There are signs of a withdrawal of capital in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, according to a report from CB Richard Ellis. That said, CBRE, in its America’s Viewpoint newsletter this week, said there appears to be “ample” capital available for deals.
“Lending rates will stay low, and they will be conservatively underwritten with stricter covenants,” according to a column by Asieh Mansour and Raymond Torto.
Also, the pair wrote there is likely to be less transparency on pricing metrics for real-estate assets because valuation could become more difficult to underwrite.
Whitbread exchanged agreements with LaSalle Investment Management for the sale and leaseback of seven properties operating as Premier Inns and adjacent restaurants.
On completion, which is expected by September 2011, LaSalle will pay £53.8 million (US$87.6 million) in cash for the properties and enter into 25-year leases with Whitbread, who will continue to operate the properties. This represents a net initial yield of under 5.5%.
The price of £53.8 million represents a profit over book value, as at 3 March 2011, of £28.1 million (US$45.7 million) and is 87% of the 2007 valuation ascribed to the properties.
The NYLO Providence/Warwick is set to reopen its doors Monday more than a year after historic flooding in Rhode Island swamped the property, HotelNewsNow.com’s Patrick Mayock reports.
The arrival of guests will mark a significant achievement for the property as well as the broader NYLO Hotels LLC, which has experienced its own rollercoaster ride through a crippling economy, the bankruptcy of its chief financial partner, Lehman Brothers, and a corporate restructuring.
“It’s really an exciting time, and it’s … representing us moving forward,” GM Susan Shaw said of both the hotel and NYLO.
Hotels are beginning to realize the advantage of keeping bees onsite at properties, Patrick Mayock reports.
In one of the newest—and sweetest—trends in the “green” movement, hotel companies such as Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Marriott International are engaging in on-site beekeeping, offering guests the honey as well as the experience of interacting with their hive-dwelling hotel residents.
Fairmont counts some 15 hotels around the world with hives. The Fairmont San Francisco, for example, has four hives (including four queen bees), which produce as much as 150 pounds of honey each year.
The harvest plays a complementary role in the property’s kitchen, where executive chef JW Foster incorporates the honey into everything from dressings to fish cures to afternoon tea.
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment dropped by 7,000 to 395,000 for the week ending 6 August, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
The four-week moving average also fell, declining by 3,250 to 405,000.
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.
