Commercial Real Estate Finance

Posts Tagged ‘citigroup’

Week in Review for February 23 – March 1:

 - The Securities and Exchange Commission announces a May 14th roundtable to discuss possible reforms for the credit-rating industry, which many argue lacks transparency and accuracy. Credit-rating agencies, especially Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch (collectively known as the Big Three) have an enormous influence over the commercial real estate investment and lending markets.

-  The Greater Philadelphia market gained 2.9 million SF of new industrial real estate in the fourth quarter of 2012, reports CoStar Group. This includes a new distribution facility for Dollar General (NYSE: DG). The figure shows a slight increase over the previous quarter’s total of new inventory.

- The U.S. Senate confirms Jack Lew as the new Treasury secretary, replacing outgoing secretary Tim Geithner. Mr. Lew is a former executive with Citigroup (NYSE: C).

- The announced merger of big-box office supply retailers OfficeMax and Office Depot signals potential changes for retail real estate, reports CoStar.  Read the rest of this entry »

Mensch:

Noun, informal. A decent, upright, mature and responsible person.

Schlemiel:

Noun, slang. An awkward, clumsy, or unlucky person whose endeavors tend to fail; a loser.

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Mensch of the Week:

Robert Rubin

Co-chair, Council on Foreign Relations & Former U.S. Treasury Secretary

Earlier this month, Robert Rubin spoke to CNBC about a comment made by Sandy Weill, his former colleague at Citigroup (NYSE: C). Mr. Weill said, in essence, that it would be wise for the U.S. government to split up financial institutions that are “too big to fail.”

Any matter that involves public and private interaction tends to be complex, not to mention controversial. Though many have railed against the “cozy” relationship between government and commercial entities, the interdependence of these two groups doesn’t always mean one side understands the other. Maybe the economic and regulatory problems highlighted by the Great Recession are just as much a product of this lack of understanding as they are of government/Wall Street cronyism?

Luckily, there are people like Robert Rubin, who have a depth of experience on both sides of the public/private divide. Mr. Rubin spent years as an executive with Goldman Sachs and later Citigroup, but also served as the Treasury Secretary during the Clinton years. Such a resume affords him a unique insight into the complex world of financial regulation. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s look at the Top 10 U.S. CMBS Bookrunners by issuance volume, according to data collected through September:

10. Citigroup (CMBS volume in the first 3 quarters: $1.46 billion)

9. RBS ($1.5 billion)

8. Barclays ($1.7 billion)

7. Morgan Stanley ($2 billion)

6. Bank of America ($2.45  billion)

5. UBS (2.93  billion) Read the rest of this entry »

Special interests have seen a great deal of criticism in recent years–and this backlash may intensify as we approach the election–but the fact remains: an industry or group that doesn’t commit great amounts of time and resources (i.e., $) to “making its voice heard” will be drowned out by competing voices. It should be no surprise that the commercial real estate world has joined other industries and special interests on the “dark side”–political lobbying.

Its board of directors includes some of the industry’s bigwigs, with executives from financial giants like Citigroup (NYSE: C), Lincoln Property Company, and CalPERS, as well as publicly traded REITs like Ventas (NYSE: VTR) and Taubman Centers (NYSE: TCO).While industry heavyweights are well represented, the Roundtable emphasizes the inclusiveness of its political goals, and has members from pretty much every CRE sector, as well as non-profits (click below to see the breakdown).

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Week in Review for November 26-December 2:

-The National Retail Federation reports a successful Black Friday weekend, which brought in $52.4 billion (over last year’s $45 billion)

-CapitaLand (CATL.SI) mulls transferring $5.3 billion of China development projects into new REIT

-Alexandria Equities (NYSE: ARE) prepares to acquire 15 hospital properties in India

-Private REIT to acquire part of downtown Atlanta data center, formerly a Macy’s

-Private equity firm Penzance purchases infamous Watergate property in Washington, D.C. for $76 million

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Commercial Real Estate Week in Review for the week of September 17th to September 23rd

- Struggling Wall Street Firms Look to CMBS Lending Partners

- Homberg REIT Sets Its Sights on Retail

- Outlook for German Commercial Real Estate is Strong

- Hungary Awaits New REIT Activity

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Buyer beware!!! Or, Caveat Emptor, for those intellectual types. When you buy something, you have to assume the risk of your purchase. If you pick up a gallon of milk on the same day of its expiration date, you should know that the milk would not be fresh and delicious for very long. But what about things that are not as black and white like, say, purchasing a used car? There are any number of things that could go wrong, but in any case, you bought it so you have to deal with it. Well, in a similar fashion, Bank of America is now accepting the risk associated with their purchase of Countrywide Mortgage Corp.

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Commercial Real Estate Week In Review for the week of November 13 to November 19

-Several multifamily REITs were upgraded by Merrill Lynch analyst.

-General Growth Properties has begun to sell noncore properties.

-Chesapeake Lodging Trust will acquire Homewood Suites for $53 million.

-Citigroup sold its real estate investment management group.

-BioMed Realty Trust thrives in the bio science real estate sector.
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Traditionally, August is a dead month for commercial real estate.I understand some of you may be checking from a favorite vacation spot, so we can take the opportunity to broaden the scope of our discussion.

While perhaps not top of mind yet, once Labor Day arrives, election season will be upon us.The 2010 mid-term elections are important in their own right and for setting the tone for the presidential cycle in 2012.Freddie and Fannie alone are enough to make government policy important, and that’s just the beginning. Read the rest of this entry »

Commercial Real Estate Week In Review for the Week of July 24-30

- Despite Financial Regulation passing last week, is the financial industry trying to influence policy?

- Tim Geithner thinks the government should retain a mortgage guarantee.

- Would fair-value changes affect private equity and venture capital?

- A CMBS fund has filed a foreclosure lawsuit against a Florida building owner

- Starwood is planning to expand its presence in NYC.
Read the rest of this entry »