Vail Resorts sells land for new condos at Breckenridge

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Loren Bimler



e9126 THINKSTOCKBreckenridgeSkierCar315%2A304 Vail Resorts sells land for new condos at Breckenridge

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62fa4 dennis huspeni mug2013 Vail Resorts sells land for new condos at Breckenridge
Dennis Huspeni
Reporter- Denver Business Journal

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Curious how much it costs to buy a piece of land on a Colorado ski resort mountain? Try $5.2 million per acre.

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) sold 2.1 acres of land at the base of Breckenridge Ski Resort’s Peak 8 to an affiliate of Breckenridge Grand Vacations Inc., which developed the Grand Timber Lodge and Grand Lodge at Peak 7. The land carried a $11.1 million cost.

Grand Vacations has plans for a 75-unit timeshare, ski-in/ski-out resort with a restaurant and spa.

“This is an exciting time for Breckenridge Ski Resort, with continued investment both on the mountain and at our base areas,” said Alex Iskenderian, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Resorts Development Co. “Improving the bed base at Peaks 7 and 8, and having a gondola taking our guests to and from town, has transformed the Breckenridge experience.”

The new development will be where the Bergenhof Day Lodge is located. That lodge will be demolished in coming weeks. Grading and utility work is scheduled to start this summer, with new resort construction starting next spring.

Breckenridge Ski Resort is continuing to add summer activities to the mountain and finishing Peak 6, which will open 543 acres of new ski terrain for the 2013-2014 ski season.

Homebuilder poised to start new development in Jeffco

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) bought 68 lots for a new home development called Lyons Ridge in Jefferson County. The lots are near the Red Rocks Country Club, southwest of Colorado Highway 285 and C-470.

The sales price and previous land owner weren’t disclosed.

“Market activity in the metro Denver area has been encouraging and we feel now is the right time to invest in land and open new communities like Lyons Ridge,” said Matt Mandino, president of KB Home’s Colorado division.

Dennis Huspeni covers real estate and retail for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the “Real Deals” blog. Phone: 303-803-9232.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/real_deals/2013/05/vail-resorts-sells-land-for-new-resort.html

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More Homeowners Become Accidental Landlords

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Loren Bimler

Arati Patel built a house in Greenville, SC in 2007, but when she was forced to move to Washington, DC for a new job, she knew she couldn’t sell it for enough, so she put it up for rent. In the last several years, she had all kinds of trouble with tenants and even had to have one evicted.

“It was a bit of a nightmare because I don’t live in Greenville…I have no desire to go back to Greenville because my life is in DC,” says Patel. “It was a lot of coordination and I am still trying to collect over $2,000 from my tenants.”

Patel finally ended up selling the home recently at a large loss. She didn’t want to do a short sale because the process is long and risky, and she didn’t want to damage her credit.

(Read More: Record High New Home Prices to Grow)

While there are no real estimates of how many “accidental landlords” now inhabit the housing market, Realtors say they are one more cause of today’s low inventory issue. Usually a buyer is also a seller, making the transaction a wash in terms of inventory, but if the buyer is not a seller, and instead becomes a landlord, inventory takes a negative hit.

Home prices have been rising steadily, up over ten percent from a year ago, according to the latest reading from CoreLogic. Prices are still well below where they were during the housing boom, when so many people bought into the market.

As millions come above water, others are far below. Forty-eight percent of borrowers in Atlanta are underwater, 37 percent in Miami, 54 percent in Las Vegas and 37 percent in Sacramento.

(Read More: Homes Selling at Fastest Pace Since Boom)

It will take many years of price gains for these homeowners to see the light of equity.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100764601

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Record High New Home Prices Have Room to Grow

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Loren Bimler

Supplies of new and existing homes are at levels not seen since the frenzy of the last housing boom. The phenomenon is national and not just relegated to the former boom markets. April listings were down 41 percent from a year ago in Los Angeles, down 24 percent in Houston, down 27 percent in Washington, DC and down 29 percent in Minneapolis. While the stock of newly built homes on the market rose to an 18-month high, builders are still facing land and labor shortages, which will keep starts lower than they could or should be based on demand.

