Property Types Retail
Corus, Lehman Bros. Make D.C. Loans
May 15, 2008

Corus Bank closed a $72 million loan to MR BP Office #1 L.L.C. to finance the construction of a nine-story Class A office building located at 55 M Street SE in Washington, D.C. In addition to the senior Loan with Corus, the borrower closed simultaneously on a $12 million mezzanine loan with Lehman Brothers. At the time of closing, the project was approximately 60 percent complete.The project is being developed by a joint venture between Monument Realty and its investor partners, MacFarlane Partners and Lehman Brothers. The project will include 261,000 net rentable square feet of Class A office space, 13,000 net rentable square feet of retail space, and three levels of underground parking. The office building will be a part of Monument Realty’s “Half Street” project, which is planned to include additional retail, residential and hotel components.

 
Recent Retail Headlines
Bankrupt Filene's Basement Assets Snapped Up by Men's Wearhouse in $67M Auction
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
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
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.