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by David Bodamer December 6th, 2006
Vornado Realty Trust raised a quick $1 billion through an offering of 8.1 million shares priced after the close of trading yesterday. Vornado, fresh off agreeing to buy the Manhattan Mall for $689 million, says it is looking to make more buys, possibly spending up to $3 billion on properties or company buyouts.
If recent history is any guide, Vornado could have any number of deals up its sleeve. In the past 24 months its bought office and retail properties in one-off deals, but also has invested heavily in retailers, participating in the takeovers of Toys ‘R’ Us and Sears last year.
Related Topics: Investment, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer December 6th, 2006
More tidbits gathered at the ICSC National Conference and Dealmaking.
- Is the end in sight for the The Mills Corp. saga? The company reached an agreement with Gazit-Globe Ltd., an Israeli-based outfit headed by former Equity One CEO Chaim Katzman, to nominate a slate of four nominees for election to Mills’ board at its annual meeting, which will be held December 29. The slate will include two new independent directors originally proposed by Gazit, Read the rest of this entry »
Related Topics: Conference Coverage, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer December 5th, 2006
The real action at the ICSC New York National Conference & Dealmaking kicked off today as the exhibitors’ hall opened and more than 8,000 attendees flooded the Hilton New York & Towers in Midtown Manhattan.
The show is more crowded than ever, making it near impossible to get around, especially if your appointments are at booths spread too far apart in the maze-like exhibition space.
It seems that each year, the New York show more and more resembles the madness of the Spring Convention in Las Vegas. There has been lots of grumbling about late appointments as people have tried in vain to rush from one end of the conference to the other. Making it even more challenging this year is the addition of spillover exhibition space down the street at the Sheraton New York Ballroom West. So in addition to fighting crowds at the Hilton, you’ve got to brave the cold and walk down the street to get that last appointment done.
Read the rest of this entry »
Related Topics: Conference Coverage, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer December 5th, 2006
Here’s a review of some of the big headlines in the last 24 hours.
- Developers Diversified Realty Corp. announced plans to sell 11,599,134 of its common shares in an at-the-market public offering underwritten by Goldman, Sachs & Co. With its stock trading at just over $66 per share, that comes out to more than $750 million. Developers Diversified will use the proceeds to help fund its previously announced acquisition of Inland Retail Real Estate Trust, Inc.
- Jeffrey Olson stepped up to become CEO of Equity One Inc. on December 1—one month earlier than it originally announced.
Former CEO Chaim Katzman remains with the company as chairman. But he’s also been busy lately leading an effort to recapitalize the Mills Corp. and seeking seats on the company’s board of directors.
- Dutch food giant Royal Ahold confirmed that is pursuing a sale of its U.S. Foodservice wholesale food business. But it has opted not to sell the Giant Food grocery chain, which it will continue to try and turn around.
Related Topics: News, REITs, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer December 4th, 2006
An afternoon session at the ICSC New York National Conference and Dealmaking debated the meaning of mixed-use, with the panel coming in favor of a strict definition of the concept. The panel came down hard, arguing that mixed-use must be vertical and have at least three uses that must be integrated and leverage off of each other. Anything less may be “multi-use” but falls short of being a true mixed-use project, panelists argued.
Kenneth Narva, principal and managing partner with PEG/Park LLC and Street Works LLC laid out five rules for developing mixed-use projects, which are paraphrased here:
1. Mixed-use has to be local. It can’t be a concept that can be replicated anywhere. It must build off the local community and history and maintain the flavor of the surrounding architecture.
2. Mixed-use should be driven by retail. It needs to have other uses, but retail—including restaurants and entertainment—must be the prime traffic generator.
Read the rest of this entry »
Related Topics: Conference Coverage, Mixed-Use, News, Retail Real Estate, Trends |
by David Bodamer December 4th, 2006
The New York National Conference and Deal Making kicked off this morning with a lively opening panel on trends impacting the industry. A big part of the discussion centered on the continuing wave of retailer privatizations and the effect they are having on the way shopping center owners and developers are doing business.—perhaps even more than many people had anticipated.
Owners involved in these deals say they aren’t just about real estate and are insisting they are in it to operate retailers and help turn around ones that have been suffering. Meanwhile, some panelists expressed reservations about the number buyouts that has occurred and wondered if privatizations are always the answer. Taking stock of how some of the more notable brands have fared—retailers like Kmart, Sears, Lord & Taylor, Toys ‘R’ Us and Mervyn’s—was a major theme.
Read the rest of this entry »
Related Topics: Conference Coverage, Mixed-Use, News, REITs, Retail Real Estate, Trends |
by David Bodamer December 1st, 2006
Urban Retail Properties just announced that it will be the retail development consultant for the $1.5 billion One Scottsdale project being built by DMB Associates.
The project is slated to begin construction in March and will open fall 2009. The project will feature 1.8 million square feet of retail and Class A office space, 400 resort and boutique hotel rooms and 1,100 residential units.
Read the rest of this entry »
Related Topics: Development, News, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer December 1st, 2006
Earlier this week, Japan-based Sohgo Security Services announced a new mall approach to policing malls combining traditional personnel with new robot security guards.
The first test of the Reborg-Q system will go live at the AquaCity mall in Tokyo later this month.
American mall security firms haven’t gone quite that far, but are increasingly putting mall security personnel on Segways.
Related Topics: International, News, Quirky, Security |
by David Bodamer December 1st, 2006
Here’s where we will have a new, frequent conversation with our readers–alerting you to the interesting (and sometimes oddball) things we see every day as we scan the horizon of the retail real estate business. In the course of reporting and writing our newsletter and magazine, we hear lots of juicy tidbits and see all sorts of information about projects, deals and company moves. We’ll share those and provide links to provocative reports from around the media that illustrate key trends. We’ll also throw out some of our own observations on the big stories. And we hope you’ll throw some thoughts back at us via the blog’s comment feature.
If you have read-or written-blogs, you know that the best ones spice up the smart analysis and commentary with a bit of humor. So, we’ll be sharing the quirky and the ridiculous that we find and ask you to do the same. We’re eager to see how Retail Traffic Court evolves and look forward to receiving your feedback and contributions. This space will get continually tweaked and new features will be added in coming weeks and months. For example, on the bottom lefthand corner of our homepage, you’ll soon see a blogroll, linking to key news sources and interesting blogs covering retail and real estate.
Retail Traffic Court will also be the key place where we’ll file reports from the road on what’s happening at major industry trade shows. This blog is going live in conjunction with the ICSC New York National Conference & Deal Making starting on Monday. So look for updates all three days as we report on the panels, keynotes and bring you breaking news right from the show floor.
If you see me walking the floor, say hello. Better yet, stop by Booth 230 in the South Corridor at the Hilton (floor plan) and tell us how you think we’re doing at Retail Traffic. We’d love hear feedback and ideas on how we can continue to write about the industry and deliver the best coverage we can.
Related Topics: News |
