NEW YORK (Reuters) – The office vacancy rate fell only slightly during the first quarter, as a lack of significant job growth continued to impede demand for space, according to a quarterly report released on Tuesday.

At the same time, U.S. office construction during the first quarter reached a 14-year low as developers remain spooked by soft demand and meager rent growth, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. office vacancy rate
fell only slightly during the first quarter, as a lack of
significant job growth continued to impede demand for space,
according to a quarterly report released on Tuesday.

At the same time, U.S. office construction during the first
quarter reached a 14-year low as developers remain spooked by
soft demand and meager rent growth, according to real estate
research firm Reis Inc.

March 21 (Reuters) – American Realty Capital Properties
Inc said on Thursday that it was “surprised but
disappointed” that Cole Credit Property Trust III Inc’s had
rejected its $5.7 billion buyout offer, but said it remains
committed to the offer.

Cole Credit said the special committee of its board had
reviewed the offer and concluded it would not be in the best
interests of its stockholders. It said it would proceed with its
acquisition of its external adviser, Cole Holdings Corp.

By Ilaina Jonas and Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) – Real estate investment trust American Realty Capital Properties Inc (ARCP.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Wednesday said it offered to buy unlisted Cole Credit Property Trust III Inc for $5.7 billion in cash and stock, sending American Realty’s stock up more than 5 percent.

American Realty Capital Property’s offer comes about two weeks after Cole Credit Properties Trust III said it would buy its external adviser, Cole Holdings Corp, and pursue a path to become listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge fund firm Farallon Capital Management LLC is raising a new real estate fund of about $350 million to $400 million, the first time Farallon has set up a separate fund exclusively for the asset class, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Farallon is pitching the fund to its existing investors and is targeting a 20 percent internal rate of return, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) – Hedge fund firm Farallon
Capital Management LLC is raising a new real estate fund of
about $350 million to $400 million, the first time Farallon has
set up a separate fund exclusively for the asset class,
according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Farallon is pitching the fund to its existing investors and
is targeting a 20 percent internal rate of return, said one of
the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) – Japan’s Sony Corp on
Friday completed the sale of its U.S. headquarters for $1.1
billion to a group led by real estate developer the Chetrit
Group, three sources familiar with the deal said.

SL Green Realty Corp initially provided the full
$925 million in loan financing for the deal for up to three
years, depending on how long Sony remains a tenant in the
building, one source said.

March 15 (Reuters) – The company that controls New York’s
Empire State Building has garnered about three-quarters of the
investor votes it needs to realize a plan to roll the property
into a newly created real estate investment trust that could
eventually be taken public, according to regulatory documents
filed on Friday,

Malkin Holdings LLC, the company that manages the Empire
State Building — which for four decades after its completion
in 1931 ranked as the world’s tallest building — is seeking
investor approval to create a real estate investment trust,
called Empire State Realty Trust Inc. Of the investors
who have already cast votes, 90 percent have favored the Malkin
plan, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A prime Chicago parcel that was the site of an ill-fated project to build North America’s tallest residential building may again have a chance to be developed, albeit on a smaller scale and by a different owner.

An Irish government bank is selling off a bad loan made to Ireland’s Shelbourne Development Group, the developers of the Chicago Spire, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) – A prime Chicago parcel that
was the site of an ill-fated project to build North America’s
tallest residential building may again have a chance to be
developed, albeit on a smaller scale and by a different owner.

An Irish government bank is selling off a bad loan made to
Ireland’s Shelbourne Development Group, the developers of the
Chicago Spire, a source familiar with the matter said on
Wednesday.