(Read More: Homes Selling at Fastest Pace Since Boom)

“It has the look of a runaway housing boom again,” said Jane Fairweather, a Realtor in Maryland, who added that looks can be deceiving. “What you have is very inexpensive money and you have very few houses for sale. As soon as interest rates go up, I think you’ll see a lot of people back off.”

Interest rates have been moving steadily higher. After Wednesday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, rates took another jump of 0.375 percentage points.

“It’s an over-correction, but a painful one for buyers,” said Dan Green of Waterstone Mortgage. “A home buyer has five percent less home purchasing power as compared to 24 hours ago.

In the end, sales will come down to buyer confidence, affordability and mortgage rates. Even if that last one moves higher, rates are still historically low and confidence is gaining steam despite the rising prices.

“This week I had a seller who got a full price offer in about four days and he refused to take it because he wanted multiple contracts, come on!” exclaimed Fairweather.

—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick or on Facebook at facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC

Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100761763

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Florida’s CNL is selling resort villages, including Copper Mountain

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Loren Bimler

The largest resort owner in North America is testing the market by listing seven of its resort villages — including Copper Mountain’s base village — for $142.5 million.

“We are exploring what pricing the market might deliver for that portfolio,” said Steve Rice, managing director of Florida real-estate investment trust CNL Lifestyle Co.

CNL’s portfolio includes eight Eastern ski resorts and nine Western ski areas, including Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

The seven villages — which include 426,000 square feet of commercial space in CNL’s resort sites at Copper, California’s Mammoth, Canada’s Whistler, Ontario’s Blue Mountain, West Virginia’s Snowshoe, Vermont’s Stratton and Florida beach destination Sandestin — are all fully rented and have “improved strongly and steadily” since the 2009 downturn.

Rice said his company “is not committed to selling” but that if the portfolio sells, “we will be recycling that capital back into our lifestyle asset group and investing in both expansion projects at our existing resorts … as well as investing in potential new acquisitions.”

“We are not stepping away from the ski industry,” said Rice, a former ski patroller who now heads one of the heaviest hitters in the ski-resort industry. “We are as committed as ever. We just think it’s a good time to put these assets on the market.”

With buyer’s debt affordable and plentiful and a lot of equity money looking for an investment home, it’s a good time to look for a buyer, said Mike Cahill, CEO of Denver’s Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, which handles large property sales involving resorts, hotels and casinos.

“You’ve got cheap debt and equitable money, and that’s a great recipe to both buy and sell,” Cahill said.

CNL’s lifestyle properties include marinas, country clubs, senior housing communities and gated attractions such as Denver’s Elitch Gardens.

But the ski resorts are the strongest contributors to the stable.

The last ski season saw the REIT’s mountain-resort-property revenues climb 16 percent, with visits increasing 10.5 percent.

“As a class, the ski sector has held up very, very well right through the recession,” Rice said.

CNL has continued to invest in its ski properties through the recession and the painfully dry 2011-12 ski season — with new lifts, lodging and base-area projects — and the operators who lease the properties, such as Crested Butte’s Mueller family, pay additional rent on those capital improvements.

“Those investments have been absorbed by our tenants not only successfully, but they have made our tenants more successful themselves,” Rice said.

At Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Rice said, CNL is “steady as she goes” with the Muellers, who are revamping expansion plans for neighboring Snodgrass with a more modest proposal that could include Nordic and human-powered guided adventure.

“The industry is very much broadening out that way,” Rice said, noting skiing’s backcountry boom.

Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasontblevins

What’s for sale

Resort owner CNL is listing for sale the villages at seven of its properties, totaling 426,000 square feet of commercial space:

  • Copper Mountain

  • Mammoth Mountain, California

  • Whistler, British Columbia

  • Blue Mountain, Ontario

  • Snowshoe, West Virginia

  • Stratton, Vermont

  • Sandestin Beach, Florida

    • Article source: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23301763/florida-reit-cnl-is-selling-resort-villages-including

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    Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1

    Posted on May 23, 2013 by Loren Bimler

    27294 story comment Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1

    27294 underwater shutterstock 98001155 300x300 Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1Underwater image via Shutterstock

    Despite rising home prices early in the year, a significant portion of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage — about 44 percent — still owed more on their home than it was worth or didn’t have enough equity to move at the end of the first quarter, according to Zillow’s first-quarter Negative Equity Report.

    Zillow’s analysis showed that 25.4 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were underwater on their homes, while another 18.2 percent more were “effectively” underwater, with less than 20 percent equity in their homes.

    Taken together, about 22.3 million U.S. homeowners likely don’t have enough equity in their homes to afford a down payment on another home, Zillow said, keeping them in their homes and preventing new inventory from hitting the market.

    “Reaching positive equity, even barely, is an important milestone,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries in a statement. “But things like real estate agents’ fees and a down payment for the next home traditionally come out of the proceeds from the prior home’s sale. Without enough equity, these costs will instead have to come out of a homeowner’s pocket, leaving many still stuck,” he said.

    “Looking at the effective negative equity rate could explain why recent, healthy declines in the number of underwater borrowers haven’t yet translated into more homes for sale,” Humphries added. “The only cure is patience, as rising home values continue to build equity to the point where more homeowners can realistically sell.”

    Among the 30 largest metro areas covered by Zillow, those with the highest effective negative equity rate, including homeowners with 20 percent equity or less, include Las Vegas (71.5 percent), Atlanta (64.1 percent), and Riverside, Calif. (59.7 percent).

    Zillow predicts that the negative equity rate among all homeowners with a mortgage will fall to 23.5 percent by the first quarter of 2014. Of the 30 largest metro areas, the majority of these newly freed homeowners are anticipated to come from: Los Angeles (94,642 homeowners), Riverside (74,693 homeowners), and Phoenix (51,580 homeowners).

    More from Paul Hagey

    27294 story recent Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1
    79ce4 story follow Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1
    79ce4 story email Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1


    Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inmannews/~3/NB11yh8NEc0/

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    Franklin Street Properties Corp. Acquires Office Property in Denver, Colorado

    Posted on May 23, 2013 by Loren Bimler

    WAKEFIELD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Franklin Street Properties Corp. (“FSP” or “we”) (NYSE MKT: FSP)
    announced today its acquisition of a 43-story, multi-tenant office
    building containing approximately 680,277 rentable square feet of space
    and a 9-story parking garage located in the central business district of
    Denver, Colorado (together, the “Property”) for a purchase price of
    $183,000,000. The office building is located at 1999 Broadway and the
    parking garage is located at 2099 Welton Street. Completed in 1986, the
    office building is approximately 96% leased. Although the closing of the
    purchase of the Property had been scheduled to take place on July 1,
    2013, we exercised our right to accelerate the closing date.

    This acquisition brings our total portfolio of directly-owned properties
    to 38 containing an aggregate of approximately 8,537,136 rentable square
    feet.

    This press release, along with other news about FSP, is available on the
    Internet at www.franklinstreetproperties.com.
    We routinely post information that may be important to investors in the
    Investor Relations section of our website. We encourage investors to
    consult that section of our website regularly for important information
    about us and, if they are interested in automatically receiving news and
    information as soon as it is posted, to sign up for E-mail Alerts.

    About Franklin Street Properties Corp.

    Franklin Street Properties Corp., based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is
    focused on achieving current income and long-term growth through
    investments in commercial properties. FSP’s property portfolio consists
    of office properties. FSP is a Maryland corporation that operates in a
    manner intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for
    federal income tax purposes. To learn more about FSP please visit our
    website at www.franklinstreetproperties.com.

    Article source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130522006608/en/Franklin-Street-Properties-Corp.-Acquires-Office-Property

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    Why Fannie Mae Shot Up 400% in Three Months

    Posted on May 23, 2013 by Loren Bimler

    Since both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were put in government conservatorship during the housing and mortgage market crashes, they are required to pay all profits to the U.S. Treasury department in the form of dividends. Shareholders get nothing.

