated earnings for the first and second quarters of 2014.” (Bloomberg)
- A Promising Future for RCAP? “In the wake of Nicholas Schorsch stepping down from his company and the turmoil surrounding accounting errors at its sister firm, some wonder whether RCS Capital (RCAP) can continue to grow and thrive. One blogger on SeekingAlpha believes it can. The firm’s main assets—the retail advice business—was largely untouched by the troubles, writes TheBaron Investing, and that is the biggest contributor to the company’s bottom line. (Wealthmanagement.com)
- Guitar Center: Is It Doomed? “This month, after Standard & Poor has cut Guitar Center bonds to junk status, Garland is back with an compelling obituary for the chain titled The End Of Guitar Center. If Garland is correct, a major upheaval for US musical instrument business is already in the cards, with more than twenty dozen potential Guitar Center store closings across the US as just the most visible part of an ugly scenario.” (Commercial Source)
- Tech Sector Ground on Financial Services in NYC Real Estate: Report “In 2014, the tech sector and new media companies leased more than five million square feet of office space and was responsible for 16.2 percent of leasing activity in Manhattan, a 4.9 percent increase since 2013, according to a new report on the industry released by JLL.” (Commercial Observer)
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