<rss version="2.0" xmlns:ynewsrss="http://news.yahoo.com/rss.html"><channel><title><![CDATA[Watch List Commercial Real Estate News From CoStar Group]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/]]></link><description><![CDATA[CoStar Group, Inc. is the leading provider of information services to commercial real estate property investors and sales professionals in the United States and United Kingdom. CoStar's suite of services offers access to the most comprehensive database of commercial real estate information and commercial property listings available in its markets.]]></description><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><category domain="Yahoo"><![CDATA[Business/Real_Estate_and_Housing]]></category><ttl>15</ttl><image><title><![CDATA[CoStar Group, Inc.]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/]]></link><url><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/SharedFiles/Common/images/logos/CoStarGroup112.gif]]></url></image><item><title><![CDATA[REITs Exploring Options for Their Newly Raised Wealth]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/REITs-Exploring-Options-for-Their-Newly-Raised-Wealth/149479?ref=/News/Article/REITs-Exploring-Options-for-Their-Newly-Raised-Wealth/149479&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Following a year in which REITs raised a record amount of money in the capital markets, and a first quarter that saw fund raising exceed the earlier full-year period, some of those REITs are now starting to review alternatives for what to do with their holdings, and their cash.

Last week, two more REITs, Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust Inc. and Strategic Storage Trust Inc., announced they had retained investment bankers to review their strategic...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:19:08 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Appreciation Shifts from Cap Rate Compression to Real Growth]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Appreciation-Shifts-from-Cap-Rate-Compression-to-Real-Growth/149478?ref=/News/Article/Appreciation-Shifts-from-Cap-Rate-Compression-to-Real-Growth/149478&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[CoStar's Property and  Portfolio Research (PPR) division  is forecasting that the wave of cap rate compression that has in some cases accounted for an astronomical 90% of the gain in core real estate value since the last recession is likely to slow; after all, trees do not grow to the sky.

Specifically, PPR's analysis of the top 54 U.S. markets finds that cap rates should remain within 20 basis points of today’s average through 2017, which will...]]></description><author><![CDATA[CoStar Staff <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:17:17 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[CMBS 2.0 Delinquencies Virtually Non-Existent]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/CMBS-20-Delinquencies-Virtually-Non-Existent/149480?ref=/News/Article/CMBS-20-Delinquencies-Virtually-Non-Existent/149480&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Delinquencies for U.S. CMBS 2.0 remain virtually nonexistent, which helped to keep the overall rate of late-pays steady, according to the latest index results from Fitch Ratings.

CMBS late-pays declined seven basis points (bps) in May to 7.37% from 7.44% a month earlier.

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Meanwhile, delinquencies for transactions issued post-2009 (CMBS 2.0) stood at just 0.03%. The tighter post-recession credit...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:15:08 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Capital Markets Review: NorthStar, Goldman Sachs JV Buying $925 Million of NJ's Investment Funds]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Capital-Markets-Review-NorthStar-Goldman-Sachs-JV-Buying-$925-Million-of-NJs-Investment-Funds/149481?ref=/News/Article/Capital-Markets-Review-NorthStar-Goldman-Sachs-JV-Buying-$925-Million-of-NJs-Investment-Funds/149481&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[NorthStar Real Estate Income Trust Inc. and funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management agreed to acquire limited partnership interests in up to 25 real estate private equity funds from a trust fund managed by the state of New Jersey Division of Investment, which oversees the state's pension funds.

The assets being acquired comprise a portfolio with an aggregate reported net asset value of approximately $925 million.

Share with Your Followers...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:13:08 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Under Armour Decides its Stores Are Under Sized]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Under-Armour-Decides-its-Stores-Are-Under-Sized/149484?ref=/News/Article/Under-Armour-Decides-its-Stores-Are-Under-Sized/149484&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[At a time when most retailers are downsizing their stores, Kelly Cortina, senior director of Under Armour Inc.'s Specialty & Factory House Retail, told investors last week that its stores aren't big enough.

The sports apparel company operates more than 180 Factory House and specialty stores across the country.

