Commercial real estate
*CBL & Associates PropertiesInc. is being sued by U.S. Bank for defaulting on a $140 millionmortgage loan for its Chesterfield Mall property in Chesterfield, Mo., the St. Louis Business Journal reported,citing a lawsuit filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
Thecompany acquired themall in 2007, and took over the nonrecourse loan secured against the property.Several big-name retailers have left the 1.4 million-square-foot property inrecent years, the report said.
CBLis also facing an SEC probefor its handling of disclosures to lenders, as well as .
* LexingtonRealty Trust closedon a $197.2 million non-recourse first mortgage loan secured against itsbuild-to-suit projectin Lake Jackson, Texas. The company said the four-building campus is expectedto be substantially completed in the fourth quarter, and is net-leased to TheDow Chemical Co. for a 20-year term.
The loan carries a fixed interest rate of 4.04%.
*Retail chain Under Armour is set to pounce on up to 65,000 square feet of retailspace at 140 West St.if peer Nike fails to negotiate a lease at the downtown Manhattan tower, the New York Post reported.
*Retailer Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. is planning a $100 million project to builda 650,000-square-foot regional distribution facility in Conklin, N.Y., the Pittsburgh Business Times reported.Construction of the project is expected to commence in August, with completionslated for early 2018, the report said.
*The industrial market in Metro Phoenix had a vacancy rate of 9.6% in the secondquarter, marking the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2007, accordingto a Cushman & Wakefield report. The firm predicts a further decline invacancies over the next 12 months.
*Office leasing in Midtown Manhattan dropped 18.7% year over year during thefirst half, with the full borough witnessing an 11.2% year-over-year slide, Crain's New York Business reported,citing Cushman & Wakefield. The report noted that while asking rents inManhattan reached $72.99 per square foot in June, surpassing the pre-recessionrecord from late 2008, they were "artificially lifted" by varioustenant benefits and concessions.
*Meanwhile, asking rents for office space along New Jersey's Hudson waterfrontsubmarket surged 24% year over year in the second quarter amid shrinkingsupply, NJBiz.com reported,citing Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
Housing
*The median sale price of homes in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Twin Cities reachedan all-time record high of $242,000 in June, up 5.3% year over year and beatingthe previous record from June 2006, accordingto the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. Closed sales also beat theprevious monthly record from June 2004.
The day ahead
U.S. markets are expected to start the day's trading on ahigher note as the Nasdaq composite index, the S&P 500 and the Dow JonesIndustrial Average were trading above fair value in early morning futurestrading.
In Asia, the Hang Seng rose 0.97% to 21,882.48, and theNikkei 225 was down 0.25% to 16,681.89.
In Europe as of midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.28% to6,716.35, and the Euronext 100 had climbed 0.93% to 868.42.
On the macro front
Mortgage applications were down 1.3% from one week earlier,according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly MortgageApplications Survey for the week ending July 15. On an unadjusted basis, themarket composite index was up 24% compared to the previous week.
The Bank Reserve Settlement report and the EIA petroleumstatus report are due out today.
Now featured on S&PGlobal Market Intelligence
: SNL-covered real estatecompanies in the specialty category continued to lead in dividend increasesthrough July 15.
: A handful of downgrades and initiations arefeatured in this roundup of recent research reports.
:The July 19 North American property news roundup also features PreferredApartment's shopping center acquisitions across three states.
: On an earnings call, executivesacknowledged that news out of Europe will continue to generate marketvolatility, but they expect robust leasing to continue to drive results.
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