Freddie Mac Relief Refinance Mortgage Now Available With Up to 125 Percent Loan-to-Value Ratios

Posted by PRESS ROOM 07/01/09 3:08 PM EST

(MCLEAN, VA) -- To help borrowers who have seen significant home price declines refinance their existing loans, the Obama Administration today announced the availability of loan-to-value (LTV) ratios up to 125 percent for Home Affordable Refinance mortgages, Read More

Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Posted by PRESS ROOM 07/01/09 1:26 PM EST

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 26, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 444.8, Read More

May 2009 Construction at $964 Billion Annual Rate

Posted by PRESS ROOM 07/01/09 1:06 PM EST

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during May 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $964.0 billion, 0.9 percent (±1.1%)* below the revised April estimate of $972.5 billion. Read More

Pending Home Sales Record Fourth Straight Monthly Gain

Posted by NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS 07/01/09 10:00 AM EST

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- Pending home sales show a sustained uptrend, rising for four consecutive months with very favorable housing affordability and a first-time buyer tax credit boosting activity, ... Read More

Lexington Earns Ambassador City Designation for Helping Elderly, Disabled Keep Their Homes

Posted by NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS 06/26/09 11:28 AM EST

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have named Lexington, Ky., a 2009 Ambassador City for the success of two homeownership programs, Repair Affair and the Remodeling for Access and Mobility Program. The... Read More

Pinnacle Picks Up Marriott Riverside at Bargain Price of $19.3M

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 07/01/09 1:22 PM EST

(RIVERSIDE, CA) -- The bargain-basement acquisition chute has opened in the U.S. hotel industry.San Diego based Pinnacle Hotels USA has purchased the 292-room, 12-story Marriott Riverside in Riverside, California for $19.3 million or $66,000 per room.  Sunstone Hotels (NYSE: SHO)... Read More

Where Leisure Travelers Want To Go

Posted by Peter Yesawich 06/30/09 10:19 AM EST

(ORLANDO, FL) -- The summer vacation season is now upon us, and the latest results from Y Partnership's travelhorizons survey suggest the industry should be cautiously optimistic about what the next few months will bring. Specifically, fully 54% of U.S.... Read More

California Hotel Defaults Jump 125% in Last 60 Days

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/29/09 8:00 AM EST

(IRVINE, CA) -- The bells are tolling for financially strapped California hotels. Hotel loans originated in California from 2005 to 2007 are coming due this year and the borrowers are stuck.  They can't repay the loans.The number of California hotels in... Read More

244-Room Four Points by Sheraton Debuts in Times Square

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/26/09 2:08 PM EST

(WHITE PLAINS, NY) -- Times Square today welcomed another prime lodging landmark - the 244-room Four Points by Sheraton Midtown hotel.The property, on 40th Street in the heart of New York City's Broadway theater district, is the brand's third hotel... Read More

STR Reports U.S. Hotel Performance for May 2009

Posted by PRESS ROOM 06/24/09 1:44 PM EST

(HENDERSONVILLE, TN) -- The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during May, according to data from STR. In year-over-year measurements, the industry's occupancy fell 11.8 percent to end the month at 55.7 percent. Read More

3 Lenders Team on $350M Loan to Boston Medical Research Facility

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 07/02/09 8:15 AM EST

(BOSTON, MA) -- Three big-name lenders have teamed to provide a $350 million, five-year loan for 700,000-square-foot, one-year-old Center for Life Science Boston, a Class A research facility in Boston's Longwood Medical Area.John Hancock Life Insurance Company, TIAA-CREF and Westdeutsche... Read More

How Unemployment and Inflation Could Affect Commercial Real Estate Values

Posted by Robert Knakal 07/01/09 3:00 PM EST

(NEW YORK, NY) -- The most common question I am asked these days is, "When will the good times return to the commercial real estate market?" That question is impossible to answer with accuracy as we are in unprecedented times ... Read More

AIG Unloads Russian Bank Subsidiary to French Bank

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/29/09 3:28 PM EST

(NEW YORK, NY) -- American International Group, Inc., (AIG-NYSE) the federal government's poster boy for bailout rescue money, continues to sell off non-core assets, as ordered by the Treasury Department.AIG has received a total $180 billion in taxpayer rescue funds... Read More

Rite Aid's $1.9B Refinancing Package Gives Drugstore Chain Fiscal Breathing Room

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/29/09 3:16 PM EST

(CAMP HILL, PA) -- The 4,800-store Rite Aid Corp. won a breather today. The Camp Hill, PA-based drugstore chain closed refinancing deals totaling $1.9 billion.  Many of the older loans would have come due in September 2010."We are very pleased... Read More

Willco Companies to Launch $100 Million Real Estate Investment Fund

Posted by PRESS ROOM 06/29/09 2:47 PM EST

(POTOMAC, MD) -- Willco Companies, a locally owned and managed commercial property development and investment firm founded in the early 1960's with a five million square foot commercial real estate portfolio, will soon close the $100 million Willco Fund I LP. Read More

Billion-Dollar Merger of Middle East Real Estate Giants Shoots for October Closing

