Commercial Real Estate News

National Commercial Real Estate News From CoStar Group
Study: Costs Linked To Proposed Lease Accounting Changes Could Harm Economy, CRE Values	2/22/2012 10:01 PM
Real estate businesses and property values could be adversely affected by the new accounting standards -- and the cost of complying with them -- according to a report backed by a coalition of real estate and business groups. As international rule makers prepare to release another draft of proposed accounting changes that would require companies to capitalize real estate and equipment leases, a report warns that current proposals would impose huge...
Social Media in CRE No Longer Just for Socializing	2/22/2012 8:15 PM
Commercial real estate brokers and companies are slowly shrugging off their aversions to social media platforms and are engaging more frequently in online marketing, information gathering and client building. While late to the social networking scene and still in a fledgling state of using websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, many in the CRE industry have started trying to harness their reach in hopes that one day it will lead to deals...
Retail Market Purges Fear of Double Dip	2/22/2012 8:13 PM
Retail properties went through a see-saw swing last year with strong leasing during the first half of the year surging upward only to deflate later in the year as several economic shocks threatened to derail the economic recovery. However, the industry is starting to regain some momentum as 2012 progresses, according to new retail outlooks from Marcus & Millichap, Savills US and Colliers International retail groups. With retail sales now exceeding...
W.P. Carey Converting to a Public REIT	2/22/2012 8:12 PM
Investment firm W.P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE:WPC) plans to convert into a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and, in doing so, will acquire its non-traded REIT affiliate, Corporate Property Associates 15 Inc. The firm said it expects the change in structure will help increase its market share and improve access to capital. The transaction values CPA 15 at $2.6 billion, including the assumption of debt of $1.2 billion, as of Dec....
Equity Residential Raises Bid In Latest Move For Archstone	2/22/2012 4:10 AM
The high-stakes match for control of Archstone continues, with Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) making the latest move. Keeping its options alive to acquire at least a piece of the Denver-based apartment company, EQR reached an agreement this week with Barclays PLC and Bank of America on a 60-day extension of its deadline to make a formal offer to acquire the banks' remaining interest in Archstone. Equity Residential, one of the nation’s largest...
SPS Commerce Leases 118,042 SF in Downtown Minneapolis	2/22/2012 12:45 AM
SPS Commerce, Inc., an on-demand supply chain management solutions company, signed a 90-month lease for about 118,042 square feet in the Accenture Tower office building at 333 South 7th St. in Minneapolis, MN. The tenant has existing space, covering about 70,746 square feet on floors 8 through 10. Due to growth of the company, the tenant decided to extend the term of its existing lease and expand by 23,651 square feet on the seventh floor, which...
Updated: Grubb & Ellis Files for Chapter 11, Agrees To Sell Nearly All Assets to BGC Partners	2/21/2012 6:00 AM
Grubb & Ellis Co., one of the country’s most recognizable CRE services brands which fell on hard financial times during the economic recession, has agreed to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sell nearly all of the company's assets in a bankruptcy transaction to BGC Partners, the parent of Newmark Knight Frank. In a statement, Santa Ana, CA-based Grubb & Ellis said it believes the acquisition by the investment firm headed by Cantor...
CoStar's People of Note (Feb. 12-18)	2/16/2012 8:39 PM
This week's People of Note includes the following markets: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, National, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Tucson and Washington, DC. WASHINGTON, DC Avison Young Expands Corporate Services Team in DC By Chris Crouse Industry veterans Bruce McNair (pictured far left) and Bill Morris (left) lead an eight-person team that has joined Avison
GREEN LEAD \| Green Building News from CoStar	2/16/2012 7:57 PM
GREEN LEAD is a column on environmental and sustainable design and construction, best practices for green building maintenance and operations, economic impact on developers and owners, new LEED and Energy Star building certifications, and trends in the Green Building movement. Send in your Green News Leads to news@costar.com LEED Doesn't Cost More - Army Replies to
Real Estate On the Menu at KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut	2/15/2012 8:13 PM
Yum! Brands, the world's largest restaurant company with more than 38,000 eateries in more than 110 countries, is turning more and more of its attention to China. To help fund its expansion overseas, the firm is in the process of selling off a big chunk of its U.S. restaurant real estate. The Louisville, KY-based company's restaurant ownership in the U.S. dropped to 13% from 15% last year. Yum! Brands closed or sold/refranchised 404 restaurants...