hotels articles

CIM Group, which is backed by Calpers and California State Teachers on opportunistic buys, closed on Hollywood & Highland, the troubled entertainment/retail complex in Los Angeles. In a transaction brokered by Eastdil Realty, CIM paid $120 million for a 640,000 sf of retail/entertainment space–including the 3,650-seat Kodak Theater, where the Academy Awards ceremony is held.

In a transaction brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle, CIM paid an additional $80 million for the adjacent 640-room Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. Trizec Properties, the seller of both parts of the complex, spent $615 million constructing the facility, which opened two years ago.

Two German players teamed up to pay $130 million for a 97% stake in 515 North State Street in Chicago. The corporate pension plan for Siemens and asset management firm KG Allgemeine Leasing (KGAL) bought the 725,000-sf building from local developer John Buck Co. (which is retaining a 3% stake) and investors Marvin Davis and Morgan Stanley.

The building was attractive to the German players in part because American Medical Association leases 60% of the space. The deal was the first U.S. buy for KGAL. No broker was used in the transaction.

How To Succeed In Commercial Real Estate is a plain-terms guide to buying and selling commercial property, drawn from the author’s experience in 30 years of the business. Chapters cover sales points specific to commercial real estate, including suggestions for countering other brokers; the importance of exclusive listings; how rent is calculated and quoted; technical knowledge with regard to law, appraisal, taxation, zoning, surveys, and environmental investigations, among other topics; the pros and cons of going independent; and much more. A no-nonsense guide accessible to readers of all familiarity levels with the world of real estate, and highly recommended reading for anyone about to take the plunge and invest thousands or even millions of dollars into commercial property.

How To Succeed in Commercial Real Estate

How To Succeed in Commercial Real Estate is a plain-terms guide to buying and selling commercial property, drawn from the author’s experience in 30 years of the business. Chapters cover sales points specific to commercial real estate, including suggestions for countering other brokers; the importance of exclusive listings; how rent is calculated and quoted; technical knowledge with regard to law, appraisal, taxation, zoning, surveys, and environmental investigations, among other topics; the pros and cons of going independent; and much more. A no-nonsense guide accessible to readers of all familiarity levels with the world of real estate, and highly recommended reading for anyone about to take the plunge and invest thousands or even millions of dollars into commercial property.

The commercial property industry yesterday rounded on Gordon Brown’s new “stealth taxes” on the sector. Although Mr Brown did not put up stamp duty, as some had feared, the withdrawal of property tax benefits announced yesterday would raise more than [pound]1.3bn annually for the Treasury by the 2009/10 year.

The Chancellor removed tax relief on empty commercial property and he also cut tax benefits from expenditure on industrial buildings. Angus McIntosh, a partner at the property advisers King Sturge, said: “There is no market evidence that properties are deliberately left empty, and by being empty push up rent levels. This is yet another unwelcome stealth tax on the property market.

“Yet again the Chancellor has increased the tax take from the property sector. This stealth tax is bad for GB Ltd - at a time when stock markets around the world are not delivering reliable returns, increasingly Joe & Joanna Public are depending on Pension Funds to invest in property. A property tax is a tax on their pension funds.”

Mr Brown said he was trying to “encourage better use of commercial property” by removing the tax relief on premises that are kept empty. He believes that unused property holds back the regeneration of areas and that removing tax benefits will encourage owners to let or sell it.

Currently, industrial property qualifies for relief from business rates indefinitely. In future, this will be restricted to six months. For empty retail property and offices, relief will now be limited to three months.

Graham Beaumont, also of King Sturge, said owners of factories may now deliberately damage their own properties so that it cannot be argued that they could be put to use - for instance by removing roofs. “I think this will result in a lot of vandalism by the owner, if they see no chance of being able to let the property,” Mr Beaumont said. He added that, if there was genuinely no demand for a property, it had no value in rental terms.

According to the Treasury, the change on empty properties will raise [pound]950m in the 2008/9 fiscal year and [pound]900m in 2009/ 10.

Mr Brown also announced two changes to the tax relief available on construction and improvements made to industrial premises. He abolished the relief, worth [pound]230m a year, available on expenditure to upgrade such property - owners could claim back depreciation on construction costs at a rate of 4 per cent a year. He also reduced the relief available on putting in new fixtures and fittings on these buildings, such as lighting and air conditioning, from 25 per cent to 10 per cent.

Kevin Nicholson, a partner at accountants Pricewaterhouse- Coopers, said: “This will be seen as another hit for UK manufacturing, just when they were looking for support.”

According to Mr Brown, the industrial buildings allowance had been “poorly targeted”. His figures showed that the change will be worth [pound]75m to the Treasury in 2008/9 and [pound]225m in 2009/ 10. The revision to fixtures and fittings allowances will raise [pound]70m in 2008/9 and [pound]200m in 2009/10.

