Global Viewpoints

A FIRST for Paris: Landmark New Office Tower Sets Highest Standards for Advanced Environmental Development

Edited: Jennifer Brenner
Source: Beacon Capital Partners

President Nicolas Sarkozy saw a stunning example of state-of-the-art environmental technology on June 30 when he toured the newest rising star on the Paris skyline: The 50-story FIRST building.

Upon completion in 2011, FIRST will be the tallest office tower ever built in France – second only in height to the Eiffel Tower.

But it is not only the size of this elegant structure that caught the President’s attention: It is its cutting-edge commitment to the most advanced environmental standards.

FIRST is the largest HQE certified office tower in France. Its use of sustainable materials to reduce future energy needs and its energy-saving construction techniques are unprecedented for a project of this scope.

The slender, helical-shaped tower which spirals upwards like a richly-sculptured silhouette, is rising on the site of the former AXA Tower in the exclusive La Defense district, one of Europe’s prime business centers and home to dozens of multi-national corporations.

The building, where approximately 5,700 people will work, is being co-developed by affiliates of AXA France Assurance and by Beacon Capital Partners of Boston, Ma. who will assume ownership upon its completion.

Upon completion FIRST will:

• Use 75% less energy than the AXA tower, yet is 10% larger.
  
• Achieve 85% lower CO2 emissions than AXA tower.
  
• Be one of the lowest Carbon Emissions Office Tower per occupant in France.

Employ innovative energy saving designs that allow for more occupants and much less artificial light as well as “Double Skin” exterior design that dramatically reduces cooling and heating requirements.

During the ongoing construction process the carbon footprint will be reduced by about 50% with the renovation of FIRST rather than a complete demolition of the former building.

Fred Seigel, President and Chief Operating Officer of Beacon Capital Partners, said: “Environmental sustainability is a critical component of Beacon’s strategy. The lessons we have learned from the development of FIRST have broad application across our portfolio. We are proud to have invested in this magnificent building.”

FIRST offers proof of the exciting future of construction in the era of environmental awareness.

CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. Registers 225 Office Buildings for U.S. Green Building Council’s “LEED EB” Rating

Edited: Jennifer Brenner
Source: CB Richard Ellis Group

CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. has enrolled 225 office buildings in the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED® EB (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - Existing Building) Program, an achievement that will significantly increase the number of existing office buildings operated under “green” standards. Enrollment of the properties is the first step in the process for attaining LEED EB certification.

At the end of 2007, CBRE committed to enroll a minimum 100 buildings in the then-emerging LEED EB process, and 18 months later the company is now the largest third-party manager of buildings in the leading program for environmental sustainability. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The properties that CBRE enrolled in the LEED EB program total more than 57 million sq. ft. and are owned by more than 55 different investors and corporations in 21 states.

“When we made our commitment in 2007 there were fewer than 60 buildings in the entire country with LEED EB designation,” said David Pogue, CBRE’s National Director of Sustainability. “The key to our success has been building a strong foundation, by both partnering effectively with our clients and deploying a strong internal certification team with great technical expertise and a genuine passion for enhancing sustainable practices in the buildings we manage.”

CBRE currently manages 17 buildings that have attained LEED EB certification, more than any other commercial property management firm. The total is expected to grow to 50 buildings by year end.

For the second year in a row, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) named CB Richard Ellis an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year, the only commercial real estate services firm recognized with that award this year. More than 1,200 CBRE-managed buildings are participating in the program, significantly more than any other third party management company. Since 2008, more than 220 of these properties totaling 73 million square feet were recognized for exemplary performance by ENERGY STAR through the award of the ENERGY STAR plaque.

Starwood Signs an Agreement to Sell the W San Francisco for $90 Million

Edited: Jennifer Brenner
Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced that the Company has signed an agreement to sell the W San Francisco for $90 million to Keck Seng Investments (Hong Kong) Limited, a hotel investment and property development company listed on the Hong Kong stock market. The sales price is immediately accretive to earnings and represents a multiple of over 14X anticipated 2009 EBITDA.

The buyer is well-known to Starwood and currently owns three other Starwood hotels. Additionally, Starwood has retained a long-term management agreement to continue operating the hotel as a W. The W brand continues to grow globally, and is poised to more than double its footprint from 25 hotels today to 60 hotels by 2011. The sale, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close on July 30, 2009.

The sale of the W San Francisco represents one of a few select asset dispositions that Starwood is pursuing to further reduce its debt levels.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 960 properties in 97 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.

Investment Company AION Partners Launched by Dadabhoy and Betancourt

Edited: Jennifer Brenner
Source: AION Partners

The principals of real estate investment and asset management company DCD America, Inc. this week announced the formation of AION Partners, a real estate private equity company that partners with other sources of capital and brings leadership to acquisition, development and financing opportunities across the U.S. The announcement was made by AION Partners’ principals Siraj Dadabhoy and Michael Betancourt.

“AION is a partnership of experienced professionals and principals, invested in this company, and committed to originating transactions and enhancing the value through aggressive, meticulous asset management,” Mr. Dadabhoy said. “Michael and I, and much of the AION team have worked together successfully for years. We are hitting the ground running in an environment we believe will offer tremendous opportunity for the most experienced investors.”

Launched formally in June, AION Partners has already employed its new structure to purchase eight non-performing first mortgage and mezzanine loans with a value in excess of $150 million over the last six months. The company plans to foreclose on all of the loans, take over the assets and turn them around through hands-on asset management.

