Costar… While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) doesn’t reveal the identities of banks listed on its “Problem List” of institutions — ones that the FDIC determines pose a greater risk of loss to its deposit insurance fund — there is nothing stopping the problem banks’ parent companies from identifying themselves. In a study of annual reports filed by bank holding companies in the first quarter of this year, CoStar Group found 15 firms that… Continue reading here: Bank Annual Reports: Treasure Maps to $700 Million in Distressed CRE Assets Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

Excerpt from:
Bank Annual Reports: Treasure Maps to $700 Million in Distressed CRE Assets

Costar… Cross-border investment in real estate reached its highest level in three years in 2011, with New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago accounting for five of the top 10 international markets. However, hopes for a massive influx of foreign capital into U.S. property markets by risk-averse international investors has so far gone unfulfilled. That may be changing, according to recent separate reports from Property and Portfolio… More: SAFE HAVEN? Europe’s Investment Woes May Push More Offshore Capital To U.S. Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

Originally posted here:
SAFE HAVEN? Europe’s Investment Woes May Push More Offshore Capital To U.S.

From WSJ.com…

American International Group is planning to jump back into U.S. property investing, reversing yearslong efforts to downsize its real-estate business in the wake of its near-collapse and government bailout in 2008.

View article:
AIG to Return to U.S. Property Investing

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Cash-strapped Chinese property companies may face a reckoning this year amid high debts and a government campaign to bring down housing prices. If that happens, a number of outside investors are waiting to step in.

View the original here:
Property Investors Lie in Wait in China

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

A group of creditors including Related Cos., CIM Group and HFZ Capital won control of One Madison Park, a nearly-completed glass condominium tower in Manhattan that had been stalled in court fights for more than two years.

More here:
Manhattan Tower’s Fate Resolved

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Two real estate powerhouses are angling for control of a massive industrial portfolio hoping to capitalize on an expected economic recovery.

Read More:
Industrial-Space Showdown

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

The commercial mortgage-backed securities market in the U.S. has increasingly resembled a battlefield as delinquencies have mounted and lawsuits, foreclosures and other fights have mushroomed. In Europe, by comparison, some efforts to fix distressed commercial mortgage securities, or CMBS, look refreshingly civilized.

Read More:
Europe’s Gentler Debt Deals

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Gasoline prices have jumped in the past year and in some cities are hovering near record highs, boosting oil company profits. But for some real-estate companies that own gasoline stations, times are tough.

See more here:
High Prices, Rent Spark Fuel Feud

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Four years before it hosts the 2016 Games, an Olympian effort is under way in Rio de Janeiro to make over the city, which also will host the World Cup finals in 2014.

More:
Rio Hopes for an Olympic-Style Revival

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Five-year loans made at the height of the boom in 2007 are coming due this year, and so far the results aren’t pretty.

Visit link:
Rowdy Class of 2007 Is Causing Problems

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

A once-highflying real estate fund that counts Harvard University, Duke University and other blue-chip names as investors is laying off its entire investment staff after determining it can’t raise new funds.

Read More:
Short of New Funds, Firm Takes a ‘Pause’

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

A legal ruling potentially could give many debtholders across the U.S. new grounds to recover money from landlords who lost their properties to foreclosure.

See the article here:
Michigan Case Puts a Chill in the Air

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Fashion boutique Rag & Bone is planning to open its first Upper East Side store—but its sixth in New York—in former bank space along the trendy Madison Avenue retail strip.

See the article here:
What’s the Deal

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

Commercial real-estate brokerages on Monday begin releasing their reports on first-quarter office-leasing activity, and the numbers don’t bode well for the firms’ New York profits.

View article:
Office Leasing’s Big Drop

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

From WSJ.com…

After a two-year search, Havas SA has leased 260,000-square-feet from Trinity Real Estate, in a deal that will create a two-building campus for the firm at 200 and 205 Hudson St.

Read more here:
Havas Makes Hudson Home

Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

This week, Bryan Shaffer of George Smith Partners (GSP) originated $4,200,000 repositioning loan for 196 Unit SRO Multi-Family Apartments with Ground Floor Retail. GSP?s client required capital to complete the renovation and redevelopment of an affordable SRO Multi-Family Apartment Building with ground floor retail located in Downtown Los Angeles. The high-profile property had a troubled past and the new owner wanted to completely rehabilitate the project. The project was completely vacant and undergoing major construction. Under the extremely challenging conditions, Bryan was able to originated a 10-year year term loan priced at 6.25% fixed with 30 year amortization and a pre-payment penalty declining over the first 3 years.