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In the past year, it has opened its first ever Brand House in its hometown of Baltimore...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:09:54 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Office Depot, Office Max Continue Post-Merger Downsizing]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Office-Depot-Office-Max-Continue-Post-Merger-Downsizing/149485?ref=/News/Article/Office-Depot-Office-Max-Continue-Post-Merger-Downsizing/149485&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Office Depot has reduced the total square footage of its North American Retail Division to 25.33 million square feet at the end of 2012, down from 30.67 million square feet at the end of 2008 -- a 17% reduction. In merger-related documents filed with the U.S. Securities 7 Exchange Commission, the retailer said it is not done shrinking yet and may have two to three more years of downsizing ahead of it.

In its financial projections related to its...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:07:59 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Facility Closures & Downsizings: QLogic To Consolidate]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Facility-Closures-Downsizings-QLogic-To-Consolidate/149483?ref=/News/Article/Facility-Closures-Downsizings-QLogic-To-Consolidate/149483&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Networking equipment maker QLogic Corp. approved a restructuring plan designed to streamline business operations. The restructuring plan includes a workforce reduction and the consolidation of several engineering activities. The company anticipates that the restructuring actions will be substantially completed within the next 12 months.

The restructuring plan is expected to result in $8 million to $10 million in expected charges, including costs...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:11:50 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rising Interest Rates Pose First Big Challenge to Emerging Single-Family Rental REITs]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Rising-Interest-Rates-Pose-First-Big-Challenge-to-Emerging-Single-Family-Rental-REITs/149416?ref=/News/Article/Rising-Interest-Rates-Pose-First-Big-Challenge-to-Emerging-Single-Family-Rental-REITs/149416&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[The juxtaposition served up in the single-family rental market last week couldn't highlight this fledgling business any better.

With the low cost of borrowing and a housing market in the doldrums, yield-starved institutional investors have poured cash into acquiring buckets of REO single-family assets - more than 65,000 such properties in the past two years - in hopes of profiting from the disconnect in pricing to former value. But because of the...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:21:23 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Restaurants Find Less Is More (Profitable) When it Comes to Square Footage]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Restaurants-Find-Less-Is-More-Profitable-When-it-Comes-to-Square-Footage/149379?ref=/News/Article/Restaurants-Find-Less-Is-More-Profitable-When-it-Comes-to-Square-Footage/149379&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[When it comes to burgers, bigger is better. But when it comes to burger joints, some believe it's better not to be too big.

Take MOOYAH Burgers, Fries and Shakes, a Plano, TX-based chain with a signature build-it-yourself, double-beef patty sandwich that is adding locations across the country. Bill Spae, CEO/president of MOOYAH says 'big' box is not necessarily the 'best' box to operate within.

MOOYAH has created two restaurant models: one for...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:19:54 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Will IRS Put the Kibosh on REIT Conversions?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Will-IRS-Put-the-Kibosh-on-REIT-Conversions-/149258?ref=/News/Article/Will-IRS-Put-the-Kibosh-on-REIT-Conversions-/149258&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Internal Revenue Service has raised the yellow caution flag delaying the efforts of three firms racing to convert to real estate investment trusts.

Iron Mountain Inc., Equinix Inc. and Lamar Advertising Co. were each notified this past week by the IRS that the agency has formed a new internal "working group" to study the current legal standards it uses to define "real estate" for purposes of firms qualifying as a REIT under the tax code, and...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:19:19 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bank CRE Distress Levels Improving; Profits From REO Sales in Sight]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Bank-CRE-Distress-Levels-Improving;-Profits-From-REO-Sales-in-Sight/149185?ref=/News/Article/Bank-CRE-Distress-Levels-Improving;-Profits-From-REO-Sales-in-Sight/149185&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Distress levels on <a href="http://www.showcase.com/" target="_blank">commercial real estate</a> loans continued to improve for the nation's banks in the first quarter. Levels of past due and foreclosed CRE fell more than $6 billion to a combined $78.1 billion at banks. However, pockets of weakness (or opportunities, depending on your investment perspective,) continued across the country.

