CWCapital Selling $345 Million of Distressed Real Estate Debt

Net Lease Market News CWCapital Asset Management LLC, a firm specializing in troubled commercial mortgages, is marketing $345 million of distressed debt in its biggest sale ever as investors circle souring loans. CWCapital, the second-largest servicer charged with resolving problem real estate contained in securities, is selling a portfolio linked to properties spanning the U.S. from Brooklyn, New York to Pasadena, California, according to Mission Capital Advisors, the manager of the sale. Retail buildings account for the largest share of the pool, comprising 36.3 percent, followed by office buildings at 28.2 percent, according to Mission. http://www.bloomberg.com

Westfield Sells Eight U.S. Centers for $1.15B

The Westfield Group entered an agreement to sell a majority interest in seven of its non-core U.S. retail assets to Starwood Capital Group for $1 billion. Starwood will manage and control the platform, while Westfield will retain a 10 percent interest in the properties.

BofA unloads FiDi building for $230M

Bank of America has struck an accord to sell a Lower Manhattan office building to Beacon Capital Partners and L&L Holding for about $230 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Bank of America took ownership if the building when it merged with Merrill Lynch, which acquired the building in 1997.

http://therealdeal.com

AIG Is Planning a Return to U.S. Property Investing

But now AIG is beginning to make plans for fresh investments across the U.S. that will begin later this year.

A real-estate division of the New York-based company has reached out to developers of new apartment buildings in major metropolitan areas, said people familiar with the matter.

"We've done multifamily deals with them before, and we're interested in working with them again," said Hal Fetner, president and chief executive of New York developer Durst Fetner Residential LLC who has been contacted by AIG about new developments.

AIG hasn't set specific targets on the size of its future investments in real estate, but people familiar with the insurer say that eventually it will amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.AIG started its real-estate investing business in 1987 and built it into one of the world's largest property-investment platforms with $25 billion in assets at its peak a few years ago. Its real-estate team is led by Robert Gifford, a 55-year-old industry veteran who was hired in 2009, shortly before Robert Benmosche was appointed chief executive.

http://online.wsj.com

Rite Aid 4Q Loss Narrows Amid Sales Growth

Rite Aid recently reported total drug-store sales of $7.12 billion, up 11% from a year earlier, mostly owing to an extra week of sales in the period. Same-store sales improved 3%, the drug-store chain's best showing in five years. Last week, Rite-Aid said that March same-store sales improved further, up 3.6%.

Looking to fiscal 2013, Standley said Rite Aid intends to remodel 500 stores into the wellness format and will focus on the Wellness+ program as the core component of the company's overall marketing and promotional efforts.

For the year, the company projected a per-share loss of 13 cents to 31 cents on revenue of $25.4 billion and $25.8 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected a loss of 25 cents and revenue of $25.74 billion. Rite Aid expects same-store sales growth of up to 1.5% over the just-completed fiscal year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120412-711339.html

Owner-Occupied Real Estate Is Growing in Appeal

In a market featuring rock-bottom building prices and record-low interest rates, now is an ideal time for businesses to consider purchasing instead of leasing their real estate.

That was the consensus of the panelists on the most recent episode of the "Commercial Real Estate Show," which provided a look at the factors making owner-occupied real estate a more attractive option for businesses.

Show host Michael Bull, the president and founder of Bull Realty, said the possibility of rent spikes is one reason to consider buying.

"These prices are so low, it's incredible," he said. "With the lack of new construction [in recent years], I think we're going to see some huge rents in about five years."

http://atlantarealestate.citybizlist.com/3/2012/4/9/CRE-Show-OwnerOccupied-Real-Estate-Is-Growing-in-Appeal.aspx