Real Estate Alert’s Deal Database tracks sales of U.S. properties valued at $25 million or more. It includes both single-property deals and portfolio sales, and encompasses all commercial-property types. The database is used by the newsletter to measure transaction volume and create rankings of market participants.
For questions about the Deal Database, contact Rob E. Mihok at 201-234-3974.
The database includes completed sales of the following types of real estate assets:
- U.S. flex, hotel, industrial, mutli-family and retail properties.
- A common-equity stake that is valued at $25 million or more (see exceptions for portfolios).
The recorded value of a transaction:
- Excludes closing costs and any earn-out provisions.
- Includes only the portion of the ownership interest that changes hands.
The database excludes:
- Transactions involving properties located outside of the 50 states and Washington, DC.
- Transactions of less than $25 million.
- Mortgage sales, unless the loan buyer is a third party who takes control of the collateral within one year via foreclosure or a negotiated settlement with the owner.
- Mergers and acquisitions (deals involving the sale of a company’s operations).
- Property transfers between affiliated entities that are not put out for competitive bid.
- Acquisitions of properties that are ancillary to the operation of a business (car dealerships, casinos, golf courses, hospitals, assisted-living facilities, etc.).
- Transactions for which the property name, address or price is unknown.
- Transactions prior to 2001.
Portfolio rules:
- Portfolio sales of more than $200 million are included, except for portfolios made up primarily of gas stations, franchise restaurants, self-storage facilities or bank branches.
- Portfolio deals of less than $200 million are included only if at least one property is worth $25 million or more.
Rules for distressed transactions:
- Foreclosures or property assumptions by original or longtime lenders are excluded.
- Property transfers stemming from distressed loan sales are counted only if a third-party buyer pays at least $25 million and assumes at least 50% of the equity interest of the collateral within one year. The date the equity interest trades hands is recorded as the closing date.
Brokerage credit:
- Credit is given only to a seller’s brokerage that either (1) is awarded an exclusive listing and markets a property that is sold or (2) otherwise arranges the sale of a property and is paid a brokerage commission.
- A brokerage is not given credit if its only role is to serve as an advisor (such as only providing leasing/local market expertise or only preparing marketing documents).
- Dollar credit is based on the deal size recorded in the database. (So when a stake in a property is sold, credit is given only for the value of the stake.)
- When multiple brokers share a listing, the dollar credit is divided evenly. Each brokerage is given credit for the total number of properties involved.
- If a claim of brokerage credit on a given deal is disputed, Real Estate Alert might require the brokerage to supply verifying information in order to receive credit.
How portfolios and mixed-use properties are categorized:
- If possible to determine, the property type of mixed-use properties that share a single address will be recorded as the property type that accounts for more than 50% of the value.
- Sales of adjacent properties of the same type are counted in the database as single-property sales. Sales of adjacent properties of different types are counted as portfolios.
- For portfolio sales of $200 million or more, the dollar volume of each deal is broken down by market. For portfolio sales of less than $200 million, if one market represents 50% or more of the total dollar amount, the deal is credited to that market. If no market is predominant, the portfolio’s location will be categorized as “multi-state.”
