Commercial real estate
* GGP Inc. has rejected Brookfield Property Partners LP's Nov. 11 offer to buy the company for up to $14.8 billion, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
A special committee of GGP's board said the $23-a-share offer was inadequate but Brookfield Property and GGP are still in talks, according to the sources of the news outlet. The sources added the two companies are not planning on making an announcement until the negotiation leads to a deal or is terminated.
* Facebook Inc. filed plans to expand its $1 billion data center campus in Fort Worth, Texas' AllianceTexas development with two additional data halls, the Dallas Business Journal reported. The expansion would result in the addition of $365 million of valued real estate to the campus, the report noted.
The two construction permits were filed by DPR Construction, with one for $182.6 million and the other for $181.9 million, according to the report. The campus would have a total of six buildings upon completion.
* The proposal for a second office building in Cousins Properties Inc. and Hines' Avalon project in Atlanta's Alpharetta suburb is slated to go before the Alpharetta Design Review Board Dec. 15, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The first building, named 8000 Avalon, was built in a $73 million project and is 95% leased. The second building will be called 10000 Avalon, according to the report. Groundbreaking is expected in summer 2018.
* Simon Property Group Inc. has enlisted CBRE Group Inc. to handle leasing efforts for its 12-story office project at the Phipps Plaza mall in Atlanta, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The office project will span 300,000 square feet. The mixed-use project on the site of the Belk department store will include a five-star Nobu Hospitality hotel, the report noted.
* Boston Properties Inc. and its architect HOK altered the design of the 725 Harrison St. project in San Francisco, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Previously slated to include a 1.1 million-square-foot concept, the plans now call for 765,000 square feet of office space, 4,000 square feet of retail and 35,000 square feet of light industrial space.
* Cushman & Wakefield expects New York City to see roughly $32.5 billion in commercial property sales in 2017, marking an almost 44% decline from $57.8 billion in 2016, Crain's New York Business reported. Cushman chairman of New York investment sales Bob Knakal pointed out that annual commercial sales in Manhattan, N.Y., have fallen 45% from a peak in 2014 and the dollar volume has dropped 70% after a record year in 2015.
Knakal said he believes transaction volumes will pick up, leading to an increase in prices, the report added. Further, Knakal was cited as saying that sales activity has improved during the fourth quarter, which may be a positive sign for 2018.
* Alchemy Properties and the Carlyle Group received a $102 million financing from Bank of the Ozarks for their planned condominium building at 2255 Broadway on Manhattan's Upper West Side, The Real Deal reported. The financing includes a $59 million construction loan and replaces a $42.5 million acquisition loan from Israel Discount Bank.
The partners acquired the site for $51 million in 2016 and plan to replace a three-story retail building with an 18-story condo project spanning 95,139 square feet, according to the report.
* The Real Deal featured an interview with Christoph Donner, the CEO of Allianz Real Estate America. Germany-based insurance giant Allianz has "quietly emerged" as an active real estate investor in New York in the past two years, the report noted. It recently acquired a stake in 1515 Broadway in Manhattan from SL Green Realty Corp. and has also acquired stakes in 10 Hudson Yards and One Battery Park Plaza.
Donner said the U.S. market is attractive due to economic growth, new technologies and liquidity, according to the report.
* New Mexico Educational Retirement Board plans to invest $50 million in Raith Real Estate Fund II, an opportunistic real estate fund, and sell a similar amount from its portfolio of real estate investment trusts, IPE Real Assets reported, citing sources familiar with the pension fund's activities.
The pension fund's REIT portfolio was valued at $101 million at the end of June. It previously committed $50 million to Raith Real Fund I, the report noted.
After the bell
* The U.S. commercial real estate market is expected to see average total returns, including income, of 6.9% across all property types in 2017, but the metric is expected to drop to 5.6% in 2018, according to the Pension Real Estate Association's fourth-quarter Consensus Forecast survey.
Other real estate news
* Home-sharing website Airbnb Inc. is the front-runner in a US$1 billion deal to acquire Wyndham Worldwide Corp.'s European villa rentals division, The (U.K.) Times reported.
While sources have suggested that Airbnb could issue the most competitive bid, Blackstone Group LP and CVC Capital Partners are also in the running, The Times said.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng was up 1.14% at 28,965.29. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.56% to 22,938.73.
In Europe as of midday, the FTSE 100 had climbed 0.41% to 7,424.24, and the Euronext 100 had fallen 0.12% to 1,044.22.
On the macro front
The U.S. Department of Labor's JOLTS report is due out today.
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