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/29/09 3:08 PM EST

(DUBAI, U.A.E.) -- The deal is so big and so unprecedented; none of the parties involved knows the estimated value of the transaction at this date.One thing they do know is that the debt load of the combined entities will... Read More

Emaar and Indonesian Government Extend JV to Develop The Lombok Project by Six Months

Posted by PRESS ROOM 06/25/09 5:02 PM EST

(News Source: Emaar Properties)(DUBAI, U.A.E.) -- The Indonesian Government has extended the joint venture between Emaar Indonesia and PT Pengembangan Pariwisata Bali (Persero), a government entity, to develop The Lombok Project by six months. This followed a meeting between the... Read More

Thailand Now Plans to Put Itself on International Destination Map

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/22/09 12:14 PM EST

(BANGKOK, THAILAND) -- Creative Kingdom Inc. of Los Angeles, the creator of Dubai's Palm and World Islands and other global exotic-themed developments, now plans to put Thailand on the international destination map. Read More

Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties and Cambridge Sign LEAD Partnership Agreement

Posted by PRESS ROOM 06/15/09 12:17 PM EST

(ABU DHABI, UAE) -- Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi's leading property developer, has signed up Cambridge University's Judge Business School, one of the top ten in the world, to deliver a new version of Aldar's LEAD (Leadership Excellence Applied Diploma) Program. Read More

China's Red-Hot Real Estate Industry Cools Off

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 05/19/09 8:00 AM EST

(DUBLIN, IRELAND) -- Like its counterparts in the U.S. and the U.K., developers in China are seeing their 10-year run-up in profits at an end. Read More

Germany Hotel Forecasts Make Tough Reading

Posted by PRESS ROOM 07/01/09 1:09 PM EST

(LONDON, UK) -- Forecasts from the May 2009 Hotel Market Forecast report from STR Global indicate that average daily rate declines during the next 24 months across Germany's major cities will be the main cause of the industry's sluggish performance. Read More

Crowne Plaza Hotel Moves into Portugal

Posted by PRESS ROOM 07/01/09 10:28 AM EST

(ALGARVE, PORTUGAL) -- The Crowne Plaza Vilamoura, set to open in January 2010, will be the first Crowne Plaza hotel in Portugal. The historic deal is the first franchise agreement between IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) and the Grupo Marope, Read More

Saigontourist Lines Up 5 Hotel Purchases in Bid to Tackle Recovering Global Markets

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/29/09 3:58 PM EST

(SAIGON, VIETNAM) -- With a war chest estimated at over $1 billion, Saigontourist is scouting for 200-room-plus hotels in city centers  that will make it a name player in the international lodging industry.The company already has contracted to purchase the... Read More

Choice Hotels Scandinavia Buys 2 Rivals to Emerge as Stockholm's Top Dog

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/29/09 8:30 AM EST

(STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN) -- Choice Hotels Scandinavia is not shy on its near-future growth plans.  The chain aims to continue being the top lodging organization in Scandinavia through new acquisitions.With its announced acquisition today of rival Nordic Light and Nordic Sea,... Read More

STR Reports Worldwide Hotel Performance Results For May 2009

Posted by PRESS ROOM 06/29/09 8:00 AM EST

(LONDON, UK & HENDERSONVILLE, TN) -- The Americas region recorded declines in all three key performance metrics when reported in U.S. dollars for May 2009, ... Read More

CBRE Releases Global Retail Report, New York City Still Most Expensive Market

Posted by PRESS ROOM 06/30/09 2:39 PM EST

(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Despite prime retail rents that have fallen in almost every region worldwide as the global recession impacts consumer sentiment and retail sales, New York City remains the world's most expensive retail destination, ... Read More

Blackstone Eyes Fresh European Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions with $4.3B War Chest

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/30/09 12:01 PM EST

(LONDON, UK) -- Cash is king and no one knows it better than international real estate giant Blackstone Group.The New York City-based conglomerate says it has raised 3.1 billion euros ($4.3 billion U.S.) for a fund to invest in property... Read More

Tim Hortons Repeats as Top Canadian Restaurant Chain, Ahead of McDonald's and Subway

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/26/09 2:02 PM EST

(CHICAGO, IL) -- Tim Hortons (NYSE and TSX (THI),  founded by the late National Hockey League star defenceman Tim Horton in 1964, once again is ranked as the top fast-food restaurant chain, ahead of U.S.-based McDonald's and Subway.Tim Hortons posted... Read More

L.A. Firm Wins Design Contract for $2B Underground High-Speed Rail Terminus in Hong Kong

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/18/09 8:00 AM EST

(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Hong Kong development leaders are marking 2015 on their Grand Openings calendar.That's the date the world's largest underground, high-speed rail terminus is scheduled to be completed and connect Hong Kong to the high-speed rail network in... Read More

France-based Accor Grows Ibis Hotel Brand in China

Posted by Alex Finkelstein 06/16/09 4:40 PM EST

(EVRY, France) -- Recession or not, China is getting more hotels.Accor, a 42-year-old lodging corporation based in Evry, France, has signed 10 new Ibis hotels in China, growing the Ibis network to 26 hotels and 5,348 rooms. Nineteen more Ibis... Read More