S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of U.S. real estate news stories and more published throughout the week.
Seat-sighting
* Activist investor Jonathan Litt is eyeing a seat on hotel operator Marriott International Inc.'s board, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Litt, whose firm Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC owns a less than 1% stake in Marriott, also called for the hotelier to cut the number of brands it owns, according to the report.
Mass portfolios
* Brookfield Property Partners LP is looking to sell the Putnam multifamily portfolio in New York City with about 4,000 rental units across 24 properties in Upper Manhattan and Roosevelt Island for more than $1.4 billion, the Commercial Observer reported, citing sources close to the matter.
* CIM Commercial Trust closed on its sale of four properties in Oakland, Calif., to SOF-XI U.S. MAR Acquisitions LLC for approximately $512 million and also sold a property in Washington, D.C.
* Japan's Mori Trust Co. Ltd. purchased a three-building, 9.72-acre campus in North San Jose, Calif., totaling 600,400 square feet, for US$429 million from Lane Partners Inc., the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported, citing Santa Clara County documents.
* An Artisan Realty Advisors LLC and Brightstone Capital Partners joint venture is close to selling two buildings in the Lantana office complex in Santa Monica, Calif., to Skydance Media founder David Ellison for approximately $350 million, The Real Deal reported, citing unnamed sources.
* Austria-based company Signa and property developer RFR Holding LLC struck a joint venture deal to acquire the iconic 77-story Chrysler Building in New York City from the Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Tishman Speyer, confirming recent reports, which pegged the purchase price at approximately $150 million.
Fund-amentals
* RBC Global Asset Management Inc., British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and QuadReal Property Group LP are establishing a commercial real estate portfolio of more than 40 of British Columbia Investment's assets, valued at more than C$7 billion, for institutional investors.
* TPG Real Estate's equity investment platform, TPG Real Estate Partners, closed its TPG Real Estate Partners III fund with more than $3.7 billion in commitments.
* Rockwood Capital LLC is looking to raise $1.25 billion for its Rockwood XI LP closed-end property fund, which will be invested in properties with existing cash flow and those with income growth potential.
* The California State Teachers' Retirement System will invest $400 million in its BCal II joint venture with Beacon Capital Management, focused on core U.S. office buildings. The pension fund will also invest $350 million in a managed account with Fortress real estate vehicle FRO MA I, focused on opportunistic real estate assets, and $175 million in Tristan Capital Partners LLP's Curzon Capital Partners 5 Long-Life value-add fund, focused on office, logistics, retail and residential assets in western and central Europe.
Featured during the week on S&P Global Market Intelligence
31 US, Canada, Bermuda-based real estate companies raise dividends in February
March US retail market: Pace of bankruptcies remains steady; employment declines
February marks 13-month high for US REIT capital markets activity
State of the US housing market: December 2018