The major challenge was that most lenders would not finance SRO apartments, especially projects that are 100% vacant, undergoing major construction and have been encumbered by the City of Los Angeles Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP) for the prior owners not providing safe living conditions. In addition, it was critical to the sponsor that construction process was not delayed by the financing process.

?I enjoy challenging projects, where my skills add value. For almost 25 years, I have been involved in every aspect of commercial real estate finance, development and operations, so I enjoy assignments where my experience can solve my clients? capital requirements. I think it not only that George Smith Partners is in the market every day, but that we understand how to underwrite the transactions to lender standards, identify upside and manage the loan in the due diligence, appraisal and closing process,? said Bryan Shaffer of George Smith Partners.

?We developed and executed a detailed strategy including upfront underwriting, due diligence and analysis of value after construction and rehabilitation,? Shaffer explained. He used his extensive market expertise and lender relationships to identify a Southern California based lender with special affordable multi-family housing mission and unique loan programs that would allow the un-stabilized project to receive long term market rate financing. He helped the lender see beyond a vacant troubled property and understand the sponsors vision and future value. During the application process, Bryan managed every step of the due diligence, appraisal and closing process to ensure the loan closed on time.

George Smith Partners (GSP)
George Smith Partners is a premier nationwide advisor between users of capital and providers of capital. Although headquartered in Los Angeles, fifty percent of our work is on properties located outside of California. Sophisticated developers and investors value our ability to custom-tailor closings that deliver the smartest money. We arranged yearly over $3.5 billion in commercial financings with over 100 different capital sources.

Bryan Shaffer
At GSP, Mr. Shaffer focuses on delivering solutions to address his clients? real estate capital requirements and arranges structured financing for multifamily and commercial properties, including acquisition, refinance, construction, bridge and permanent loans, mezzanine and participating debt, and joint venture equity. For over 20 years, he has been active in the industry with a track record of success with over $4 Billion of transactions. He has completed transactions in the multi-family, office, retail, industrial and hospitality sectors as well as specialized experience with complex data centers, healthcare/medical and senior facilities.

Costar… This week a bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of the venerable but cash-strapped Grubb & Ellis Co. to BGC Partners, Inc., ushering in the latest in a series of changes that have roiled the commercial real estate brokerage business. Next comes the hard work involved in exiting bankruptcy and integrating the new acquisition. Among the challenges the two firms face are preserving Grubb & Ellis’s property and facilities management and brokerage… Read the rest here: After Sale Approval In Bankruptcy Court, Grubb & Ellis Moves To Next Phase Under BGC Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

More:
After Sale Approval In Bankruptcy Court, Grubb & Ellis Moves To Next Phase Under BGC

Costar… With new CEO and ‘CIO’ officers at the helm, Hewlett Packard (HP) is realigning its organizational structure — a portion of which has it taking global real estate decision-making away from its financial managers and putting it into the hands of its techies. The move likely means that the real estate consolidation the company said was largely completed last year may not be over. HP’s global real estate footprint encompassed nearly 70 million… Go here to see the original: Brick & Mortar Decisions No Longer Just About Dollars & Cents at H-P Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

View article:
Brick & Mortar Decisions No Longer Just About Dollars & Cents at H-P

Costar… Even among the stream of positive real estate surveys and forecasts recently, the one issued this week by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) stands out. Expressing the consensus views of 38 leading real estate economists and analysts from across the U.S., ULI reported commercial real estate market conditions and the overall economy is expected to see broad improvement over at least the next two years as the recovery cycle kicks into overdrive and shifts… See original here: ULI: Consensus of Economists Sees Promising CRE Outlook Through 2014 Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

Continue Reading:
ULI: Consensus of Economists Sees Promising CRE Outlook Through 2014

Costar… Possibly just weeks away from being sold, RREEF America LLC isn’t sitting around waiting to find out who its new owner is. The leading real estate investment manager is planning to form a new REIT to be called RREEF America Property Income Trust Inc. and hold an initial public stock offering to raise up to $2.5 billion. The new property income REIT will invest primarily in properties, but also in real estate debt and publicly traded REIT stocks, although… Go here to see the original: RREEF America Jumping into New-Fangled REIT Arena Find our Weekly Commercial Real Estate, Private Equity and Fund Newsletters at www.WeeklyBrief.net

Continued here:
RREEF America Jumping into New-Fangled REIT Arena