Latest Articles
Vietnam Town Troubles Continue
February 4, 2008
We previously wrote a short piece on Vietnam Town’s troubles back in November about the work stoppage at the site and the lender halting payments.
It seems financial problems continue to affect the development now that some of the sub-contractors have filed to seek foreclosure of the site to satisfy monies they are owed for work.
There [...]
Microsoft Bids For Yahoo; Facebook Numbers Leaked
February 1, 2008
Microsoft has launched a $45B unsolicited bid for Yahoo! Combined, the two would be a more formidable competitor to Google, both in terms of search market share, as well as ad inventory. What will be interesting to see is that if the acquisition is indeed successful, to what extend Microsoft will embrace open-source technologies and [...]
Silicon Valley Chapter of NAIOP Broker Luncheon
January 31, 2008
I attended a broker luncheon of NAIOP’s (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) Silicon Valley chapter today. The panel was comprised of three brokers, two brokers who spend a majority of their time representing landlords, and one who is a predominately tenant representative.
There seemed to be some concern in the air about the overall economy, [...]
A Truly Green Building
January 19, 2008
In Singapore, the Nanyang School of Art has taken the definition of green building to another level. The building features a verdant turfed roof which doubles as a functional space people can use and access via sidesteps along the roof edge.
The roof helps lower roof temperature as well making this design both functional as well as [...]
Museum Plaza! London, Dubai, Shanghai?
January 18, 2008
I see a lot of trade publications that feature architecture from cosmopolitan cities in Europe and Asia. Then there are the projects coming out of the ground in Dubai which are amazing to say the least. But I came across a project today in Louisville, Kentucky which peaked my interest. It’s called Museum Plaza and [...]
SEC Publishes Proposal to Allow Commercial Real Estate Brokers to Sell TIC Interests
January 18, 2008
In the past few years there has been a surge of TIC investments, particularly in the NNN leased investment market. There has been a lot of uncertainty in the area of TIC investments with regard to what commercial real estate brokers can and cannot broker.
On November 13, the SEC published a proposed rule governing the sale [...]
Signs of Stress in Higher End Markets
January 13, 2008
Most of Silicon Valley has been unscathed by the sub-prime mess with bank-owned homes being a fairly uncommon site (with the exception of East San Jose). Lately however we have been finding more and more bank owned properties in more exclusive neighborhoods. For the past several years finding a bank-owned property in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Palo Alto, [...]
Q4 2007 Leasing Figures Not as Rosy
January 11, 2008
According to research put out by CBRE’s research team, overall vacancy rates in the Bay Area increased from 8.6% to 9.7% in the fourth quarter. The peninsula and San Francisco have remained strong while the East Bay has suffered some.
In the south bay the lowest vacancy rates were in Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Cupertino, [...]
601 California in Palo Alto Trades for $85M
January 11, 2008
A 112,000 square foot office building currently leased to WSGR (Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati) has been picked up by Shorenstein. The purchase price comes in at a whopping $85M representing a price tag of $750+ per square foot! The building was built in 1998 and is a single-tenant leased investment.
$85M is a monster number [...]
Parkside Towers in Foster City Under Contract for $180M
January 6, 2008
Hines is in contract to sell its Parkside Towers office complex in Foster City. The complex is roughly 400,000 SF and is reportedly being sold to Harvest Properties and Invesco for roughly $180M ($452 psf). The complex is about 80% leased and includes tenants IBM, Axciom, and QuinStreet.
The project was purchased by Hines about two years ago from [...]