The database provides the following details for each transaction:
PROPERTY |
1515 Broadway |
Property name |
PROPERTY2 |
One Astor Plaza |
Secondary property name, or individual property in a portfolio transaction |
CITY |
New York |
City |
STATE |
NY |
State |
MARKET |
Midtown Manhattan |
Market (see list) |
SALE-DATE |
Jun-02 |
Closing date |
PRICE |
483.5 |
Price (millions of dollars) |
TYPE |
F |
Property type: |
Office |
F |
Office |
X |
Flex |
Multi-family |
M |
|
Warehouse/industrial |
W |
|
Hotel |
H |
|
Retail |
RC |
Community center |
RM |
Mall |
RO |
Other |
RP |
Power center |
RS |
Stand alone |
RU |
Urban |
STAKE |
100 |
Stake sold (%) |
SF SOLD |
1,850 |
Size (in thousands of square feet) |
TOTAL SF |
|
Total size of property (retail only, in thousands of square feet) |
PRICE/SF |
261 |
Price per square foot ($) |
UNITS |
|
Number of units (for hotel/multi-family properties) |
PRICE/UNIT |
|
Price per unit |
BROKER |
Goldman Sachs |
Seller’s broker |
BROKER2 |
|
Second seller’s broker for jointly brokered deals |
SELLER |
Equitable Life |
Name of seller |
BUYER |
SL Green, SITQ |
Name of buyer |
SLB? |
N |
Sale-leaseback deal? (Y/N) |
PORT? |
N |
Portfolio transaction? (Y/N) |
PROP |
|
Number of properties (for portfolio transaction) |
The Database divides transactions into nine regions. Within each of these regions, properties are assigned to markets. Regions and markets are shown in the following list:
Northeast |
Boston Area |
Massachusetts |
Providence Area |
Rhode Island |
Hartford Area |
Connecticut except for Fairfield County (Southwestern corner) |
Upstate New York |
New York State north of Westchester-Rockland |
Vermont |
Vermont |
New Hampshire |
New Hampshire |
Maine |
Maine |
Metropolitan New York |
Midtown Manhattan |
Manhattan, except Downtown |
Downtown Manhattan |
Manhattan, south of Canal Street |
Northern New Jersey |
New Jersey except Philadelphia suburbs |
Outer Boroughs |
Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island |
Westchester/Fairfield |
Westchester-Rockland Counties in NY, Fairfield County in Conn. |
Long Island |
Nassau-Suffolk Counties |
Mid-Atlantic |
Philadelphia Area |
Phila. area, NJ suburbs and Wilmington, Del. |
Pittsburgh Area |
Pennsylvania, except Philadelphia area |
Baltimore Area |
Maryland, except for DC suburbs |
Maryland’s DC suburbs |
Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties |
Washington, DC |
District of Columbia |
Northern Virginia |
Virginia suburbs of Washington |
Richmond Area |
Richmond-Norfolk areas |
West Virginia |
West Virginia |
Delaware |
Delaware excluding Wilmington, which is in Philadelphia Area |
Southeast |
South Florida |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale area |
Central/Northern Florida |
All of Florida except South Florida |
Atlanta Area |
Georgia |
North Carolina |
North Carolina |
South Carolina |
South Carolina |
Midwest |
Chicago |
Chicago |
Suburban Chicago |
Illinois except Chicago, plus Gary, Ind. Excludes East St. Louis |
St. Louis Area |
Missouri east of KC area and East St. Louis, Ill. |
Kansas City Area |
Kansas City, Mo., area, plus all of Kansas |
Minneapolis Area |
Minnesota |
Milwaukee Area |
Wisconsin |
Detroit Area |
Michigan |
Indianapolis Area |
Indiana except for Gary, which is in Chicago Area |
Cleveland Area |
Northern Ohio (Cleveland-Akron-Toledo) |
Cincinnati Area |
Southern Ohio (Cincinnati-Dayton-Columbus) |
Kentucky |
Kentucky |
Iowa |
Iowa |
North Dakota |
North Dakota |
South Dakota |
South Dakota |
Nebraska |
Nebraska |
South |
Dallas Area |
Dallas area and East Texas |
Houston Area |
Houston area |
San Antonio Area |
San Antonio and West Texas |
Austin Area |
Austin area |
New Orleans Area |
Louisiana |
Oklahoma |
Oklahoma |
Arkansas |
Arkansas |
Tennessee |
Tennessee |
Mississippi |
Mississippi |
Alabama |
Alabama |
Southwest |
Denver Area |
Colorado |
Phoenix Area |
Arizona |
Las Vegas Area |
Nevada |
Salt Lake City Area |
Utah |
Albuquerque Area |
New Mexico |
Northwest |
Seattle Area |
Washington State |
Portland Area |
Oregon |
Idaho |
Idaho |
Montana |
Montana |
Wyoming |
Wyoming |
Alaska |
Alaska |
Hawaii |
Hawaii |
California |
Los Angeles Area |
LA area (not Orange County), plus Inland Empire |
Orange County |
Orange County |
San Diego Area |
San Diego and suburbs |
Central California |
Between Los Angeles Area and San Jose/Silicon Valley |
San Francisco |
City of San Francisco |
Oakland/East Bay |
Oakland area |
San Jose/Silicon Valley |
San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties (plus Monterey) |
Sacramento Area |
Sacramento areas and Northern California |
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