Archive for May, 2010

 National office landlords grappled with falling rents and rising vacancies in the first quarter of 2010 but have reported signs of stabilization in their ailing markets. Aside from this, according to A.D. Pruitt of The Wall Street Jornal in the article, “Signs of Stability in Vornado,” Vornado Realty Trust, one of the country’s largest office-building owners, reported a .06% decline in office occupancy from a year earlier.

Vornado’s office rents, in New York especially, have continued to fall. Leases signed in the 1st quarter of 2010 were for 8.2% less than the previous in-place rents. Washington DC, on the contrary, saw leases signed in the first quarter being 10.8% higher than the in-place rents.

Vornado is just the latest office landlord to report mixed results as they face the worst economic downturn in decades, which has sharply cut into demand. While vacancy and rental trends remain weak in many cities, companies have still performed better than analysts expected.

For the full article from The Wall Street Journal, click here.

Boston Properties is getting back to their old buying form of 2008, but its first office-building acquisition in 2 years is tiny in retrospect to their trophy properties of the past. The size is a sign of how difficult it is for buyers to find deals in this market due to the fact that most owners aren’t interested in selling at today’s prices, this according to The Wall Street Journal in their article “Boston Properties Gets Back in the Buying Game.”

Boston Properties is capitalizing on the downturn by buying a “class C’ building in a “class A” location and positioning itself for a comeback. They are being very choosy as they re-enter the market as they have amassed about $1.8 billion in cash and a $1 billion line of credit to do deals. Still, Boston Properties are not looking to change focus and do 500 $2 million deals but instead are still wanting large-scale acquisitions.

Click here to read the full article from The Wall Street Journal.