Clare Hartnell, head of construction for accountants Grant Thornton, said: “This is bad news. The removal or restriction of allowances could have an adverse impact on property values and introduces uncertainty.”

It’s 11 P.M. at the Paradise Complex, a large cluster of gay venues and hotels in Patong Beach on the island of Phuket. Less than three weeks after the December 26 tsunami killed thousands here in Thailand, the sidewalks are quiet. The tourists are gone, and many of the go-go boys have either gone back to their villages or moved on to unscathed Pattaya, the country’s other large gay beach resort area.

“Not too many [gays] died on the beach that fateful day,” says Bangkok-based tour operator Khun Chatt, who runs Naga Rainbow Tour. “It was too early in the morning.”

The calm after the storm is the latest threat to Phuket’s existence as the hub of an international gay following. Unless the tourists return, reports the Bangkok Post, the tens of thousands of workers in the tourism industry who drive the Phuket nightlife scene–from restaurant and hotel employees to sex workers-face financial disaster.

Ulf Mikaelsson, who runs the Connect Guest House and Coffee Bar, untouched by the tsunami, worries that Phuket’s gay businesses face difficult times ahead. “Many annual visitors will return,” Mikaelsson says. “They know there is no reason to stay away, but new arrivals may not understand that the island paradise known the world over is alive and well.”

In the wake of the disaster, Phuket’s gay community is busy raising relief funds and helping in the recovery; even drag queens from the Tangmo Club are collecting donations. Connect, Mikaelsson says, initially helped survivors to make international phone calls or send e-mails and “tried to have the kitchen open and provide food to everybody.” Gay residents are staying put. “There is no reason for me to leave,” says one British retiree. “This is my home.”

* Hilton Grand Vacations Co. opened a 283-unit timeshare resort in Las Vegas. The resort is the third HGVC destination in Las Vegas. The company also is developing a Hilton Grand Vacations Club in the Kalia Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa in Honolulu. A renovation of six floors will convert 138 hotel rooms into 72 studio suite and one-bedroom condominium-style accommodations. The project is expected to open this month. HGVC is a division of Hilton Hotels Corp.

It’s early 2005, and I accept an invitation for an on-the-house drink at the Flying Handbag, a gay card in Phuket run by Ray Jevons. Jevons is a limey with a thick northern British accent and the gift of gab–which is perhaps why some locals call his lace “The Flying Windbag”–making it a must for barhopping gossips. The walls of the cafe-cum-bar are adorned with, you guessed it, handbags brought in by customers from all over the world. From the seats in the open-air establishment one can freely catch another cabaret revue across the alleyway, with drag queens lip-synching, gyrating, and sweating under a ton of makeup, sequins, and feathers. “‘Tis a pity, isn’t it?” rues Ray, nursing his drink “Only a week after Christmas, and the ‘girls’ wiggle their tits off to empty seats–thanks to the bad press from the tsunami.” Well the seats weren’t totally empty–but it certainly wasn’t as crowded as it should have been in winter, usually peak season.

Yes, the T word, or rather TS word, was on everyone’s lips, painted or otherwise. Although the gay community suffered little during the actual tsunami–because, as I was told, most gay establishments are far from the beach, and most gay tourists are late risers (the tsunami struck around 9 A.M.)–gays turned out to lend a helping hand. The tragedy galvanized the community, and many businesses opened their doors to those in need. Miss Watermelon, who works at the drag bar Tangmo, proudly informed me that she and her “girls” had selflessly collected over 300,000 Thai baht (about $8,000 American) in the 10-day period after the tsunami. They sent 200,000 to Patong Hospital, 50,000 to a wat (a Buddhist temple or monastery), and 50,000 to a police benevolent society. After the tsunami struck, many of the go-go boys either went back to their villages or moved on to unscathed Pattava or Chiang Mai in the north, I was told. Overall, it’s the “economic tsunami”–the lack of tourists–that hurt the gay establishments the most. Having written a gay guidebook on Thailand, and being a contributor to a Thai gay Web site and newsletter, I was no stranger to Phuket. But I had never seen the usually bustling Patong Beach area so empty in high season.

I had come for a post-tsunami inspection tour of the island regularly voted by Conde Nast Traveler readers as among the top 10 resort islands in the world. When I arrived at Phuket’s airport, I felt like I’d entered a war zone. Makeshift signs Scotch-taped to the walls directed various foreign nation’s to tables set up to expedite the hasty exodus of thousands after tragedy struck the day after Christmas, 2004.

