iStar Financial Takes Over Asbury Partners

I’ve written about Asbury Park’s redevelopment in the past, because of my personal attachment to the town I grew up in (even if it wasn’t the greatest place for a kid to ride his bike around the block). Asbury Park always seems to be on its way to a renaissance, and then some external factor comes and sets it back a few years.

I’ve just learned that Asbury Partners, the Master Developer of the town has essentially been foreclosed upon by its lender: iStar Financial. With that, iStar is taking over the Master Developer designation. Sounds great right?

Well – unless I’m mistaken.. iStar is a real estate finance company. Not a developer.

Starwood Capital Has An Impressive Showing In Hotel Magazine’s “325 Largest Hotel Companies”

This years HOTELS Magazine 325 Worlds Largest Hotel Companies list is showing that Starwood Capital is coming out of almost nowhere and jumping to number 8 on the list. Pretty impressive for a company that a few years ago seemed like it would never again be a major player in the hotel business.

Dark Side of Dubai

Dubai is one of those places where it seems that nothing in real estate and development can go wrong. Things are slowing down there, but there is still much more optimism in Dubai than there is in the rest of the world – and I think it’s a little too much and the developers, and the government isn’t being realistic enough.

Sears Tower Changing Name to “Willis Tower”

Recently Willis Insurance Group signed a long term lease within the Sears tower – and also received naming rights to rename the building Willis Tower. Not only that, but the price the lease was signed for is so low that it shows just how willing landlords are to negotiate on price.

Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Facts

Some hard facts on the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, including number of hotel rooms count, number of hotel/condo units and square footage