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Amazon To Add New Distribution Centers In CA

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Amazon.com, already accounting for a significant share of all new warehouse construction in the U.S., will occupy new fulfillment centers in San Bernardino and Patterson, CA totaling 2 million square feet.

Hillwood and Clarion Partners announced that Amazon will occupy a facility of more than 950,000 square foot under development as part of the AllianceCalifornia project in San Bernardino, CA. The joint venture began construction on the facility… View Full Story >>

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CBRE Group Inc., the second-largest commercial real estate company in Hawaii, has been named to the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. companies for the fifth year in a row.

CBRE (NYSE: CBG) is ranked No. 416 on the annual list, which is up 24 places from last year. CBRE is the only commercial real estate firm on the list.

“Our position as the only commercial real estate services provider in the Fortune 500 further underscores the confidence clients in Hawaii have in our people, platform and…

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Cassidy Turley has hired nine former Grubb & Ellis brokers to work out of its Northern California offices.

The San Jose office has picked up two brokers – Sofi Choi and Steven Chon. Five brokers will work out of San Francisco and two others in Oakland.

“Each of them fills a niche within our already strong regional platform that will enable us to better serve our clients,” said Michael Kamm, CEO of Cassidy Turley Northern California, in a prepared statement.

Sofi Choi serves…

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California is revamping its efforts to aid homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

The California program was launched as part of an Obama administration push to let states work out their own responses to the foreclosure crisis. California, Nevada and Arizona — states with steep home-price declines — chose to aid “underwater” homeowners.

But the states had trouble getting going after mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refused to allow loan write-downs and much of the lending industry (with the notable exception of Bank of America) declined to participate. Loan write-downs involve eliminating a portion of the amount outstanding.

As a result, California risked not spending the $2 billion it has been allocated under the federal program. So the state on Monday announced a revamp of the program.

Effective next month, California has eliminated a requirement that mortgage-servicing firms provide a 100% match of federal funds. The program will now fund up to $100,000 in principal write-downs, with no match required. The money will be provided in the first year rather than in three installments.

“We are making these changes to encourage more (mortgage) servicers to participate,” in the principal reduction program, said Claudia Cappio, executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency in a press release. “Unfortunately, we had limited participation among servicers with the existing program and thousands of homeowners could not qualify for assistance.”

As a result of the changes, Ms. Cappio said “the major obstacles to servicer participation have been cleared.”

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Fabick CAT, the Caterpillar construction equipment dealer, held a ground breaking ceremony this morning on its $5 million Customer Engagement Center, which will be connected to its main headquarter building in Fenton.

The new 8,000-square-foot addition will include seven to 10 corporate offices, a conference room, a merchandise store, a Fabick TV production room, a showroom area, sales offices and parts and service areas. The conference rooms will be open to customers, construction businesses, landscaping…

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Jon McKenna, a former development project manager with Haseko Development Inc., has been named CEO of the Honolulu-based property management firm Certified Hawaii.

McKenna has 13 years experience in the real estate industry, most recently as a development project manager with Haseko’s Hoakalei Resort in Ewa Beach. Prior to that he was a vice president of Certified Management Inc., which became Certified Hawaii after being acquired by Associa.

“He will undoubtedly use the tremendous knowledge…

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Yanik Cos. is marketing a 372,000-square-foot medical office building on a 3-acre site in St. Louis Park.

The site is the former Santorini Tavern and Grill restaurant that relocated to Eden Prairie a few years ago.

Officials at Spring Park, Minn.-based Yanik couldn’t be reached for comment.

The company has created a website detailing the 3-acre site and its potential to accommodate a 9-story building with about 372,000 square feet. Click here to see Yanik’s site.

In February, Yanik announced…

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The latest planning documents for Amazon’s proposed 3 million-square-foot campus in Seattle’s Denny Triangle area show big changes in the neighborhood are expected in upcoming years as numerous projects get built.

Within a couple of blocks of Amazon’s future campus, developers have proposed five residential projects, including two high-rise towers of 39 stories and 40 stories. These developments could one day add more than 1,700 residential units to the neighborhood.

To the west of the campus…

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In the latest bid to help homeowners hit by the housing crash, Freddie Mac, the U.S.-supported mortgage giant, is set to drop a fee associated with refinancing deeply underwater loans.

The firm plans to eliminate a fee of 0.5 percentage point, called a “cash adjustor,” on loans refinanced under the Home Affordable Refinance Program with balances greater than 125% of the property’s value, said Paul Mullings, a senior vice president at Freddie Mac. He spoke at a Mortgage Bankers Association conference on Monday.

Dropping the fee represents the latest sign that the government-sponsored enterprises and their regulator are determined to extend the reach of the refi program. Changes last year eliminated the loan-to-value cap and relieved banks of some liabilities that could arise with homeowners willing to default.

Freddie Mac had earlier this year dropped the cash adjustor on HARP refinancings for mortgages with loan-to-value ratios ranging from 105% through 125%, and encouraged the lenders to pass the savings to consumers. (The fee was created to help offset some of the increased risk seen in such refis.)

Mr. Mullings said the change should increase the number of borrowers who tap the program, which was revised last year to boost participation. Already this year, refis under HARP are increasing as a percentage of loans refinanced by Freddie Mac, he said.

“We believe you will see more success but we are very pleased so far,” Mr. Mullings said on the panel, which also included his counterpart at Fannie Mae, Zach Oppenheimer. Mr. Oppenheimer was also bullish on the response to the revised HARP, noting that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. says it has seen greater-than-expected response to the program.

The fee is being dropped in reaction to changing market conditions, a Freddie Mac spokesman said in an email.

While helping homeowners, constant tweaks to the program have unnerved investors in the mortgage-backed securities that fund the originations. Investors see returns fall when refinancings are faster or slower than expected, so most investors have placed a high premium on bonds backed by loans least eligible for HARP.

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