SQUIRE PATTON BOGGS APPOINTS NEW UK REAL ESTATE LITIGATION HEAD

The freshly-merged Squire Patton Boggs has appointed a new UK head of real estate litigation, with Andrew Walker joining the firm's Birmingham office to fulfil the role.

Walker (pictured), joined the firm earlier this year from CMS Cameron McKenna. He originally founded CMS' real estate disputes practice, before joining Dundas & Wilson in 2012.

He departed Dundas at the beginning of this year, after it merged with CMS Cameron McKenna.

Nick Green, managing partner of Squires' Birmingham office, said: "Andrew is an experienced, well connected real estate litigator who will expand the capabilities of our litigation and real estate practices in Birmingham and across the UK."

Within the role Walker will advise a range of clients including institutional investors, developers, banks, corporate and charity owners and occupiers of real estate on their property disputes.

"Andrew is a great addition to our already successful real estate litigation team," commented UK litigation head Simon Miller.

"With Andrew at the helm, supported by senior real estate barrister, Patrick Walker, Alison Hardy and Helen Hoath, we will have a team with unrivalled experience in providing client- focused solutions in this important practice area."

Walker is the fourth partner to join the firm's real estate practice group this year with Rachel Orton and Gary Paddison joining the London real estate team and Alison Hardy joining the London real estate litigation practice.

The merger bewtween legacy firms Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs went live June 1 this year, after Patton Boggs turned down a rival offer from Dentons.


Source : http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2352246/squire-patton-boggs-appoints-new-uk-real-estate-litigation-head

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Bank of England's Move to Cool Housing Market Lifts Real-Estate Shares

LONDON—Shares in U.K. housebuilders rallied Thursday after the Bank of England'sFinancial Policy Committee outlined softer-than-expected measures to take the housing market off the boil.

Moves in U.K. real-estate stocks Thursday helped to undo some, but not all, of the weakness in the sector in the weeks leading up to the report.

Persimmon advanced 4.2%, Barratt Developments BDEV.LN +4.79% gained 3.7% and Travis Perkins advanced 3.3%. FTSE 250-listed Taylor Wimpey, TW.LN +5.17%Berkeley Group BKG.LN +3.15% and Bellway BWY.LN +3.88% rose well over 3%.

The FPC outlined some measures to cool the strength in the U.K. housing market, including limits on the size of mortgage loans relative to incomes, but added that it doesn't see an "imminent threat" to financial stability from rising house prices and high household borrowing.

BOE Governor Mark Carney said in a news conference that followed the report that he doesn't expect the new rules to have a material impact on housing transactions.

"This is presumably a first step on dealing with a potential housing bubble that could destabilize the U.K. economy," said James Knightley, an economist at ING Bank. "However, these tentative measures will not significantly impact the outlook for the housing market in the near term."

Sterling was also boosted, with analysts highlighting Mr. Carney's assertion that the mortgage policies announced don't alter the outlook for U.K. interest rates, which many expect to rise before the end of the year.

"These measures aren't as draconian as maybe some had wondered," said Daragh Maher, a currency strategist at HSBC. HSBA.LN -1.16%"There's been an underlying enthusiasm for sterling that may have been sidelined ahead of this announcement, and is now returning."

The pound added 0.3% against the dollar to trade at $1.7023. Sterling also added 0.4% against the euro.

Source : http://online.wsj.com/articles/bank-of-englands-move-to-cool-housing-market-lifts-real-estate-shares-1403781188

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Which Foreigners Are Looking to Buy U.S. Homes

All eyes may be currently on Brazil, host of the World Cup 2014 – but Brazilians are increasingly looking at us, or, more precisely, at our real estate.


Brazil accounted for 4.1 percent of all searches by foreigners for homes on the real estate website Trulia for the first five months of the year. That’s up 1.3 percent from the same period last year, according to a new Trulia report.

Related: 10 Affordable Housing Markets—On the Beach!

Brazil still lags behind some other countries when it comes to searches for U.S. homes: Canada represents 18.5 percent of all searches; the U.K., 10.6 percent; and Germany, 5.5 percent. This year Brazil has jumped ahead of India, Mexico and Australia in the rankings.


Overall, the share of home searches on Trulia between January and May from outside the U.S. was slightly down to 4 percent, from 4.2 percent a year ago – although that doesn’t mean foreigners are buying less real estate, if last year’s purchases are any guide.

Foreign purchases of U.S. properties climbed to 2.5 percent of all properties bought, from 2.2 percent for the first four months of 2013, according to Adam DeSanctis of the National Association of Realtors. For the 12 months ended March 2013, Brazil represented only 2 percent of international home purchases, according to the National Association of Realtors, far behind Canada (23 percent), China (12 percent) and Mexico (8 percent). (The 2014 report on international home buying activity is due out in a few months.)