“Our track record for closing deals and delivering on our promises while principals at DCD America serves us well now as AION Partners in originating transactions from a variety of sources. Our excellent relationships with lenders and equity partners such as ING Clarion, Northstar Realty Finance, the Carlyle Group and Middle Eastern Financial institutions – as well as the founding partners of DCD Group – enable us to move quickly to secure these opportunities,” said Mr. Betancourt.

“We are excited about the launch of AION Partners. We have great confidence in the team and look forward to supporting and working with them going forward,” said Shabir Randeree, Chairman of UK based DCD Group.

The AION Partners team is best known for their success in core-plus and value-add office, mixed-use redevelopment and stabilized and market rate apartments, having assembled a portfolio of prime properties in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. “We have recently been focusing on the acquisition of whole loans with a view to acquire the underlying property and re-branding the assets in order to create a national portfolio and structure for further expansion. At the same time, we will continue to seek opportunities in the office and redevelopment arena, where we have a great depth of experience,” Mr. Dadabhoy said.

“We’ve been working on this transition for more than a year, refining our model to ensure that we would create a nimble and aggressive acquisition structure, allowing us to co-invest with our partners and utilize our experience in finance and management to bring greater opportunity to our partners and ourselves,” said Mr. Betancourt.

Experienced in development as well as management, the AION Partner’s leadership team will seek opportunities to build in the areas where they have developed competencies as appropriate opportunity are presented. Mr. Betancourt said the company will be assembling a pool of capital from which it will draw upon to move quickly when opportunities arise.

“We have the professional team, systems and capacity necessary to be extremely active through this cycle, and designed AION Partners specifically to emerge as a formidable player in the market,” Mr. Betancourt said. “There are some who are shrinking as a means of addressing this market. AION Partners is the opposite: we are launching our venture with the intent to be a very significant and active investor and operator, growing over the coming years in tandem with our portfolio and the value we bring to our partners.”

Optima Engineering Wins Green Building of America Award

Edited: Jennifer Brenner
Source: Optima Engineering

Optima Engineering, P.A. was recognized by Real Estate & Construction Review with a Green Building of America Award for its environmentally sensitive office space at 1927 South Tryon St. Charlotte, N.C.

The 16,000-square-foot office features a rooftop solar photovoltaic system that generates more than enough energy to power its operations. Optima Engineering then sells surplus electricity to Duke Energy. The office building also features solar thermal water heating, which further reduces operating expenses.

Optima Engineering was chosen for this award from more than 2,500 nominations. The project will be featured in a special "Green Success Story" issue of the southeast edition of Real Estate & Construction Review.

"We're honored to be selected for this award," said Keith Pehl, president of Optima Engineering. "Not only do we encourage our clients to pursue renewable energy alternatives and green-building practices, we have also made sure that our own office space incorporates sustainable features."

Real Estate & Construction Review has been published by Construction Communications since 1999. It is published annually in five regional editions that feature each region's top projects.

ProLogis Completes Three Lease Agreements With DHL in Europe

Edited: Jennifer Brenner

Source: ProLogis

ProLogis, a leading global provider of distribution facilities, announced today three transactions in Europe with DHL Supply Chain, a leading global provider of third-party logistics services and subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL.

"DHL is ProLogis' largest global customer, and we are pleased to expand our relationship further with the company in Europe," said Phillip Dunne, president for ProLogis in Europe. "We believe today's announcement is a strong indication of the depth of our customer relationships and unmatched ability to serve their unique supply chain requirements in the right locations across the globe."

DHL now occupies 11.7 million square feet (1.09 million square meters) of ProLogis distribution space worldwide. In Europe, the customer now occupies 56 ProLogis distribution centers in ten countries for a total of 8.5 million square feet (793,400 square meters).

"In this highly competitive environment the ability to deliver compelling real estate solutions is becoming increasingly important," said Paul Graham, development director for DHL Supply Chain EMEA. "ProLogis has become a development partner of choice for DHL Supply Chain by combining the benefits of international market coverage with local knowledge and expertise."

Among the new transactions are:

• A new 67,800-square-foot (6,300-square-meter) lease agreement of newly developed distribution space at ProLogis Park Wroclaw III near Wroclaw, Poland. The four-building, 1.4 million-square-foot (135,000-square-meter) park is located close to the A4 motorway and is adjacent to the Wroclaw-Strachowice International Airport, making it attractive for regional distribution.
  
  
• A lease extension totaling 148,000 square feet (13,800 square meters) at ProLogis Park Jonkoping, located in the city of Jonkoping, a major distribution hub in Sweden. DHL will occupy this newly developed distribution space in addition to the 310,000 square feet (28,800 square meters) it already occupies at the facility.
  
  
• A lease extension totaling 48,400 square feet (4,500 square meters) at ProLogis Park Sochaczew, near Warsaw, Poland. As a result of this transaction, DHL will now fully occupy Building Six at the park, for a total of 172,000 square feet (16,000 square meters). ProLogis Park Sochaczew comprises six buildings totaling 1.1 million square feet (100,000 square meters). The park features rail siding, enabling ProLogis customers to take full advantage of the benefits of intermodal cargo transportation.

ProLogis is currently one of the largest providers of distribution space in Europe with a portfolio of more than 128 million square feet (11.9 million square meters).

Deutsche Post DHL is the world's leading mail and logistics services Group. The Deutsche Post and DHL corporate brands offer a one-of-a-kind portfolio of logistics (DHL) and communication (Deutsche Post) services. The Group offers its customers easy to use standardized products as well as innovative and tailored solutions - from dialog marketing to industrial supply chains. Over 500,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories form a global network focused on service, quality and sustainability.