Latest Articles
Park Center Plaza Sold to BPG Properties
October 14, 2007
Divco West has finally sold the Park Center Plaza mixed-use complex in San Jose. The complex, which primarily consists of office space was sold to BPG Properties of Philadelphia for $169.5 Million. The complex was acquired by Divco West through two transactions in 1998 and 1999 for approximately $110 Million.
Prometheus Mortgages Cupertino City Center
October 8, 2007
Prometheus Real Estate of San Mateo has mortgaged $95M of Cupertino City Center’s buildings 3 & 4 to buy-out a partner. The financing was arranged by Northmarq Capital, offered 10-year term on 30-year amortization with an accomodation for a TIC structure.
San Jose Housing Development Still Hot; Oakland Not
October 8, 2007
As the city of San Jose gives the go-ahead and developers push on with residential projects in San Jose, Oakland is beginning to see constructions halts and plans being shelved. The Olson Co. has halted construction on its 252 Unit, 7-Story CityWalk project in Oakland about half-way through construction. According to a BizJournal article, the [...]
Google Third Largest Acquirer of Santa Clara County Property Last Year
October 2, 2007
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Google was the third largest acquirer of land in Santa Clara County last year. The two ahead of Google in the race were real estate companies. The article also points to plans by Google to develop a hotel and conference center on the east side of [...]
Details of Macklowe’s EOP NYC Portfolio Acquisition Shed Light on Underwriting Standards
September 25, 2007
There have been a lot of articles over the course of the past month and a half outlining the tightening standards lenders are enforcing for both commercial and residential property transactions. Many of us in the business were aware of acquisitions taking place involving loan-to-value and debt-service coverage ratios which deviated from what credit markets [...]
Lower Interest Rates Should Provide a Short-Term Boost to US REITs
September 21, 2007
The 50-basis point decrease in interest rates by the Federal Reserve should provide a short-term catalyst for REIT shares to move higher and commercial real estate activity to resume. The rate decrease makes the dividend paying shares of REITs more attractive for the time being. The risk is that it will take some time for the [...]
Merrill Lynch Eliminating Jobs at First Franklin in San Jose
September 21, 2007
Merrill Lynch is eliminating jobs in San Jose at its First Franklin subsidiary, the subprime lender purchased approximately 10 months ago for $1.3 Billion. First Franklin is located at 2150 North First Street in San Jose. The downturn in the Alt-A mortgage market has led many mortgage lenders and brokers to close up shop leading [...]
European Commercial Market Down But Opportunity Remains
September 21, 2007
The US subprime mortgage crisis, softening demand for housing, and more attractive prices for US REITs didn’t take long to affect REITs in Europe. The Wall Street Journal reports that European commercial real estate share prices dropped by 11% in the second quarter. During this time the cost of credit swaps increased 63 basis points to [...]
BOMA: The Standard For Measuring Office Space
September 17, 2007
In most parts of the country, the most common method for measuring office space and determining the gross leasable area is the BOMA (The Building Owners and Managers Association) standard. It is the most commonly used method as it provides Landlord’s with the ability to capture all common areas when calculating rentable square footage. The 1980 standard analyzed [...]
The 24-Hour Workplace and Real Estate
September 16, 2007
The 24-Hour Workplace has historically been reserved for production and manufacturing facilities. Shifts of workers could quickly come in, pickup the pieces, and carry-on the previous shift’s work until it was time for the next shift to come in and do the same. Processes were generally well-defined and the nature of the work often algorithmic in [...]