The drive into town may surprise first-timers with its sparsely populated and undeveloped terrain. However, Phuket’s appeal as a tourist destination soon becomes more apparent as you pass billboards advertising various tropical attractions such as Fanta Sea, an apparently typical family theme park–except with drag shows. Later, you pass a statue of the twin patriotic, mannish-looking Siamese lasses who helped fight off the invading Burmese, then there are cashew factories and robber plantations. Although tin-mining and rubber once represented the main wealth of the island–drawing in many Chinese laborers–the tourism industry is now the major source of the island’s income.

As you near Patong Beach, shopping malls mushroom in the middle of nowhere, as does advertising for KFC, Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts, and even Hooters, the trashy U.S. restaurant chain. Thailand, as Thais proudly recall, is one of the few Asian countries that has never been colonized by Europeans. But judging from the number of American fast-food franchises found here, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the island of Phuket is somewhere just east of Honolulu. (Phuket, by the way, should be pronounced poo-GET, rhyming with coquette–be sure not to make the common mistake of saying “fuck it.”)

Remarkably; Patong Beach has reverted to its former self–a placid cove dotted with colorful sails and beach umbrellas. The damaged beachfront resort businesses have been busily buzzing and whirring back to life, getting new windows and interiors refitted. The latest reports are that things are quickly returning to normal, with the Beach Road area nearly restored. Signs announcing WE ARE OPEN or OPENING SOON appear in front of beach establishments such as Starbucks and Holiday Inn. Each day more bars, shops, and restaurants are reopening, with only the larger premises taking longer to refurbish.

The reappearance of noisy Jet Skis means that the chartered flights from Scandinavia have resumed, pumping kroners and euros back into the battered local economy. With the Tourism Authority of Thailand airing testimonials on satellite TV of ordinary folk enjoying themselves on Phuket, savvy tourists are beginning to realize that the inaccurate media reports, plus exaggerated “Calamity Jane” government travel advisories about alleged disease, pestilence, and plague in Phuket, are “just a crock of BS,” as Siam Palm and Jungle Boyz nightclub owner Khun Allen puts it. “It may apply to certain other areas affected by the tsunami–like Aceh, which never had much tourism anyway–but definitely not here.” Even in January; Allen’s Siam Palm reported 50% occupancy–mainly from returning gay guests who weren’t scared off, and new ones who wisely enquired ahead.

Celebrity Resorts added four resort properties acquired from American Vacation Resorts. The four properties have more than 12,000 members and are located in Daytona Beach, Fla.; Belleaire Beach in Clearwater, Fla.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Poconos, Pa. Celebrity will assume all management and customer-service areas for these resorts and their members. Celebrity now has 17 properties with more than 60,000 members.

In an art world where monumental museums and megaexhibitions are counted on to generate a buzz, the recently reopened Long Beach Museum of Art proves that less is still sometimes more.

This has long been a uniquely California museum. For one thing, it’s housed in a 1912 Craftsman house that was designed by the firm that improbably went on to create Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, now Mann’s Chinese Theatre. What’s more, it boasts a blufftop location that looks out on the beach, Catalina Island, the Queen Mary, and the camouflaged oil-producing islands of Long Beach Harbor. Its regional sensibility is also reflected in a collection strong on Southern California plein air paintings and modern art.

The original museum has long occupied the Craftsman house, which was built as a summer residence during Long Beach’s resort heyday When the museum began to ponder expansion plans in the early 1990s, it considered a move to a larger downtown site. In the end, funding problems prevented the move–as did a general sense that the site and house were integral to the institution’s identity, according to museum director Hal Nelson.

“I’ve always thought that the building was one of the finest works of art in our collection,” he says.

As part of the museum’s $6.5-million renovation and expansion, a new 12,500-square-foot pavilion that echoes the Craftsman design eases the burden on the original building. This added space will showcase paintings and sculpture in the context of the decorative arts of the period. In the California modernism gallery, for example, a late-20th-century abstract is displayed alongside an Eames chair.

The new building will also provide additional space for a wide range of collections the museum has accumulated since opening in 1950, including early-20th-century European art, 18th-century American decorative arts, and California ceramics.

Great art, of course, remains the focus of the experience, but the facility will play other roles in the community as well. During the planning stage, it was discovered that people came to the museum for more than the art–be it to take in the view or to stroll the gardens. As a result, the museum decided to improve amenities such as the store and restaurant, and to host events including poetry readings, recitals, and concerts. “We’re trying to make the museum the community’s living room,” Nelson says.

In fact, the museum has long been close to the hearts of Long Beach residents. “A man involved in lobbying for the museum back in the 1940s stopped by,” recalls Nelson. “He looked around at what we were doing and said how proud he was that the dream he and others had for the museum would be realized.”