Move by CalPERS to Shun REITs Is ‘Ill-Advised,’ Says Trade Association
	Where Should Investors Place Their Real Estate Bets in 2011?
	Landmark Retail Condominium in Manhattan Sells for $324 Million
	Stephen Pearlman Joins Molinaro Koger As Managing Director of the Capital Markets Group
	Brookfield Office Properties Names Ronne Hackett Head of U.S. Development

Several major pension funds have announced cutbacks in their investment in the stocks of publicly traded real estate investment trusts, even though REIT stocks outperformed many market indices in 2010.

The nation’s largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), announced in February it is phasing out its investments in REIT stocks as part of its real estate portfolio over the next three years. Currently, REITs make up about 7% of the CalPERS real estate portfolio.

According to a statement from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), an industry trade group, “The real estate staff’s recommendation to the CalPERS board is inappropriate and ill-advised.”

Last year marked a turnaround for U.S. commercial real estate. Vacancy rates bottomed for all property sectors. Corporate tenants took advantage of lower rents to consolidate their space, and leasing activity surged over the past three quarters.

To capture the market trough, investors began to return to commercial real estate. Well-leased, cash-flow-generating assets in primary markets were particularly in demand.

National transaction volume totaled $120 billion in 2010, more than double the $54.6 billion in 2009. Of the five property sectors, office and hotel experienced the largest year-over-year gain in transaction volume.

In a blockbuster real estate sale, Spanish retail group Inditex has acquired the former NBA store located at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York for $324 million. The sale price of the 38,750 sq. ft. retail condominium equates to $8,361 per sq. ft.

Inditex owns retail brands such as Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Stradivarius. The fashion distributor operates more than 4,780 stores in 77 countries, according to its website. The transaction paves the way for Inditex to move forward with plans for a new flagship Zara at the site.

The NBA Store, which opened Sept. 18, 1998, closed in February of this year.

In a move to add to its bench strength and take advantage of an improving hotel financing market, venerable brokerage firm Molinaro Koger has hired Stephen Pearlman as managing director of its capital markets group.

Pearlman will be based in the firm’s New York office, where he will focus on both the domestic and international capital markets along with the firm’s two other senior financing experts, vice presidents Pierre Ranjeva and Randy Gray.

Veronica W. “Ronne” Hackett has joined Brookfield Office Properties (NYSE, TSX: BPO) as senior vice president of development for U.S. commercial operations. In this role, she will oversee the company’s 9.6 million sq. ft. development pipeline that includes properties in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles and Denver. Hackett also will pursue new development opportunities in the company’s core U.S. markets.

New York-based Brookfield Office Properties owns, develops and manages premier office properties in the United States, Canada and Australia. Its portfolio includes interests in 109 properties totaling more than 78 million sq. ft. in the downtown cores of several major cities.