Free Republic

Like the song “Walk away Renee,” the owners for the San Francisco Union Square Hilton and Park 55 Hotels are walking away from their sizeable loan payments. San Francisco is definitely feeling the blues. But it isn’t just San Francisco. Phil Hall reports that Fitch Ratings reduced its 2023 outlook for the U.S. real estate investment trust (REIT) sector outlook from “Neutral” to “Deteriorating,” citing the tumult in the commercial real estate space. While Fitch noted that most of its rated REITs “have the capacity to withstand such a slowdown within rating sensitivities [and] those with ample dry powder could...

As The Federal Reserve continues its assault on inflation by raising their target rate, Blackstone Inc.’s $69 billion real estate fund for wealthy individuals said it will limit redemption requests, one of the most dramatic signs of a pullback at a top profit driver for the firm and a chilling indicator for the property industry. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has been facing withdrawal requests exceeding its quarterly limit, a major test for the one of the private equity firm’s most ambitious efforts to reach individual investors. The news, in a letter Thursday, sent Blackstone stock falling as much...

For as long as anyone can remember, rent increases rarely happened at Ridgeview Homes, a family-owned mobile home park in upstate New York. That changed in 2018 when corporate owners took over the 65-year-old park located amid farmland and down the road from a fast food joint and grocery store about 30 miles northeast of Buffalo. Residents, about half of whom are seniors or disabled people on fixed incomes, put up with the first two increases. They hoped the latest owner, Cook Properties, would address the bourbon-colored drinking water, sewage bubbling into their bathtubs and the pothole-filled roads. When that...

Shifting from building a nest egg to building your passive income is something you are probably thinking about if you are near or already in retirement. It's a great strategy for making ends meet as you look to supplement your Social Security checks. One name that you might want to consider adding to your portfolio is Realty Income (O 1.00%). When it comes to money, it's just easier to work with round numbers like $1,000. This way, you can simply scale up (or, less likely, down) to hit the dollar figure you have in mind. On June 14, Realty Income...

U.S. stock benchmarks were on track to post the worst daily drop in more than two months, with the skid being blamed on the potential collapse of Evergrande. The Chinese property giant is threatening to default on $300 billion in debt that could ripple through global markets. However, the sharp downturn by the highly leveraged real-estate sector, which the Financial Times notes makes up more than 28% of China’s economy, isn’t the only problem for markets on Monday. Here are a few others. Delta woes The delta variant of COVID-19 is resulting in higher cases in the world’s largest economy....

Forecasting the direction of real estate prices requires the same disciplined approach as for other goods and services. Here are three reasons why commercial real estate supply exceeds market demands, and the implications for your clients and their REIT investments.Commercial real estate continues to be touted by analysts and media pundits as a sound investment. Since I have been one of the few consistent dissenters from this euphoric optimism, now is a good time to briefly review what I have been saying over the past few years.In my article on commercial office markets published here three years ago, I pointed...

Telecom Sector Shoots Higher On Unprecedented Windstream Announcement

Parent company Vornado Realty Trust has been dropping hints along Wall Street and with potential buyers that it wants to sell the subsidiary, including the fortress-like structure along the Chicago River. The New York real estate investment trust purchased it from the Kennedy family in 1998 for $630 million. Vornado's efforts already have yielded a $1.25-billion offer, that deal died last month, people familiar with the negotiations say. A sale could portend big changes for Mr. Kennedy, 47, who as Mart president since 2000 has led a major expansion of the business, which stages trade shows and leases showroom...

The blazing-hot topic at suburban cocktail parties this spring is whether there's a bubble in the residential housing market. No wonder. In 2004, existing home prices rose faster than in any year since the 1970s. Some markets are going bonkers. Alexandria, Va., is up 31% in 12 months; San Bruno, Cal., 25%; and parts of Manhattan, more than 50%. A front-page New York Times story featured a Florida couple who had bought and sold four properties -- two condos and two houses -- in the space of six months, clearing $500,000. And none of the homes had yet been built!...

WEDNESDAY JUNE 9, 2004 CTA pension plan in peril Actuaries say fund will run dry by 2014 The Chicago Transit Authorityâ€s employee pension plan is likely to run out of money within a decade unless major changes are made to its finances, agency actuaries reported on Wednesday. Click here to view story http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=12775&bt=state+pension+fund+under&searchType=all Teamsters in pension fund pileup http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=21487&bt=state+pension+fund+under&searchType=all http://finance.yahoo.com/q/sec?s=PGE Civic group blasts Blagojevich http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=21564&bt=state+pension+fund+under&searchType=all MerrionPublished 05/03/2004 in Crain's Chicago Business Author: Greg Hinz STATE REPEATING A MISTAKE BY UNDERFUNDING PENSIONS Andrew C. Wehrli's March 26 letter, "PENSION friction," makes some good points but also misses some others. I am...

I have been harrassed, followed, suffered property damage and the introduction of substances into my home and vehicle that have been making my family (my 10 year old son and I) ill for over 2 years, I purchased a small bungalow on the south side of Chicago in a neighborhood at the southeast most tip of Chicago that borders Lake Michigan and a lakefront park. The parties involved: I believe are individuals from city government agencies (Department Water and Sewer, Department of Planning, Purchasing, Police Department), It seems that there is interest in this area and I believe there is...