Commercial Real Estate & Business News – June 11, 2013

Two of metro Phoenix’s biggest housing investors are more concerned with selling than buying right now. Scottsdale-based American Residential Properties raised $287.7 million in an initial public offering last month. The real-estate investment trust sold 13.7 million shares of stock at $21 each. Scottsdale-based Colony American Homes had planned to raise $260 million through an IPO on Wednesday but postponed it because of falling REIT prices. REIT share prices have fallen more than 10 percent since mid-May… Read more

Houston multifamily developers are coming to town to build a total of 1,175 in the region. Camden Property Trust paid a total of $25 million to acquire multifamily sites in Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler, AZ; while Hanover Co. forked over $7 million for a 2.7-acre site in Tempe on which it will build 341 units… Read more

Town of Gilbert officials are considering a change that some say will bring new life to downtown and others say will ruin it. The town planning commission is currently looking at adding an arts, culture, and entertainment district to the Downtown Heritage district. It’s a zoning change that would allow businesses to serve alcohol closer to schools and churches… Read more

There was a time when robust growth in U.S. commercial loans was seen as a good sign for the economy, but this year a double-digit surge is being seen as a red flag. U.S. banks reported $1.53 trillion in commercial and industrial loans in the first quarter, a 12 percent year-over-year gain. Bankers and analysts say this big gain in C&I lending looks more like an early asset bubble than an economic breakout. The banks reported double-digit gains in 2011 and 2012, too… Read more

Distress levels on commercial real estate loans continued to improve for the nation’s banks in the first quarter. Levels of past due and foreclosed CRE fell more than $6 billion to a combined $78.1 billion at banks. However, pockets of weakness (or opportunities, depending on your investment perspective,) continued across the country… Read more