Commercial Real Estate Week in Review

Week in Review for March 3 – 9:

- Hersha Hospitality Trust (HT) acquires the 111-room, five-diamond Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia for $42 million. The property, which Hersha bought from Rittenhouse Development Corp., also features high-end condominums. Last year, Travel + Leisure ranked the Rittenhouse among the 500 finest hotels in the world, and the number one hotel in Philadelphia.

- In related news, brokers predict a strong year for hotels in Manhattan, with a projected occupancy rate of 81% for 2012 (compared to the nation's average of 65.9%).

- NAREIT”s chairman says REITs must do more to entice the investment community, though he acknowledges REITs have made great strides in recent years.

- Standard & Poor's is rejected by major underwriters of CMBS, including Goldman Sachs (GS), Deutsche Bank (DB), and J.P. Morgan Chase (JP). S&P had previously derailed a major CMBS sale by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup (C).

- In Europe, investors target so-called “rentysomethings“–young professionals who can't afford to buy, but earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing.

- Specialty foods giant Whole Foods (WFM) plans to open a store in a struggling Detroit neighborhood, with its president of Midwest operations calling it “a great site.”

- Penn State University‘s Abington campus expands by acquiring a vacant, 20,000 square foot retail property for $3.1 million

- British social housing providers ponder converting to REIT status once the U.K. changes its finance regulations later this year.

- Simon Property Group (SPG) sets its sights abroad, buying a 1.5 billion euro, 28.7% stake in European shopping center operator Klepierre SA (LI).

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