Midtown New York Got Even Hotter in July
July added more heat to the already-hot 2006 midtown New York office market. CBRE reports that the market had 410,000 sf in positive absorption for the seven months ended July 31, including 200,000 sf in July alone. Total leasing activity of 1.86 million sf in July exceeded the market’s average monthly total by 48%. Asking rents for class-A space in midtown increased by 60 cents/sf to $59.15/sf in July. The market’s total availability rate dropped in July to 8.5%.

Wichita Commercial Real Estate Heats Up
The Wichita, KS commercial real estate market is heating up. In 2005, 106 properties with an estimated value of $68.2 million traded hands, a significant increase from 2002 when 28 properties totaling $14.9 million were sold. Area brokers have said that most buildings that hit market are trading quickly at or near the property’s asking price. A revitalized downtown has been cited as the key reason for the increased commercial activity

Philadelphia Condo Market Softening?
Louis A. Cicalese has dropped plans for a 30-story residential condo in Philadelphia, saying the softening market has made it hard to hold prices high enough to cover rising construction costs. The decision is the strongest sign yet that the Center City residential condo market has cooled. Cicalese plans to move forward with his other projects along the waterfront. Meanwhile, other developers are continuing with their City Center projects, such as the 33-story Ten Rittenhouse Square and the 57-story condo skyscraper at 15th and Chestnut streets.

Realty Income to Purchase 100 Pizza Huts
Realty Income Corp., a REIT based in Escondido, CA has agreed to pay $59 million for a portfolio of 89 Pizza Hut restaurant properties, and is planning to buy 11 more properties next month. The properties that Realty Income is buying average 3,000 sf on lots averaging 37,000 sf. They are scattered among 13 states in what Realty Income said were prime retail locations. NPC, the seller, signed triple-net leases with an initial term of 10 years and four five-year renewal options.

UPMC in Market for Downtown HQ Property
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is in an acquisitive mood. The firm has acquired an 84,000-square-foot warehouse distribution center on Pittsburgh’s south side for $2 million from Southside Works Associates and is in the market for up to 400,000 sf of office space downtown for its headquarters. The firm recently acquired properties in Bloomfield, PA and has an option to buy the 159,000 sf office building in downtown that it now leases.

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