WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

• Downtown Los Angeles condo auction nets developer $21.6M
• General Growth Properties wins breathing room on $8.9B debt load portion
• Canadian outbids 150 buyers for Silverdome in Pontiac, MI
• Mexicans pick Carlton to Sell 46M worth of condos and single family loans
• Gables Residential partners with Lifelock to give residents identity theft protection packet
• Zillow survey finds home values still moving south

Market Lofts auction, L.A.

(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Los Angeles developers Lee Homes and CIM Group netted $21.6 million on 55 units at a downtown condo auction that drew 1,000 bidders for the remaining available units at the 267-unit Market Lofts on Ninth and Flower Streets.

The project, which opened in 2007 above a Ralph's Fresh Fare Supermarket, is now sold out.  All 55 units were sold in less than three hours, according to Kennedy Wilson Auction Group of Beverly Hills, CA, which conducted the auction.

The units ranged from 754 square feet to 1,588 square feet and averaged $300 to $400 per square foot in price. Two-bedroom units sold quickly. One 1,588-square-unit went for $495,000.

Lee Homes president Jeff Lee had only one word for the auction's results:  "Perfect," he said.

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(CHICAGO, IL) -- General Growth Properties Inc. has closed a deal with major creditors to restructure $8.9 billion of a debt load that totaled 27.3 billion when the Chicago-based shopping center REIT filed for Chapter 11 on April 16 of this year.

Wall Street sources at the time called it the largest commercial real estate bankruptcy ever filed in U.S. courts.

Tom Nolan

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York is expected to approve the restructuring deal Dec. 14. When it does, 170 General Growth corporate entities will emerge from Chapter 11 by year end.

"We are extremely pleased to reach this consensual agreement with lenders representing more than half of the mortgage debt covered by the bankruptcy proceedings," General Growth president and chief operating officer Thomas H. Nolan Jr. said in a prepared statement.

Please see related Real Estate Channel articles:

• General Growth's Chapter 11 Filing Called Largest in U.S. Retail Bankruptcy History . April 17, 2009
• General Growth Properties Stock Price Rise Puzzles Wall Street ,  April 7, 2009
• Fourth General Growth Properties Mall Seized , March 23, 2009
• General Growth Wins Breather but Hedge Fund Manager Predicts Bankruptcy Filing Coming, March 17, 2009
• Clock Ticking on Bankruptcy-Saving Deal for General Growth Properties and Subsidiary, March 12, 2009
• General Growth Properties' Piggy Bank is Low as Debt Piles Up, Feb. 24, 2009

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Silverdome, Pontiiac, MI

(PONTIAC, MI) -- The 34-year-old, 80,311-seat Silverdome, the largest stadium in the National Football League when it opened in 1975, is under new ownership today.  A Canadian investor from Toronto outbid 155 potential buyers with his high bid of $583,000. The city would not disclose the buyer's name until the deal formally closes by year end.

The construction cost of the Silverdome, when it broke ground in 1973, was estimated at $55.7 million, according to Pontiac city records.

The Silverdome made it into the history books in 1987 when Pope John Paul II celebrated a Mass there before a record seated and standing crowd of 93,682 visitors, according to Pontiac city records.

Fred Leeb

Fred Leeb, the emergency financial manager for Pontiac, called the sale result  "a success...because we recognized the problem and made the tough decision to base the sale on reality, rather than dreams of higher sale prices and procrastination."

Leeb adds the Silverdome "will now be in the hands of professionals who can devote their time to transform this high-profile property into a vital asset instead of enabling it to continue to languish as an empty facility."

Leeb says the ongoing maintenance cost of $1.5 million per year to the city "will now be eliminated and the property will go back on the tax rolls."

Leeb said after the Silverdome is refurbished, it will be used initially by major league soccer and women's professional soccer teams.

Before it closed to major sports events in 2006, the Silverdome hosted the Detroit Lions of the NFL from 1975-2001, the Detroit Pistons of the NBA from 1978-1988, the Michigan Panthers of the USFL from 1983-1984, the college football Cherry Bowl in 1984 and 1985 and Motor City Bowl from 1997 until 2001, the MHSAA football state finals from 1976-2004, and four first-round games during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

The 107,282-seat Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. Is considered the largest football stadium in the U.S. today.  The home team is the Penn State University Nittany Lions.

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(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- The 18-year-old Carlton Advisory Services Inc. has been retained by two undisclosed Mexican financial institutions to coordinate a sealed bid loan and REO sale of over $46 million of condominium and detached single family residences, single family performing and non-performing single family mortgages and REOs located throughout Mexico.

Farzin Emrani

"Even though Mexican financial institutions maintained strong lending standards while U.S. standards deteriorated, the weakening Mexican economy is forcing many financial institutions (there) to begin deleveraging," says Farzin Emrani, managing director at Carlton's Los Angeles office.

Emrani adds, "This sale will provide investors with an opportunity to acquire loan and REO assets for significant discounts to value."

For-sale assets include a 99-unit condominium project one block from the ocean in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point); a partially completed 64-unit detached single family residential community; a pool of 14 performing single family home mortgages; a pool of 96 non-performing single family home mortgages; and a pool of bank-owned 27 single family homes throughout Mexico.

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(TEMPE, AZ) -- Gables Residential of Boca Raton, FL and Tempe, AZ-based LifeLock Inc. are partnering to develop an identity theft protection  special offer for residents at Gables' apartment communities and for Lifelock employees.  The project is believed to be one of the few of its kind in the multifamily industry today, according to industry sources.

"By providing value added benefits like LifeLock services to residents and employees, Gables Residential is able to set a new standard within the multifamily industry," says Steve McGrady, vice president of partner sales at LifeLock.

Cristina Sullivan Sr., vice president, Gables Residential adds, "We are dedicated to taking care of the way people live and believe that by offering the benefit of the LifeLock proactive identity theft protection solution that we can continue to set the industry standard for providing extraordinary services."

Javelin Strategy & Research claims identity fraud victims in the U.S. increased by 22 percent to 9.9 million.

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(SEATTLE, WA) -- Homeowners in the U.S. were more optimistic about the future of the housing market last quarter than they have been in 18 months, according to the Homeowner Confidence Survey just completed by Seattle-based Zillow.

Stan Humphries

But there was plenty of uncertainty as well.

"Homeowners are clearly confused about the housing market, and with good reason," says Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries.  "Home values in different parts of the country have shown varied performance in the third quarter.

"While we have definitely seen some stabilization in recent months, there is a high likelihood that home values will see further declines, driven by an increasing number of foreclosures coming into the market and possibly, by rising interest rates after the first quarter of next year." 

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