Commercial Real Estate Finance

Posts Tagged ‘Comcast’

Week in Review for February 16 – 22:

 - According to the first three paragraphs of a Wall Street Journal article (you have to have a “Pro” account to read the rest), many investors are missing opportunities for high yields among smaller-cap REITs.

- Private commercial real estate service Cushman & Wakefield expands its presence in Central Pennsylvania, opening a local office in Harrisburg. John Derham, Cushman & Wakefield’s local director, tells CoStar Group the expansion is a response to the Harrisburg market’s growth, the fastest in the state.

- High-profile Federal Reserve officials voice opposition to the organization’s ongoing bond-buying practices, which are intended to stimulate the economy and hold down interest rates, says Reuters. The Fed had previously indicated it would maintain its stimulus program until the U.S. unemployment rate drops substantially. The Fed’s bond-buying is considered significant to many parts of the commercial real estate sector, including the REIT market.

-  In Manhattan, Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) acquires the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza. This purchase coincides with Comcast’s $16.7 billion purchase of General Electric (NYSE: GE)’s 49% stake in NBCUniversal, the building’s tenant.   Read the rest of this entry »

Municipal budgets are tight all around the country.  They are looking for ways to trim the fat, increase revenue, or better yet both.  Leave it to Philadelphia, one of the un-brotherly-loveliest cities to do business in America, to create a new way to try and hit up the real estate industry for dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

Seems like a search of public records could sort this kind of question out.  Of course, if you are familiar with scouring property ownership databases, you’d know that many owners like the anonymity of limited partnerships and limited liability companies named after their favorite vacation spot, car, restaurant etc.  While piercing the corporate veil of ownership can often be a daunting one, getting to the general or limited partners doesn’t always determine who the real owner of a property is.  Even worse, it doesn’t always shed light on which one of them is making the decisions.  Take 1441 Chestnut Street, a massive mixed use project once to have housed a Waldorf-Astoria hotel, in Philadelphia as a prime, high-profile example.

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A Riddle: What do buying a DVD  and buying a foreign car have in common?
The Answer: They both make for a potentially crushing blow to retail real estate.

First it was car dealerships. When the big three automakers were rumored to be going bankrupt (and then GM and Chrysler took federal bailout money) many car dealerships were given the ol’ heave ho. This caused a huge drain on retail real estate. After all, what would replace these massive parcels? Lucky for property owners, the vast majority of car dealerships are very well located on highly traveled thoroughfares, which is an attractive feature for any retailer. While there is still a glut of defunct and unoccupied former car dealerships, the guess here is that as the economy rebounds, those sites will be replaced by growing retailers looking for great signage and visibility, or even by more car dealerships. But what about movie theaters? Read the rest of this entry »

David Binswanger is the President and CEO of Binswanger Corporation.  I had the pleasure of meeting with him for this executive interview earlier this week.

Binswanger was founded in 1931 by Frank G. Binswanger, Sr., in the midst of the Great Depression, and his energy and vision have characterized the company throughout its history. By anticipating trends and seizing opportunities, Binswanger has grown from a single Philadelphia office to an international real estate leader with offices on five continents.

In 1990, the company reorganized its full range of services under two operating divisions: Binswanger Advisory Group, which provides real estate consulting services, and Binswanger Realty Group, which provides brokerage services. One of Binswanger’s unique characteristics is the integration of these groups to form cross-functional teams for specific client projects.

Throughout the 1990’s, Binswanger embarked on a major international expansion program, realizing that multinational corporations and institutions needed a real estate service provider with a truly global presence. Forging solid partnerships around the globe, Binswanger established local coverage of the United Kingdom, Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Continuing this trend into the 21st century, Binswanger is steadily penetrating new markets and strategically enhancing existing market coverage with new alliances and office locations. In just the past two years, Binswanger has established a presence in several major international metropolitan areas including Warsaw, San Juan and Taipei.

Today’s global business environment has created a movement among major corporations toward the outsourcing of real estate functions and the formation of strategic alliances between corporations and service providers. A forerunner in this movement, Binswanger serves such clients as Motorola, Shell, Intel, ExxonMobil, Nextel, Crown Cork & Seal, Hoechst, Comcast and Wal-Mart just to name a few.

Now in its third generation, Binswanger remains a family-owned company managed in the spirit of Frank G. Binswanger, Sr.’s vision more than 75 years ago. Read the rest of this entry »