Big Lender
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has raised $2.4 billion for its second
real-estate debt fund at a time when several private-equity funds
and real-estate investment trusts have entered the property-lending
business.
The firm says it raised $1.8 billion from investors and put in
$600 million of its own money. The fund plans to borrow an
additional $1.8 billion, making $4.2 billion available for senior
mortgages and junior loans.
In marketing material for the fund, Goldman told investors last
fall that an estimated $1.4 trillion in commercial real-estate debt
was set to mature over the next five years.
Fund documents said there are fewer real-estate lenders than in
the past, and that some of the active lenders have a "lower risk
tolerance."
Goldman officials say they have lent about $500 million from the
fund, including for a southern California office portfolio and
toward the conversion of rental apartments to condominiums in New
York.
While recent financial legislation limits banks from putting
more than 3% of the total capital into certain high-risk funds,
Goldman officials said that the debt fund was exempt from the new
rules, which allow for certain lending activities and real-estate
investments.
Craig Karmin Midtown Miami Makeover
Miami developer Alex Vadia is hoping to cash in on his 2011
purchase of 22 acres of land in a Miami neighborhood that once was
a rail yard.
Mr. Vadia and his partners purchased 22 acres of land in an area
a mile north of Miami's downtown for around $57 million. Now they
have put 18 acres on the block and CBRE Group, which is marketing
the property, says it has received offers of close to $200
million.
Mr. Vadia's group already has agreed to sell one parcel for $12
million to Related Group's Jorge Perez, who is building a hotel and
high-end condo building. Another parcel has been sold for an
undisclosed price to a unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which
plans to build an apartment building.
The parcels being marketed are part of a 56-acre redevelopment,
named Midtown, at the nexus of Miami's Wynwood and Design District
neighborhoods.
DDR Corp. has developed about 400,000 square feet of retail
there, and local developer Craig Robbins is bringing in luxury
names like Gucci and Tom Ford to the nearby Design District.
Craig Karmin D.C.'s Trendy East
The retail epicenter of Washington is creeping eastward.
The latest sign: Super-upscale fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo
SpA recently signed a lease for a 4,200 square-foot flagship store
at CityCenterDC, a 10-acre mixed-use project a few blocks north of
the National Mall. Houston-based Hines is the developer of the $950
million project.
The signing, along with recent leases signed by clothiers
Burberry Group PLC, Zadig & Voltaire and Hugo Boss AG, are
being taken as a sign that the city's "Downtown East" neighborhoods
are drawing luxury fashion tenants away from traditional D.C.
shopping districts like Dupont Circle or the suburban Tysons
Corner.
"The change in affluence in the market has been dramatic," said
David Dochter, the broker with Cushman & Wakefield in
Washington who handled the transaction.
"Ten years ago, these areas were blighted," he said.
Robbie Whelan
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