Wyndham Destinations acquires Travel + Leisure; Fla. retail site sells for $184M

TOP NEWS IN REAL ESTATE

* Wyndham Destinations acquired the Travel + Leisure brand and all related assets from Meredith Corp. for $100 million and will rebrand to Travel + Leisure Co. The new Travel + Leisure Co. stock will begin trading under the ticker symbol TNL on the New York Stock Exchange in mid-February.

* An affiliate of Florida East Coast Industries LLC sold a site of a future Home Depot distribution and e-commerce center in Hialeah, Fla., for $184.4 million, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The 72.7-acre site at 4210 and 4040 W. 108th St. was sold to CenterPoint Countyline II LLC, an affiliate of CenterPoint Properties Trust.

➤ US housing market: New, existing home sales drop in November 2020

Chart Watch: Both new and existing home sales posted a month-over-month decline, while housing starts slightly increased on a monthly basis in November 2020.

➤ US REITs log positive returns in Q4'20, but end year still in the red

The SNL U.S. REIT Equity index recorded an 8.2% return for the fourth quarter of 2020, as REIT share prices improved amid news of a coronavirus vaccine ready to be distributed in the U.S.

OFFICE

* Microsoft Corp. signed an approximately 180,000-square-foot lease at Tishman Speyer Properties LP's 1300 Wilson Blvd. building in Arlington, Va., Commercial Observer reported. The 15-story, 359,840-square-foot Commonwealth Tower will be used as the tech giant's sales headquarters office for Washington, D.C.; Maryland; and Virginia areas and will house its regional global sales and marketing organization teams.

* Office vacancies in Manhattan, N.Y., jumped to 15.1% in 2020, up from 11.1% in 2019 and the highest in data going back to 1999, Bloomberg News reported, citing a report by commercial property services firm Savills. That translates to 68.4 million square feet of empty space, including 18.6 million square feet of sublease space listed by current tenants looking to downsize, the newswire noted. New leases in the fourth quarter fell 64% year over year to 4.6 million square feet.

* Knotel Inc., which is facing lawsuits for unpaid rent, has secured new funding, CEO Amol Sarva told employees of the flexible office space provider on Jan. 5, according to Business Insider, which cited a source familiar with the matter. The amount and the nature of the funding were not disclosed, the news outlet said.

RESIDENTIAL

* AHS Residential LLC affiliate Village at Tuscany LLC sold the 281-unit Deering Groves apartment complex in the Naranja neighborhood of south Miami-Dade County, Fla., for $57 million, the South Florida Business Journal reported. MCA Acquisitions acquired the apartments built on an 8.8-acre site at 13700 SW 256th St.

* Stellar Management secured a $113 million refinancing for the eight-story OTTO Greenpoint rental property in Greenpoint in Brooklyn, N.Y., Commercial Observer reported. New York Community Bank provided the five-year loan for the property at 211 McGuinness Blvd.

* Mack-Cali Realty Corp. said it sold its interests in Riverwatch Commons in New Brunswick, N.J., for $47 million and Crystal House apartments in Arlington, Va. Crystal House, which Mack-Cali owned with an institutional partner, comprised of an 825-unit operating property and land held for future development and sold for $377 million.

The company also refinanced its $60 million existing construction loan at The Emery at Overlook Ridge in Malden, Mass., with a $72 million mortgage from New York Community Bank.

INDUSTRIAL

* DH Property Holdings acquired a 45-acre parcel at 1900 South Ave. in the Bloomfield section of Staten Island, N.Y., for $65 million from Robert and Neil Vanderbilt, The Real Deal reported, citing sources. The buyer plans to develop a warehouse of up to 400,000 square feet on the site, the publication added, citing a source familiar with the deal.

HOTELS

* PPG Development and L3C Capital Partners LLC acquired the Tryp Hotel in Bay Harbor Islands, Fla., out of foreclosure, The Real Deal reported. The buyers plan to convert the property into a 96-unit condo-hotel, to be branded as The Altair, the publication noted.

MARKETS

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