Commercial real estate
* Amazon.com Inc. is in talks with developer WS Development to fully lease the planned 18-story Block L4 office building in the Seaport Square project in Boston, the Boston Business Journal reported, citing a filing with the city. The lease would span 430,000 square feet.
The online retail giant was reported in November 2017 to be seeking between 500,000 to one million square feet in the Seaport District. The company's lease at L4 includes a condition that would allow it to expand into the adjacent Block L5 building.
The report noted that the lease is not related to Amazon's search for a second headquarters.
* Subsidiaries of a Blackstone Group LP affiliate refinanced a 27-property portfolio with a $1.9 billion loan from Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Société Générale, Commercial Observer reported, citing a presale report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Blackstone acquired the portfolio through its $8 billion acquisition of BioMed Realty Trust Inc. in January 2016.
The portfolio, spread across California, Massachusetts and Washington, primarily comprises a mix of laboratory and office space, along with a multifamily development and a land parcel.
The loan package includes a $1.4 billion first lien mortgage loan and a $510 million mezzanine loan.
* Forest City Realty Trust Inc. is looking to sell its final property in Hawaii, the 499-unit Kapolei Lofts rental project in West Oahu, Pacific Business News reported. Following completion in 2016, the property, which sits on a 17-acre site, was put up for sale in July of that year. The REIT later withdrew the asset from the market in March 2017, according to the report.
The fully occupied project comprises 499 apartments across 15 buildings, the report noted, and is listed with Institutional Property Advisors with no asking price.
* Exxon Mobil Corp. subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. is placing its corporate headquarters office tower in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, up for sale, the Dallas Business Journal reported. The 20-story WT Waggoner Building at 810 Houston St. spans 119,846 square feet and was built in 1920. The property also includes a surface-level parking lot with 92 spaces.
XTO has been selling its North Texas real estate in preparation for a relocation to Exxon's 385-acre campus in Houston, the report noted.
* Campari America, the U.S. arm of beverage company Campari Group, leased 64,658 square feet at Brookfield Property Partners LP and Swig Co.'s Grace Building at 1114 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, N.Y., Commercial Observer reported, citing a release from Brookfield. Campari America will relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to occupy two floors at the 48-story building in the fall.
* Bank of China Ltd., which bought the leasehold for the 7 Bryant Park building in Manhattan in 2015, is in talks to acquire the land under the building from Pacolet Milliken Enterprises, The Real Deal reported, citing Real Estate Alert. The fee interest on the 475,000-square-foot office tower is expected to sell for roughly $200 million, the report added.
Bank of China, which paid $600 million for the leasehold, occupies 250,000 square feet at the 29-story tower for its U.S. headquarters, according to the report.
The report also noted that Blackstone is looking to sell the 682,000-square-foot office tower across the street at 5 Bryant Park.
* The Chetrit Group landed a $152 million bridge loan from JPMorgan Chase for its 600-room Hotel Carter in Manhattan's Times Square, The Real Deal reported, citing unnamed sources. The bridge loan is expected to be upgraded to a construction loan "in the $200 million range," the report noted, citing the sources.
Chetrit paid $192 million for the 250 W. 43rd St. property in 2014 and received a $129 million acquisition loan from Athene Annuity and Life Co. in early 2015, the report noted.
* Bloomberg News featured a report on how Manhattan retail landlords are cutting deals and lowering rents in order to avoid vacant storefronts as tenants seek rent reductions and short-term leases, "demands once unheard of in Manhattan." Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. vice chairman Patrick Smith noted that retail lease deals are rising again after faltering in 2017 as landlords "begin to accept the new reality," the news outlet noted.
* TF Cornerstone is reducing its proposed 56-story residential tower in the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., to 46 stories, The Real Deal reported, citing plans filed with the city's Department of Buildings. The new plans envision a 394-unit building at 52-41 Center Blvd.
The developer had filed plans in October 2017 for a 56-story building with 800 affordable housing units on the site, which is part of its Hunters Point South complex.
* According to Ten-X Commercial's Commercial Real Estate Volume & Pricing Trends report, the volume of commercial real estate transactions in the U.S. was $117.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, reflecting a 13.2% decline from the year-ago period and a 0.5% dip from the third quarter of 2017.
The full-year volume came in at $445.2 billion, reflecting a 6.9% drop year over year. The report noted that the slowdown in deal activity may have been due to the looming tax reform and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's leadership change.
* Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, has placed 163,000 square feet of office space across 14 sites in Los Angeles' Venice Beach up for sublease, The Real Deal reported, citing CoStar. The move is part of a consolidation at the Santa Monica Business Park in Santa Monica, Calif., the report added.
* The St. Louis city Preservation Board approved the proposed $100 million apartment tower at 300 S. Broadway in the city's downtown, the St. Louis Business Journal reported. The 33-story tower would replace the St. Louis Community College building on the site. The project would sit next to the planned 29-story Ballpark Village apartment tower, the report noted.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng was down 1.36% at 30,844.72 and the Nikkei 225 fell 1.44% to 22,068.24.
In Europe as of midday, the FTSE 100 had dropped 0.26% to 7,263.25, and the Euronext 100 was down 0.46% at 1,027.36.
On the macro front
The Chicago PMI report, Pending Home Sales Index and the EIA Petroleum Status Report are due out today.
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