Related: BRIC by BRIC - Will the 2014 World Cup Give Brazilian Markets a Kick?

Interestingly, foreigners are looking less at vacations homes so far in 2014 and more at dense urban neighborhoods; Brazilians – in contrast to Canadians – mostly want homes in urban areas. The median price of the for-sale homes they viewed was $339,000. “Urban areas were even more popular among house hunters from Australia, France, Italy and Russia,” said the Trulia report.

Miami had the highest share of searches from outside the U.S., widening its lead over Los Angeles (New York City came in 12th position). Top zip codes in Miami are Key Biscayne and Miami Beach.

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PREIT Announces Multi-Brand Agreement with Expanding International Retailer Retail Group of America

PHILADELPHIA, June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT/NYSE: PEI) announced today it has executed leases with Retail Group of America (RGA) to bring its international brands F&F, Flormar and Suite Blanco to the Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, VA. The additions demonstrate PREIT's successful execution of its strategy to improve the quality of its portfolio and enhance the shopping experience across its properties through the addition of emerging, first-to-market options. The agreement with RGA strengthens PREIT's position as a leader in introducing expanding, international retailers to American consumers.


The agreement with RGA is a continuation of PREIT's progress over the last several years in bringing exciting international brands to its locations across the Mid-Atlantic region.  Recently, the Company announced that it will introduce one of the first UNIQLO stores into the Philadelphia market at Willow Grove Park. In 2013, Dynamite, a trendy women's ready-to-wear concept out of Canada, opened one of its first U.S. stores at PREIT's Cherry Hill Mall. In 2012, three of Australia's Cotton On stores opened in PREIT-owned malls, and in 2008, PREIT brought two of Canada's Garage stores, featuring trendy teen apparel, to its portfolio.

F&F, a fast fashion concept featuring quality men's, women's and children's assortments, will occupy approximately 7,500 square feet at the Patrick Henry Mall. Flormar, a cosmetics concept focused on high-quality beauty and cosmetics products at affordable prices, will occupy approximately 800 square feet. Spanish brand Suite Blanco, inspired by the high-end runway fashions, will occupy approximately 3,000 square feet featuring a variety of trendy clothing and accessories for young men and women.

"These new stores, which will be some of first in the country for these exciting brands, evidence our successful efforts to bring dynamic new options to our customers," says PREIT CEO Joseph F. Coradino. "We look forward to building on our track record of bringing popular international retail concepts to the U.S.  We are pleased to be at the forefront of this trend, and to expand our relationship with RGA to create more compelling shopping environments that are unique to the PREIT portfolio."

PREIT and RGA continue to work on finalizing a number of other potential store openings at other malls in PREIT's portfolio.

About Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust

PREIT is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership and management of differentiated retail shopping malls designed to fit the dynamic communities they serve.  Founded in 1960 as Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the Company now owns properties in 12 states in the eastern half of the United States with concentration in the Mid-Atlantic region and Greater Philadelphia.  The Company's current portfolio is comprised of 35 shopping malls, seven other retail properties, and three development sites totaling 45 properties and 30.4 million square feet of space.  PREIT is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol PEI.  Information about the Company can be found at www.preit.com or on Twitter orLinkedIn.

About Retail Group of America

Retail Group of America, the U.S. operating arm of Fawaz Al Hokair Fashion Retail, the global franchise leader based in Saudi Arabia, operates franchise retail across multiple fashion classifications including women's, men's and children's apparel, footwear and accessories, cosmetics and lingerie. With more than 70 fashion brand partners, the Al Hokair Group operates over 1500 boutiques globally. This diverse retail operation includes locations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, North Africa, the CIS, and in the U.S.

CONTACT:

AT THE COMPANYHeather Crowell
VP, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
(215) 454-1241
crowellh@preit.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130905/MM75091LOGO

Source - https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/preit-announces-multi-brand-agreement-195500400.html

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Crombie REIT announces monthly distribution

Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust ("Crombie") (CRR-UN.TO) today announced a distribution of $0.07417 per unit for the period from June 1, 2014, to and including June 30, 2014.  The distribution will be payable on July 15, 2014, to unitholders of record as at June 30, 2014.

About Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust

Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established under, and governed by, the laws of the Province of Ontario. Crombie currently owns a portfolio of 250 commercial properties across Canada, comprising approximately 17.6 million square feet with a strategy to own and operate a portfolio of primarily high quality grocery and drug store anchored shopping centres and freestanding stores in Canada's top 36 markets. More information about Crombie can be found at www.crombiereit.com.

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