Editor's note: The publication of this feature was delayed due to the global outage affecting IT services.
S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of real estate news stories published throughout the week.
Housing starts, a measure of the beginning of residential building construction, grew 3% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million on the back of multifamily housing, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development data.
Construction on buildings with at least five units grew stood at a seasonally adjusted rate of 360,000, up from 295,000 in May.
Single-family construction fell to its lowest level since October 2023 at 980,000, down 2.2% from a month prior, according to the report.
CHART OF THE WEEK: US equity REIT M&A activity drops in H1
⮞ US equity real estate investment trusts recorded only one M&A deal in the first half of 2024 amid elevated interest rates and an associated higher cost of debt.
⮞ The sole deal announced was Blackstone Inc.'s take-private deal of multifamily REIT Apartment Income REIT Corp. in a transaction valued at around $10 billion in cash.
⮞ All-stock transactions, which were more common in 2023, were absent during the period.
Acquisitions
– Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust agreed to sell its manufactured home community portfolio in Canada to TPG Real Estate for C$740 million, excluding transaction costs. The portfolio comprises 12,138 residential lots across 75 communities.
– The Worthe Real Estate Group Inc., QuadReal Property Group LP and Stockbridge Capital Group LLC acquired the Burbank Studios production facility in Burbank, Calif., from Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. for $375 million, Commercial Observer reported, citing property records. The property comprises 685,000 square feet.
– An affiliate of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. acquired 1 Hotel Central Park in Manhattan, NY, from Starwood Capital Operations LLC for $265 million, the New York Business Journal, citing sources familiar with the deal. The 18-story property spans 110,000 square feet.
– JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Hines Interests LP agreed to buy an office tower at 250 Park Avenue in Manhattan, NY, from AEW Capital Management LP for over $300 million, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Office expansions in NY
– Blackstone leased an additional 250,644 square feet of office space at Rudin Management Co. Inc.'s 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan, Commercial Observer reported. Blackstone's total office space at the 44-story building now stands at 1.06 million square feet.
– Ares Management Corp. grew its headquarters at 245 Park Avenue in Manhattan by an additional 131,749 square feet, Commercial Observer reported July 17, citing a source with knowledge of the deal. The office tower is owned by SL Green Realty Corp. and Mori Trust REIT Inc.
US hotel performance
US hotel performance was down year over year across all three key metrics during the week ended July 13, STR reported, citing data from CoStar, which provides information and analytics on property markets.
Revenue per available room was $109.51, down 5.2% from the comparable week in 2023. Occupancy also fell by 3.7% to 69.2% and average daily rate declined 1.5% to $158.21.
Among the top 25 markets, Houston saw the highest numbers for all three metrics. However, Denver and San Diego reported the steepest declines in revenue per available room.
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