Property Types Retail
CBRE Investors Closes $2.1B Real Estate Fund
May 14, 2008
By: Denise L. Meyer, Contributing Correspondent

CB Richard Ellis Investors has announced the closing of CB Richard Ellis Strategic Partners U.S. 5 to new investors.  Strategic Partners U.S. 5 consists of two limited partnerships, with raised equity commitments of $2.1 billion from institutional investors in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The funds are expected to have total purchasing power of $6.4 billion.

Strategic Partners U.S. Value 5 plans to make value-added investments to reposition assets, stabilize moderate levels of vacancy, invest in “controlled risk” development and pursue a portfolio accumulation strategy in highly rated major metropolitan areas in the United States.

The Partnership will also execute extensive repositioning programs primarily in distressed assets with high levels of vacancy, invest in “early stage” development, acquire and reposition portfolios and invest in operating companies that control high-quality real estate. Both funds will invest in office, multi-family, industrial and retail properties.

According to a CBRE spokesperson, Strategic Partners US 5 will execute both value and opportunistic investment styles instead of being limited to one or the other as it has been with other funds.

The Strategic Partners U.S. program is part of a global closed-end real estate private equity fund series that has closed 14 funds/investment programs since 2000 with $7.5 billion in committed equity and more than $22 billion in total purchasing power.
 
The Maryland Daily Record reported today that another CBRE division, CBRE Realty Finance Inc., has been sued by investors. According to the Daily Record, that suit claims that CBRE deceived investors before its initial public offering by failing to disclose the risk of two real estate loans. Citigroup Inc., Wachovia Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group and JMP Group Inc., underwriters of the September 2006 IPO, are defendants in the suit that involved a deal with Annapolis based Triton Real Estate Partners L.L.C.

 
Recent Retail Headlines
Bankrupt Filene's Basement Assets Snapped Up by Men's Wearhouse in $67M Auction
June 09, 2009
Clothing retailer Men's Wearhouse has emerged victorious from a feverish nine-hour auction of assets belonging to off-price chain Filene's Basement, which fell victim to the retail market's downward spiral and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early May, just two weeks after its purchase by Buxbaum Group affiliate FB Acquisition II. Acting through its affiliate, K&G Acquisition Corp., Men's Wearhouse put forth the winning bid of $67 million for 17 to 20 of Filene's store leases, as well as the leases on the company's Massachusetts corporate headquarters and distribution center, its Maryland storage facility and-- possibly most important--the Filene's Basement trade name.
Economic Update - Starwood Eyes Distressed Sector with $500M Fund
June 08, 2009
Yet another deep-pocketed real estate entity has jumped into the grave-dancing game—only please, don’t call it that, but rather strategic investment in distressed properties. The player is a newly formed investment company called Starwood Property Trust Inc., a creation of Starwood mogul Barry Sternlicht, which filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week for a public offering that aims to raise half a billion dollars to do the distressed-property boogie. It will invest in not only physical properties, but mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.
Economic Update - Retailers See May Malaise
June 05, 2009
May comparable-store sales numbers are filtering down from various retailers, and the results aren't inspiring confidence in the prospects for recovered consumer spending. Actually, most analysts expected average retail same-store sales to decline in May 2009 when compared with May 2008, but the trouble was they declined more than expected.
 
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