Amazon, apartment landlords agree to install locker systems | Workspace Property Trust plans $100M IPO | China gives housing company permission for quasi-REIT
October 18, 2017
The daily source on REITs and real estate investment
Amazon and major apartment owners and landlords have signed an agreement to install Amazon Hub locker systems in their buildings, a deal that represents some 850,000 units across the US. AvalonBay, Bozzuto Group, Equity Residential and Greystar are among the companies taking part in the agreement, which will alleviate the problem of how to manage the stack of packages residents order.
Workspace Property Trust plans to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing. The REIT will list on the New York Stock Exchange and use the proceeds to purchase common units in its operating partnership from Safanad Suburban Office Partnership.
China Young Professional Apartments has received approval from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange for a $270 million listing of asset-backed securities that will be offered to retail investors. It will be the first housing rental quasi-REIT in the country; the few quasi-REITs so far have focused on the office asset class.
Toys R Us and Asia joint venture partner the Fung Group are exploring options for the retailer's $2 billion Asian unit, including a possible listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, sources said. The growing division was not part of its US-based parent's September bankruptcy filing, and a Hong Kong IPO could give private equity owners a way to recoup more of their investments.
The correlation between the broad REIT market and the broad stock market has been especially low recently. Brad Case, NAREIT's senior vice president for research and industry information, looks more closely at current REIT-stock correlations for 10 sectors and subsectors of the REIT market.
Much of the financing for the debt and equity backing Related Cos.' Hudson Yards complex comes from overseas sources, reflecting their appetite for US assets. Lenders include Deutsche Bank, Bank of China, HSBC Holdings, Credit Agricole and Children's Investment Fund of the UK; equity investors include Oxford Properties Group -- the main partner on the project -- and Mitsui Fudosan Co.
Target will open about 12 small-format urban stores this week in high-profile cities including Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. A store slated to open in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis will offer goods and amenities aimed at young professionals, including organic groceries, workout wear and a Starbucks.
New home construction dropped 4.7% last month, the largest decline in six months, for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.13 million units, according to the Commerce Department. The drop pointed to weakness in the single-family and apartment building asset classes, as well as the effects of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Banks and credit unions can issue real estate loans without a formal appraisal for properties in federally declared disaster areas, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The rule relaxation aims to help hurricane victims in Texas, Florida, Georgia, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Canada, Mexico and the US have agreed to drop a year-end deadline for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and to extend talks into the first quarter. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the goal of finishing renegotiation this year "was never a hard target."