    (Read More: Inside America’s Economic Crisis)

    That is why their stocks initially plummeted in value in 2008 and were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The shares would only have value if Congress were to take them out of conservatorship and allow them to recapitalize. That, most analysts say, is a very long shot.

    “This is a congress that needs and wants a lot of money. Why would they ever give up this revenue stream, especially if it’s going to speculative bets on Wall Street?” asked Ed Mills of FBR Capital Markets.

    Mills said investors are weaving an exciting tale, but one unlikely to have a happy ending. At first it was small individual investors, but now larger hedge funds, like Paulson and Co and Perry Capital, are getting in, according to several published reports. While members of Congress have yet to pass any legislation toward dismantling Fannie and Freddie or returning them to private companies, with or without a government backstop, the idea that they would just give them back to shareholders is, again, unlikely.

    (Read More: Paulson Raised Bet on Mortgage Insurers in First Quarter Filing)

    Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee who is sponsoring legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has been clear that stockholders will get nothing in his plan, despite the recent profitability of the two:

    “If Treasury were to decide to sell its preferred share investment without Congress having first reformed our housing sector, we would just be returning to a time where gains are for private shareholders and losses are for taxpayers. Neither of these is an acceptable outcome,” according to a recent release.

    Still, it is enticing to think about.

    “Fannie/Freddie is an extremely exciting story. This year, Fannie and Freddie are likely to post combined net income of over $100 Billion—more than the combined estimated earnings of both Exxonand Apple. Pretty good for two entities left for dead in the fall of 2008,” said James Fenkner, a California-based investor who has owned Fannie Mae shares. “I’m a long term believer in the eventual recovery of Fannie and Freddie, but also believe that the story of the commons and [less so] junior preferred are not yet ready for prime time. Should Fannie and Freddie recover to their pre 2008 highs, the common shares could rally eight times and the preferred five times their current prices. Yet, such gains assumes a fairly tale ending, and that is a probability asymptotically close to zero.”

    As Fannie Mae’s dividend payments to Treasury, so far $95 billion, now approach the amount it drew, $116.1 billion, investors have a better case to make.

    (Read More: Fannie Mae Should Be Abolished, Says Barney Frank)

    Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100754423

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    Florida REIT CNL is selling resort villages, including Copper Mountain

    Posted on May 22, 2013 by Loren Bimler

    The largest resort owner in North America is testing the market by listing seven of its resort villages — including Copper Mountain’s base village — for $142.5 million.

    “We are exploring what pricing the market might deliver for that portfolio,” said Steve Rice, managing director of Florida real-estate investment trust CNL Lifestyle Co.

    CNL’s portfolio includes eight Eastern ski resorts and nine Western ski areas, including Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

    The villages — which include 426,000 square feet of commercial space in CNL’s resort villages at Copper, California’s Mammoth, Canada’s Whistler, Ontario’s Blue Mountain, West Virginia’s Snowshoe, Vermont’s Stratton and Florida beach destination Sandestin — are all fully rented and have “improved strongly and steadily” since the 2009 downturn.

    Rice said his company “is not committed to selling” but that if the portfolio sells, “we will be recycling that capital back into our lifestyle asset group and investing in both expansion projects at our existing resorts … as well as investing in potential new acquisitions.”

    “We are not stepping away from the ski industry,” said the former ski patroller who now heads one of the heaviest hitters in the ski-resort industry. “We are as committed as ever. We just think it’s a good time to put these assets on the market.”

    With buyer’s debt affordable and plentiful and a lot of equity money looking for an investment home, it’s a good time to look for a buyer, said Mike Cahill, chief executive of Denver’s Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, which handles large property sales involving resorts, hotels and casinos.

    “You’ve got cheap debt and equitable money, and that’s a great recipe to both buy and sell,” Cahill said.

    CNL’s lifestyle properties include marinas, country clubs, senior housing communities and gated attractions such as Denver’s Elitch Gardens. But the ski resorts are the strongest contributors to the stable.