The aggregate amount of foreclosed properties dropped $949 million in the first quarter. Unlike in past quarters...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:17:34 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[UPDATE: Morgans Hotel Group Putting Itself Up for Sale]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/UPDATE-Morgans-Hotel-Group-Putting-Itself-Up-for-Sale/149259?ref=/News/Article/UPDATE-Morgans-Hotel-Group-Putting-Itself-Up-for-Sale/149259&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Morgans Hotel Group Co. is preparing to explore a full range of strategic alternatives starting next week and has already received expressions of interest from eight potential buyers.

The New York-based company said that, because of substantial uncertainty around a proposed deleveraging transaction, it has decided to consider other strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.

That option would occur under one condition: that its six nominees...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:15:54 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Turning Grey Into Green]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Turning-Grey-Into-Green/149260?ref=/News/Article/Turning-Grey-Into-Green/149260&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[By: Adrian Ponsen

Wouldn't it be great if you could go back in time to 2009 and bet all the chips on multifamily properties in core markets? Then you could sit back, let the Echo Boomers converge on your properties, and watch sales pricing for core apartments go up by 40%.

The opportunity to buy multifamily well ahead of the Echo Boom has passed, but there is another massive demographic shift looming to profit from. And CRE investors haven't...]]></description><author><![CDATA[CoStar Staff <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:13:34 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Facility Closures & Downsizings: MetLife Cuts One-Third of its Advisors]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Facility-Closures-Downsizings-MetLife-Cuts-One-Third-of-its-Advisors/149261?ref=/News/Article/Facility-Closures-Downsizings-MetLife-Cuts-One-Third-of-its-Advisors/149261&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Eric T. Steigerwalt, senior vice president and treasurer of MetLife Inc., informed investors on a conference call this month that, since this past February, the insurer has let go about 2,500 advisors.

"We had roughly 7,500 advisors," Steigerwalt said. "That number is a little over 5,000 today, and I think we're just about hitting out our bottom. We'll probably start growing from there."

"Fifteen months ago, we had roughly 85 agencies. Today...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:11:05 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Not Done Yet: Investors Continue Bidding Up NYC Office Bldgs Past 2007 Highs]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Not-Done-Yet-Investors-Continue-Bidding-Up-NYC-Office-Bldgs-Past-2007-Highs/149183?ref=/News/Article/Not-Done-Yet-Investors-Continue-Bidding-Up-NYC-Office-Bldgs-Past-2007-Highs/149183&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[Lest anyone thought institutional investors may have been done bidding up prices on trophy office buildings in top tier markets, this week should stand counter to that notion. Three separate investment deals with more than $1 billion in building valuations each were announced this week.

That brings the total $1 billion-plus office sales this year in Manhattan to five, putting it on pace match or eclipse the nine such deals completed in 2007 just...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:19:51 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Texas Mulls How To Spend $1 Billion on CRE in Next Two Years]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Texas-Mulls-How-To-Spend-$1-Billion-on-CRE-in-Next-Two-Years/149186?ref=/News/Article/Texas-Mulls-How-To-Spend-$1-Billion-on-CRE-in-Next-Two-Years/149186&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Employees Retirement System of Texas has approved an increase its real estate allocation from 8% to 10% of the trust's $25 billion in assets, a move which means the trust will be investing more than $1 billion in CRE assets over the next two years.

As of March 31, the total portfolio was valued at $1.3 billion, or 5.4% of the trust's assets. Investments in REITs are approximately $511 million while private real estate is valued at $780 million...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Mark Heschmeyer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:15:39 GMT]]></pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Deal-Rich Net Lease Market Likely to Get Richer ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Deal-Rich-Net-Lease-Market-Likely-to-Get-Richer/149200?ref=/News/Article/Deal-Rich-Net-Lease-Market-Likely-to-Get-Richer/149200&src=rss]]></link><description><![CDATA[After announcing three huge transactions that promise to reshape the thriving net-lease real estate investment market, dealmaker Nicholas Schorsch signaled that he isn't done yet.

American Realty Capital's ARC Trust IV this week agreed to buy a $1.45 billion portfolio of nearly 1,000 retail properties from Fairfield, CT-based GE Capital. Under the agreement, ARCT IV will buy 986 net lease sites from Trustreet Properties Inc., which GE acquired...]]></description><author><![CDATA[Randyl Drummer <news@costar.com>]]></author><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:10:08 GMT]]></pubDate></item></channel></rss>