Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent
noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below
are four stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• “Nonprofits
Get Ever More Space Efficient” by Erika Morphy of GlobeSt.com.
Nonprofits are experiencing improved financial health, but
an increased emphasis on space efficiency by the organizations is minimizing
the impact of the improvement on the commercial real estate industry, Morphy
reports.
“We are definitely seeing a big push by them to become as
efficient as possible in the use of their space,” Manny Fitzgerald, executive
vice president at CBRE, told GlobeSt.com.
Many nonprofits concluded during the recession that employees
don’t need as much square footage as in the past, Morphy reports.
• “State
Farm Needs More Perimeter Office Space” by Douglas Sams of the Atlanta
Business Chronicle.
State Farm is seeking at least 100,000 square feet in an
office tower in the Perimeter area, Sams reports.
“The insurance giant has already committed to lease almost 1
million square feet in several Perimeter office buildings over the past two
years, as it establishes a regional employment hub in Atlanta,” Sams writes.
State Farm also is developing regional employment hubs in
Dallas and Phoenix. It’s expected that the company will eventually announce a
large regional campus in the Perimeter area, Sams reports.
• “Nontraded
REIT Fundraising This Year Surpasses Record” by Brian Louis of Bloomberg.
Nontraded real estate investment trusts (REITs) raised $2.2
billion last month, making 2013 a record-setting year, Louis reports.
Nonlisted equity REITs have raised $12 billion this year,
surpassing the previous record of $11.5 billion raised in 2007, according to
Kevin Gannon, president and managing director at investment bank Robert A.
Stanger & Co.
Some of this year’s biggest real estate deals have involved
nontraded REITs, including American Realty Capital Properties Inc.’s plans to
buy the nontraded American Realty Capital Trust IV, valued at $3.1 billion, Louis
reports.
• “Blackstone
Taking Hilton Worldwide Public” by Mark Heschmeyer of CoStar.
Blackstone has proposed an initial public offering of common
stock in Hilton Worldwide Holdings, a move that could raise up to $1.5 billion,
Heschmeyer reports.
Blackstone would need to first restructure a portion of
Hilton’s debt through a CMBS offering, one that could potentially be the second
largest CMBS offering in U.S. history at $3.5 billion, Heschmeyer notes.
Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest and fastest growing
hospitality companies in the world with 4,041 properties, Heschmeyer writes.