    The last ski season saw the REIT’s mountain-resort-property revenues climb 16 percent, with visits increasing 10.5 percent.

    “As a class, the ski sector has held up very, very well right through the recession,” Rice said.

    CNL has continued to invest in its ski properties through the recession and the painfully dry 2011-12 ski season — with new lifts, lodging and base-area projects — and the operators who lease the properties, such as Crested Butte’s Mueller family, pay additional rent on those capital improvements.

    “Those investments have been absorbed by our tenants not only successfully, but they have made our tenants more successful themselves,” Rice said.

    At Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Rice said, CNL is “steady as she goes” with the Muellers, who are revamping expansion plans for neighboring Snodgrass with a more modest proposal that could include Nordic and human-powered guided adventure.

    “The industry is very much broadening out that way,” Rice said, noting skiing’s backcountry boom.

    Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasontblevins

    Article source: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23301763/florida-reit-cnl-is-selling-resort-villages-including

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    Homes Selling at Fastest Pace Since Boom

    Posted on May 22, 2013 by Loren Bimler

    While homes are certainly selling faster, double digit price gains are not considered healthy, especially when wage growth is nowhere near that. At some point buyers will hit the wall, unable to afford the homes they want.

    (Read More: US Home Sales Rise to Highest Level in More Than 3 Years)

    First time home buyers are already dropping out of the market, representing just twenty-nine percent of home buyers in April, according to the NAR—the lowest in two years. Rising mortgage rates, now at their highest in two months, are playing a part, but there are also fewer low-end homes to buy. The number of homes in the foreclosure process is now down nearly twenty-five percent from a year ago, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services.

    Just eighteen percent of home sales in April were of distressed properties, the lowest since the Realtors began tracking this number in 2008. Compare that to thirty-five percent about a year and a half ago. Sales of homes priced below $100,000 were down ten percent in April compared to a year ago, while every other price range saw sales gains. Those who can get credit are now competing for what little there is to buy, and pushing prices well beyond expectations.

    (Read More: Mortgage Applications Sink as Interest Rates Jump)

    “I don’t see it lasting,” added Fairweather. “I think the minute they increase interest rates, you’ll see people pull back.”

    —By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick or on Facebook at facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC

    Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com

    Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100758136

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    Target to hire 200 for new Denver store

    Posted on May 21, 2013 by Loren Bimler



    864a5 target1 bloomberg%2A304 Target to hire 200 for new Denver store

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    Target to hire 200 for new Denver store







    4012a dennis huspeni mug2013 Target to hire 200 for new Denver store
    Dennis Huspeni
    Reporter- Denver Business Journal

    Email
     | Google+
     | Twitter
     | Real Deals blog

    Target Corp. will begin hiring 200 new employees for its new Tamarac Square store with a three-day job fair that starts Thursday, the company said Tuesday.

    The 135,000-square foot store, at the corner of East Hampden Avenue and South Tamarac Drive, is scheduled to open in July. It’s one of 11 stores the Minneapolis-based company (NYSE: TGT) is opening nationwide in 2013.

    It will be the 42nd Colorado store and the 29th in metro Denver.

    New store leaders Chris Legrande and Kari Motz, among others, will conduct pre-scheduled interviews. Those interested should complete an application before the fair starts at target.com/careers.

    The fair is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, at the Embassy Suites Denver southeast, 7525 East Hampden Ave., Denver.

    The former Tamarac Square Mall is now part of a tax increment financing (TIF) district and received Denver City Council approval for $5 million in tax financing.

    The store will offer produce, meats, pre-packaged baked goods along with Starbucks coffee and a pharmacy. It’s what’s being called the new “P-Fresh” store — a prototype that is similar to a Super Target, but doesn’t include a full-service deli or bakery.

    Dennis Huspeni covers real estate and retail for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the “Real Deals” blog. Phone: 303-803-9232.


    Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2013/05/21/target-seeks-200-new-employees-at-job.html

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