Sorry for the lack of posting lately -- a lot going on at work and otherwise and I haven't been inspired to write much. But there is much going on.
Yet another (small) CMBS deal for Inland Western properties? That's the word.
The NYT weighs in on the Block 37 situation.
The Chicago real estate and zoning boutique firm Schain Burney Ross & Citron, Ltd. is apparently losing roughly half its lawyers to Thompson Coburn LLP after merger talks break down, including Messrs. Ross and Citron. I have always liked and respected the Schain Burney firm for their work, although I'm not sure why I never looked into working with them. I guess it was because I was satisfied with my job.
GGP has filed the restructuring plan and completed what must have been the Mother of All Negotiations with the lenders, resulting in a restructuring of $9.7 billion in debt. Is that enough? Will GGP remain on its own? My spider senses tell me there may be another party looking at the company besides Simon (and Westfield?), but I have utterly no concrete information to back that up. So call it instinct. My personal hope is still that they stay independent or are bought by someone that runs the company as a sub with its team largely intact.
I finally got around to reading ULI's 2010 outlook and got depressed. But if you thought that was bad, what about this assessment?
November retail sales weren't very peachy according to Traffic Court. And the holiday may not be much better. My evidence is anecdotal, but where I live by mid-afternoon on Black Friday stores were relatively empty and some bargains left over from the early birds were still to be had. New unemployment data comes out tomorrow. Remember to look at the critical U-6 data, which also gives you the number of underemployed, people who have given up looking, etc. That number, if I recall correctly, around 17.5%.
The French Market is open down the street from my Chicago office. I am looking forward to trying some of that food out.
Enough. I'll try to post again soon. Until then....
