Moody's Investors Service punched back at Fitch Ratings, arguing that its competitor's concern that the "pro forma" underwriting used to evaluate a recent single-borrower CMBS transaction backed by a loan against 375 Park Ave. in Manhattan was "misplaced" and would "lead to inaccurate conclusions."
A lawsuit filed by the former owners of a Los Angeles office building threatens to derail a CMBS trust's pending $72 million sale of the property, which it took upon foreclosing on a $61 million loan that it backed. The previous owners, a group led by Milbank Real Estate Services, sued after a deal to sell the building at 660 South Figueroa Blvd. was struck.
Normandy Real Estate Partners is offering for sale the 272,614-square-foot office building at 99 Summer St. in downtown Boston. The 20-story property, which is being offered through Eastdil Secured, could fetch about $110 million, or $403/sf. That would result in a capitalization rate of about 4.5 percent.
Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc., the former Capital Trust, has lined up some $824 million of loans it plans to write using proceeds from its proposed stock offering. The mortgage REIT has filed to sell up to 24.2 million of its common shares, which should generate nearly $700 million of proceeds as the start of its effort to build a global loan-origination platform.
Fannie Mae is set to bring to market $2.2 billion of private-label CMBS that it has in its inventory in an effort to shrink its balance sheet. The offering would mark the largest such sale of CMBS backed solely by multifamily collateral. Fannie had acquired the A1A bonds in 2006 and 2007. All had the highest possible ratings, but some since have been downgraded.
Rubenstein Partners is seeking to raise up to $750 million for its latest investment vehicle. So far, the Philadelphia investment manager that focuses on value-add acquisitions along the East Coast has raised $215 million for Rubenstein Properties Fund II, which will invest in office properties from greater Boston south through Florida.
TreeTop Development is said to have agreed to buy Saxon Hall, a 417-unit apartment property in the Rego Park section of Queens, N.Y. The Newark, N.J., company is buying the property, at 62-60 99th St., from a venture of Vantage Properties and Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds. It's expected to sell for up to $85 million, or $203,837/unit.
The American Invsco Corp. venture that agreed to pay $950 million for a portfolio of 13 apartment buildings with 3,686 units is in talks to line up $800 million of financing from Deutsche Bank to complete the deal. The portfolio is being offered by a team led by Starwood Capital Group.
RAIT Financial, which sponsors and owns most of Independence Realty Trust Inc., is planning an initial public offering of its common shares, allowing it to cash out of its investment. Independence Realty owns eight apartment properties with 2,005 units in six states.
An attempt by several congressmen to push the federal government to sell under-utilized properties has intensified this year, which could eventually result in a bonanza of available buildings for investors. Bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prompt the government to develop plans to sell excess non-military buildings. The government owns some 77,700 buildings that are underused.
