August 29, 2001 HORSHAM, Pa. – General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE:GGP) has received $115 million in permanent financing from GMAC Commercial Mortgage for a portfolio of three shopping centers. The 10-year loan carries a 30-year amortization schedule. The...

August 29, 2001 Investor Warren Buffett has sold his stake in First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR), according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.It is unclear when Buffett sold his interest in the REIT, the newspaper reported....

August 29, 2001Commercial Real Estate Direct Staff ReportThe loan that UBS Warburg provided Westfield America Inc. (NYSE:WEA) for its initial lease payment for the retail component of the World Trade Center totaled $100 million.The three-year loan carries an...

August 29, 2001 The owner of the Clarion LaGuardia hotel, the closest hotel to New York's LaGuardia Airport, has hired Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels to market the 169-unit property for sale.Pacifica LaGuardia LLC is offering the hotel unencumbered...

August 29, 2001 NEW YORK – Fitch has upgraded two classes in Commercial Mortgage Acceptance Corp.'s 1996-C2 and affirmed other classes it rates. The $15.6 million class C was upgraded to double-A-plus from double-A, while the $14.8 million...

August 29, 2001 TORONTO – Summit REIT (TSE:SMU) has agreed to purchase a 3.6 million-square-foot light industrial portfolio for C$184 million (US$119.1 million).The price works out to C$51/sf (US$33/sf) with a 9.8 percent capitalization rate. The properties are...

August 28, 2001 Special To Commercial Real Estate DirectLend Lease Real Estate Investments has purchased the 245-unit Rancho Valencia Apartments in Garden Grove, Calif., in central Orange County, for $23.15 million, or about $95,000 per unit.Renovation specialist Bascom...

August 28, 2001 NEW YORK – Insignia Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:IFS) has agreed to acquire French commercial real estate services company Groupe Bourdais for $30.7 million.Founded in 1954, Paris-based Bourdais has a staff of 350 and operates eight...

August 28, 2001 NEW YORK – Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the ratings of four classes of SASCO Floating Rate Commercial Mortgage Trust 1998-C3 and affirmed classes A2 at Aaa.The upgrades are as follows: class F to Aaa...

August 28, 2001 Special To Commercial Real Estate DirectFischer Properties has received $28.5 million in bridge financing to continue its redevelopment of the former Sacramento Army Depot in Sacramento, Calif.J. Jay Brooks of George Smith Partners, a mortgage...

August 28, 2001 Mid-America sells Miss. multifamily propertyJACKSON, Miss. – Mid-America Apartment Communities has sold the Advantages Apartments, a 252-unit community, for $6.9 million. Proceeds were used to pay down debt, according to a company statement.Acadia sells SC...

August 28, 2001 RioCan to entice American retailers to CanadaThe Toronto StarTORONTO – RioCan REIT, which has entered into a joint venture with Kimco Realty Corp., plans to entice more American retailers to come to Canada. The Toronto-based...

August 28, 2001 CHICAGO – Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. has closed on the purchase of a 50 percent interest in 225 W. Washington St. from a partnership of four pension funds.Lend Lease purchased the property on...

August 28, 2001HOUSTON – Cushman & Wakefield has appointed two Cushman Realty Corp. executives to oversee its Houston office.C&W, which acquired Cushman Realty this summer, appointed Tim D. Relyea vice chairman and a member of the board of...

August 28, 2001 BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Hilton Hotels Corp. (NYSE:HLT) has completed the sale of $200 million of 30-year senior unsecured notes.Proceeds were used to retire all outstanding debt under Hilton's original 1996 $1.75 billion revolving credit...

August 28, 2001 LOS ANGELES – Shorenstein Co. has raised a $600 million investment fund to buy $1.7 billion worth of downtown and suburban office buildings, according to a report by Bloomberg News in The Los Angeles Times.This...

August 28, 2001 CHICAGO – Heartland Partners (AMEX:HTL) has retained Grubb & Ellis to sell its 30 percent interest in a Chicago industrial park.Goose Island Industrial Park is 266,000-square-foot industrial park recently developed by a joint venture of...

August 28, 2001 The California State Teachers' Retirement System is soliciting proposals from qualified firms that can serve the pension fund as real estate independent fiduciaries.The chosen firms will provide CalSTRS evaluation and due diligence services for commingled...

August 27, 2001 NEW YORK – Fitch has upgraded one class in Asset Securitization Corp.'s 1997-D4, and affirmed other classes it rates. The ratings on the $28.1 million class A-2 were raised to triple-A from double-A-plus. The upgrade...

August 27, 2001 GROTON, Conn. – GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. has provided about $26 million in floating-rate financing for the Mystic Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. The 285-key hotel, which opened in June, is at 625 North Road...

August 27, 2001 SAN JOSE, Calif. – SSR Realty Advisors Inc. has purchased a newly completed 42,000-square-foot office building for $10.5 million from Kennedy Associates on behalf of a client.Kennedy Associates sold the building on behalf of a...

August 27, 2001 TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:REI) and Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE:KIM) are forming a joint venture that will acquire and develop retail properties in Canada and will pool their retail power in Canada...

August 27, 2001 NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Pacific Gulf Properties Inc. (NYSE:PAG) has completed its merger with FountainGlen Properties LLC.Under the terms of the transaction, Pacific Gulf shareholders will receive about $3.13/share, while the company will assume about...

August 27, 2001 SEATTLE – Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN) is selling its interest in its new headquarters building in downtown Seattle to the developer it partnered with to build the property.Though Nordstrom is selling its 49 percent stake in...

August 27, 2001 TXU hunting for 200,000 sf in DallasDallas Business JournalDALLAS – TXU Corp. is searching for 175,000 to 200,000 square feet of office space here. It's one of the biggest corporate searches in Dallas-Fort Worth so...