Investing

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally-recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, announced today that Eric Vu and Jeff Hauber completed the sale of a 2,900-square-foot retail building in Orange County for $1.2 million, representing a cap rate of 4.17%

MCA Realty, a full service real estate investment and management company, has acquired two multi-tenant industrial assets totaling more than half a million square feet in the Inland Empire for a combined total of $36.8 million.

TIAA-CREF, a leading U.S. financial services organization and the nation’s largest manager of U.S. institutional tax-exempt real estate assets*, today announced the acquisition of a prime real estate asset in San Francisco as part of its joint venture with partner Norges Bank Investment Management, manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global.

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today highlighted milestones in the City’s new first-of-its-kind Navigation Center pilot program including helping 200 homeless residents access housing and services in five months. Mayor Lee also announced a new $3 million re-allocation of City funds to expand the Navigation Center model, and challenged the private sector to match the City’s commitment at least dollar-for-dollar.

Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) announced today its partnership with new shareholder Rancho Santa Fe Thrift & Loan, who provided a $25,000 Class A equity investment to finance projects benefiting underserved California communities. This new investment brings Clearinghouse CDFI’s Class A shareholder list to over 40 investors, with total equity exceeding $44 million.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) today announced a $2,438,681 Economic Development Administration (EDA) investment which will support roadway and infrastructure improvements to the Green Island Industrial District (GRID) in American Canyon. The funds will be used to help reconstruct Green Island Road, a goods movement corridor for the GRID. In August, 2014 Thompson urged Northern California’s EDA representative to support the City of American Canyon’s application for federal funding.

Ayman Shahid, 39, of Danville, California, the former president of Discovery Sales Inc. (DSI), pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland, California, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag for the Northern District of California, Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson of the FBI’s San Francisco Division, Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas McMahon of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and Special Agent in Charge Leslie DeMarco for the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG).

BH Properties, LLC, a Los Angeles-based firm that specializes in acquiring and repositioning challenged or distressed commercial real estate properties, closed more than $120 million in acquisitions during the second quarter of 2015. These transactions added 2.97 million square feet of industrial, office, retail, multifamily and RV Parks to the firm’s portfolio. The properties were located in nine states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Rep. Napolitano (D-El Monte) attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the final phase of the Recycled Water Project at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary, calling for more investment in recycling projects across the region.

BKM Capital Partners, a fund manager and operator platform targeting value-add, multi-tenant industrial real estate in the Western U.S., has hired real estate marketing and operations executive Barbara Rea as its Director of Operations & Marketing

The ConAm Group (ConAm) is aggressively increasing its national multifamily property management portfolio through both company-owned and third-party fee management assets and has announced the appointment of Julie Brawn-Whitesides as its new Executive Vice President of Property Management as part of that strategy, according to Rob Singh and Bob Svatos, Co-Presidents of ConAm

Yesterday afternoon, Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-31) joined Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) in introducing H.R. 3337, the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act as a cosponsor. Rep. Aguilar listed a National Infrastructure Bank as a top priority in his Jobs Plan that was released earlier this year. The bank will facilitate funding for a number of critical transportation projects throughout California and the country—improving the roads, bridges and rails that millions of Americans rely on every day.

San Jose Downtown Association will expand its Street Life Project—which focuses on bringing more vibrancy to the city’s downtown core, with special events, outdoor activities, creative installations and other initiatives—as a way to engage residents in community life and create incentives for talented people to live and stay in the city. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is providing $625,000 in new funding to support the expansion over the next five years

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones hosted the California Organized Investment Network (COIN) Summit today where he emphasized the importance of increasing insurance company investments in California communities, particularly in low income communities where insurer investments through the Department of Insurance's COIN program can help create more jobs, affordable housing, community centers, schools, health clinics and otherwise help to revitalize neighborhoods and communities

In a market that is flooded with capital for large acquisitions, Rosano Partners, a firm that specializes in urban commercial real estate, is proving that multifamily lending has also re-emerged in niche, urban markets.

Reps. Jared Huffman (D-California) and Denny Heck (D-Washington) today introducednew legislation to help homeowners make investments in their homes and save money on their electricity and water bills. The Solar and Water-Efficient Homes Act would improve and modernize theTitle I Home and Property Improvement Loan Program, one of America’s oldest tools for assisting homeowners to remodel and upgrade their homes, and spur homeowners to invest in efficiency upgrades, greywater systems and other water-conserving improvements, photovoltaic panels, and new HVAC systems.

The California Strategic Growth Council today unanimously approved $121.9 million in competitive grants and loans to 28 housing and transit-friendly infrastructure projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change

U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA-05) and Ted Poe (R-TX-02), and Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) today re-introduced bipartisan legislation to level the energy playing field by giving investors in renewable energy projects access to a decades-old corporate structure whose tax advantage is currently available only to investors in fossil fuel-based energy projects

Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | California) made the following statement on today’s launch of the Homes for Heroes Program in downtown Los Angeles. Homes for Heroes is a partnership of the U.S. Veterans Administration, LA City Chamber of Commerce, United Way, LA Housing and Community investment Department, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles to encourage landlords to rent to homeless veterans.

Rep. Jim Costa released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2577, the FY 2016 Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill. This bill, which the Administration has threatened to veto, cuts critical investments in infrastructure and housing assistance